Former Bears, Notre Dame DT Chris Zorich hired as Chicago State AD

CHICAGO -- Former Chicago Bears and Notre Dame defensive tackle Chris Zorich has been hired as athletic director at Chicago State.

A Chicago product who was on Notre Dame's 1988 national championship team and played for the Bears from 1991-96, Zorich replaces interim AD Tracy Dildy. The school says Zorich will start work on May 8.

Zorich, 49, joins a school that has been hit hard by budget problems in recent years and is looking for two new basketball coaches. Chicago State let Dildy go following a 3-29 season. The school also parted with women's coach Angela Jackson, whose program endured a Division I record 59-game losing streak before beating Utah Valley on Feb. 8.

Zorich most recently was AD at Prairie State, a community college in Chicago Heights.

Zorich ran into financial difficulties after his playing career. He was sentenced in 2013 to three years of probation following a federal tax evasion conviction.