Kerry Coombs’ second stint with Ohio State didn’t go as planned.

In his first tenure with the Buckeyes from 2012-17, each of his starting cornerbacks reached the NFL, including five first-round draft choices in Bradley Roby, Eli Apple, Marshon Lattimore, Gareon Conley and Denzel Ward.

With those players came some of the best defenses in the country, ranking No. 2 with 101 interceptions and first with 17 interceptions returned for touchdowns between 2012-17.

Then Coombs left, spending two seasons with head coach Mike Vrabel on the Tennessee Titans coaching staff. He returned to Columbus in 2020 as a defensive coordinator, a role he’d never had outright before, serving as assistant defensive coordinator with the Buckeyes in 2017.

That’s when the struggles started.

In 2020, the Ohio State defense allowed 25.8 points per game and 401.6 yards per game. While the run game was stifling, allowing 3.4 yards per rush and 97.6 yards per game, the pass defense — Coombs’ main background — was dreadful, finishing last in the conference with 304 yards allowed per game, finishing No. 11 in pass defense efficiency with a 143.1 rating.

While the numbers themselves got better in 2021 — 22.8 points allowed per game and 372.9 yards allowed per game — the run defense got much worse, increasing to 126.8 yards allowed per game and 3.7 yards per rush, while the pass defense continued to struggle with 246.2 yards allowed per game and a 129.7 pass defensive efficiency rating.

It’s what led to a coaching change three games into the 2021 season, moving Coombs up to the coaching booth and handing the play-calling duties to secondary coach and, now, Memphis defensive coordinator Matt Barnes.

For Coombs, it proved to be the hardest stretch of his career, but one that he could be an example in to the players he recruited, the players on his defense and the rest of the team.

“It’s easy to be a brother when it’s 66-17 on a Saturday afternoon. It’s hard to be a brother when you face adversity,” Coombs said Oct. 12. “It’s hard. If you’re here for the other men on this team — the players and the other coaches on this team — if that’s truly what you believe, then you are in come heck or high water. You are here to fight, to struggle, to scrap.

“I love those kids. I love those kids in that locker room. I love those kids on that team. I love the men in that locker room and I love Ohio State. And I’m going to be here. I’m going to be fighting, battling, scratching and clawing for the remainder of this season to win every freaking Saturday. That's what I'm going to do.”

It’s something head coach Ryan Day saw too, early in the season.

“I have a bunch of respect for how the defensive staff has handled the last month, especially Kerry,” Day said. “Because of that, they have all gelled together with one voice, they have all come together and the defense has come together. That doesn’t just happen. It takes special people to understand what this place is and what Ohio State means.”

But without any progress to the defense in either of Coombs’ two seasons with Ohio State, the move was made, confirming that his second stint didn't work out as well as the first.

Ohio State's 2022 defense is a complete overhaul.

Along with all the other moves made to the defensive coaching staff Thursday, including the hiring of former Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to the same role in Columbus, the hiring of former Cincinnati cornerbacks coach Perry Eliano to coach safeties, the hiring of former Jacksonville Jaguars assistant Tim Walton to coach defensive backs and the dismissal of Ohio State linebackers coach Al Washington, Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson will be the only returning member of Ohio State's 2021 coaching staff.

A new wave is coming for a defense that's in desperate need of a new wave after the past two seasons.

And after losing to rival Michigan, after missing out on the Big Ten Championship game and after missing the College Football Playoff, Day is not willing to keep things the same.