Coombs proves you can come back home

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Kerry Coombs is proving that you can come home again as the veteran coach is set to start his second stint with the Buckeyes as head coach Ryan Day has tapped him to come in and take over the position left vacated by Jeff Hafley. This move will also see Coombs adding a defensive coordinator title/duties to his resume.

Coombs spent six years at Ohio State under Urban Meyer from 2012 through 2017 before following former Ohio State coach Mike Vrabel to the NFL and the Tennessee Titans.

Terms of the deal were not immediately made available but there are reports that Coombs will become Ohio State's highest paid current assistant coach which would require him to make more than 1.1-million dollars per season.

“Kerry Coombs is the coach I was really hoping we could hire and bring back to Ohio State,” Day said. “He is an excellent coach and he has had two outstanding seasons in the NFL on Mike Vrabel’s staff with the Tennessee Titans.

“I’ve spent a season on staff with Kerry and I really like his coaching and knowledge of the game, but I also like that he knows Ohio State and he knows how to recruit to Ohio State. He’s recruited some of the players currently on the team and he coached a handful of Buckeye defensive backs who went on to become first-round NFL draft picks.”

During Coombs’ tenure with the Buckeyes, he was known as a tenacious recruiter, often going into the state of Michigan and pulling top players to Ohio State right in front of the faces of in-state stalwarts Michigan and Michigan State.

When Coombs left the Buckeyes, he held the title of ‘Assistant Coordinator, Defense’ and with Greg Mattison in the fold, look for him to hold a similar title this time around as well as he will pick up where Hafley left off with one of the nation’s top secondary units. But Coombs will walk into a room that will be without many top players including Jeffrey Okudah, Damon Arnette, and Jordan Fuller.

Coombs obviously is no stranger to development and there are few coaches in the college ranks that can boast a record number of top defensive backs the way that Coombs could with a run of corners that included Bradley Roby, Eli Apple, Marshon Lattimore, Gareon Conley and Denzel Ward, all going in the first round.

Over the past couple of seasons, Coombs has held the title of secondary coach with the Tennessee Titans. In 2018 the Titans were No. 6 in the NFL in passing defense. In 2019 that number moved down to No. 24 as the Titans allowed 38 more yards per game.

Before joining Ohio State the first time around, Coombs served as the defensive backs coach at the University of Cincinnati for two years before being elevated to Associate Head Coach and Special Teams coordinator to round out his four-year stint with the Bearcats.

Before that Coombs was one of top high school coaches in the state with two long tenured stops at Loveland and Colerain high schools.

We will have more on what this hire means for the Buckeyes as head coach Ryan Day now appears to have his coaching roster set for the 2020 season, his first major moves since naming his first staff in advance of the 2019 season.