NAIA football on the rise at St. Thomas and Florida Memorial after positive starts
Two NAIA football programs – the St. Thomas University Bobcats and the Florida Memorial Lions – are reaching for attention on Miami’s crowded sports schedule.
The Bobcats, a fourth-year program, broke into the national rankings on Monday, placing 25th in the latest poll. That ranking follows STU’s 31-10 win over 11th-ranked Saint Xavier on Saturday in Chicago.
It was the first win over a ranked team in STU history.
On Saturday at noon, the Bobcats (1-1) will host North American University at newly-dedicated AutoNation Field.
After playing its home games at neighboring Monsignor Pace High School the past three years, this will be the first-ever contest on St. Thomas’ campus.
“After getting the turf field and the scoreboard over the past year, I think everyone is pretty excited to host a game on our campus,” STU coach Bill Rychel said. “The seating is portable right now, but we have more plans for the future.”
STU went 9-2 last season, and Rychel said he’s having trouble finding teams that want to play on the Bobcats’ home field. That’s why the Bobcats played their first two games this year on the road, including a 31-26 loss to Butler at Indianapolis.
Meanwhile, the Lions, who brought back football in 2020 following a 62-year hiatus, have a new coach in Bobby Rome.
Reborn in the first year of the COVID pandemic, FMU struggled to a 0-3 first season under coach Tim “Ice” Harris. The team went 2-9 last season, also under Harris.
This year, the team is off to a 1-2 start under Rome, who played 49 games – including 12 starts – as a 5-11, 250-pound fullback for the 2006-2009 North Carolina Tar Heels.
The last three years at UNC, Rome played for coach Butch Davis, and the Tar Heels went from a losing program to two straight eight-win seasons in 2008 and 2009.
Rome, 36, said his positive relationship with Davis and the fact that his mother is a native Floridian made the FMU job “intriguing” to him.
“I fell in love with the culture of South Florida football from my time at UNC, playing the Miami Hurricanes every year,” Rome said. “I was contacted by a search firm (for the FMU job), and I was immediately interested.”
A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Rome said he once had a mini-camp tryout with the Green Bay Packers. He got cut, but it was still worthwhile experience.
Retired as a player as of 2014, Rome is now committed to turning around FMU – but he knows it won’t be easy.
“We don’t have much history to lean on,” Rome said. “We have to create our own traditions.”
Rome, hired on April 22, didn’t have spring practice with his team this year. He is running a spread offense and a 4-2-5 defense.
There are 110 Lions on roster, but Rome said his roster is way younger than the teams FMU is facing.
In last week’s 27-13 loss at Lakeland-based Southeastern, Rome said his Lions were outmanned.
“They had 16 graduate seniors,” Rome said. “They have a bunch of guys with five years in a college weight room.
“For next season, we plan to have a bunch of junior-college and other transfers so we can add some age to our roster.”
Still, the Lions upset Edward Waters, 39-24, in this year’s season opener. Rome said Edward Waters, as an NCAA Division II team, had 36 available scholarships.
FMU, as an NAIA team, is limited to 24 scholarships to divide among its players.
Meanwhile, the Lions will host St. Thomas on Oct. 15 at Betty T. Ferguson Stadium, and Rome has great respect for the rival school.
“They have an outstanding program,” Rome said of STU. “They have set the blueprint we want to follow.”
THIS AND THAT
▪ FIU’s men’s soccer team is off to a 3-2 start, including a 2-1 win at 18th-ranked North Carolina on Sept. 3. FIU also lost, 5-3, to ninth-ranked Akron.
▪ Barry University’s women’s volleyball team, which went 13-14 last season, is off to a 9-0 start and a No. 22 national ranking in NCAA Division II.
▪ NSU’s men’s soccer team, which reached the NCAA Division II national semifinals for the first time in program history last year, is off to a 2-1-2 start.
▪ Miami Dade College women’s volleyball team is off to a 10-4 start and ranked sixth in the nation (second in Florida) among junior colleges.
