A local high school football coach is returning to the college football ranks.
According to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, Chris Ross, who spent the past four years as the head football coach at Lucas Lovejoy High School, has accepted the offensive coordinator position at Stephen F. Austin University, returning to the collegiate level after leading the Lovejoy Leopards to a 45-9 record over his tenure and a district championship this past season.
SFA has not officially announced the hiring, but Ross is expected to join head coach Colby Carthel’s staff in Nacogdoches and replace Matt Storm, who parted ways with SFA last month after a 3-8 season despite having a top-25 offense and top-17 passing attack in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
“It was the right people and the right opportunity, and this job to me was more about that because I was in a tremendous place,” Ross told The Dallas Express. “Lovejoy is an unbelievable school district, and Katie Cordell, my boss, the superintendent, was phenomenal. The community was great. I clearly was not looking to leave, but the thing that intrigued me is [that] Colby Carthel is an incredible man and just a great person, and we’ve known each other for a long time.”
Ross was hired as the head football coach and Assistant Athletic Director for Lovejoy ISD in 2020 after spending time as the Director of Football Program Development at Boise State under then-head coach Bryan Harsin and eventually became the district’s athletic director. Before Boise, he was a fixture in Texas high school football — leading programs in Red Oak, Prosper, Leander, Cedar Park, and Wichita Falls for over 22 years combined.
He led Lovejoy to three regional finals games and won a program record 13 games in 2020 and at least 12 games three times in four years.
This season, the Leopards finished 12-2, overtook heavily favored Melissa for the District 7-5A Division II title, and went to the state quarterfinals (regional finals) before losing to local powerhouse and eventual state championship runner-up South Oak Cliff.
“To me, it’s all about the fit, and it’s about people,” Ross said. “I want to be with like-minded people in a job where I can make a difference for others. That’s my goal, and I’ve been blessed. I’ve always been given an opportunity to do that, and I feel like this is one of those.”
