SWIC plans to launch ‘plug-and-play’ football program in 2027. Why now?

Editor’s Note 4/9/2026: This article was updated with Robert Tebbe’s correct title.

Southwestern Illinois College recently announced it will debut intercollegiate football in the fall of 2027, and district leadership said the community college is uniquely positioned to do so.

Robert Tebbe, SWIC’s vice president of enrollment development and institutional planning, said the new program benefits from a “plug-and-play” situation where a stadium and other infrastructure needed for football already exist.

The Blue Storm has a ready-made home at the Southwestern Illinois Justice and Workforce Development Campus on Main Street. It was originally built for Belleville Township High School in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration and later refitted by the former Lindenwood University-Belleville athletic program.

“The Campus” is managed by SWIC and owned by the City of Belleville, and houses some city offices, the SWIC Police Academy, select Southern Illinois University Edwardsville programs and more.

The city invested $543,000 in replacing Lindenwood’s notorious maroon and gray turf with a new artificial surface, complete with a City of Belleville logo at the 50-yard line and the words “Southwestern Illinois College” spanning about 70 yards across the field.

The Campus also has dorms to house athletes.

“We have all of the facilities, so this was a no-brainer,” said SWIC Board of Trustees Chair Steve Campo. “(Lindenwood) left the blueprint there wide open.”

As such, a new football program can be launched and managed within the college’s existing budget, Tebbe said.

Tebbe estimated the cost of initially implementing the sport will be between $1 million and $2 million, with annual costs between $750,000 and $1 million.

Revenue from growing enrollment will help cover the cost of starting the program, Tebbe said. Campo said a large part of boosting SWIC’s enrollment in recent years has been expanding opportunities, as is being done with the soon-to-open Career Technology Education Building on its Red Bud campus.

Other strategic financial decisions also positioned SWIC to be able to start the program without relying on taxpayers, Campo said. He called SWIC’s President Nick Mance and Chief Financial Officer Jacob Wheeler “financial wizards who do an amazing job of stretching the dollar.”

Both Tebbe and Campo expect the sport will draw more students to SWIC, therefore generating more revenue that can be used to sustain the program.

The two pointed out SWIC charges consistently lower tuition than other metro-east community colleges.

Tebbe said SWIC has been researching starting a football team for about five years. In addition to examining financial impact, the process included researching the football programs at similarly-sized community colleges and gathering input from faculty, staff and students, Tebbe said.

“It was not a singular decision,” Tebbe said. “It was done at the student level all the way to the board level.”

Setting SWIC apart

It’s not just prospective football players – some of whom will receive scholarships – who will be drawn to SWIC with the launch of the team, Campo and Tebbe said.

The team will create ancillary opportunities for cheerleading, dance and band, Campo said. It also elevates the rest of SWIC’s athletic program, Tebbe said.

It’s hoped the uniqueness of having a community college football team in the metro-east will draw others to the Belleville area, Campo said.

According to the National Junior College Athletic Association, the only community college football team in Illinois is the College of DuPage in the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn. There are no teams in Missouri or Kentucky.

“This really allows SWIC to distance themselves from other community colleges in southern Illinois,” Campo said.

John A. Logan College in Carterville may join DuPage and SWIC. Last year, its board chair formed a special advisory committee to examine whether creating its own football team will be feasible in the long term, a press release on John A. Logan College’s website states.

Campo said each season will consist of five games on the road and five at home. SWIC is not limited to only playing other Division I junior college teams, and can also play four-year colleges’ junior varsity football teams.

This story was originally published April 8, 2026 at 5:30 AM.