Crack open a Red Bull; the most energetic coach in Ohio State football history is coming back to the Buckeyes.
The worst-kept secret in Central Ohio is finally over — Kerry Coombs, who coached cornerbacks for OSU from 2012 to 2017, will replace Jeff Hafley on Ryan Day’s staff. Multiple reports have indicated the news will be made official soon. A source has indicated to The-Ozone that an announcement will be made Monday afternoon.
Coombs spent the last two years as the defensive backs coach for Mike Vrabel’s Tennessee Titans in the NFL.
Coombs was considered one of Urban Meyer’s best recruiters, helping to turn his hometown of Cincinnati into a recruiting hotbed for the Buckeyes.
He also helped turn the OSU defensive backs room into an NFL Draft powerhouse.
During his tenure, Coombs coached first-round picks Bradley Roby (2014), Eli Apple (2016), Mashon Lattimore (2017), Marcus Hooker (2017), Gareon Conley (2017), and Denzel Ward (2018). Jeff Okudah is likely to join that list this spring.
He left Columbus when Vrabel took over the Titans in 2018, and helped them earn a playoff berth and beat the Patriots in the Wild Card round this month.
Logan Ryan on DB coach Kerry Coombs. Says he wishes him the best and credits him for coming in and working with a veteran DB group. #Titans pic.twitter.com/Hdvdp72Ncr
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) January 20, 2020
Now, he’s headed back to the college game. Coombs and Day spent one season coaching together with the Buckeyes, in 2017.
Coombs was a very popular figure with Ohio State players and fans during his first tenure with the Buckeyes.
He was a never-ending source of energy. Coombs had a bloody forehead during the 2017 Michigan game after head-butting a Buckeye’s helmet.
He also channeled former OSU head coach Woody Hayes and wore short-sleeves on the sidelines of the 2014 Minnesota game (see photo above). The temperature at kickoff that day was 15 degrees, the coldest OSU game in 50 years.
Now, he returns to Ohio State to coach the unit that probably represents the biggest question mark for the 2020 team.
Damon Arnette, Jordan Fuller, and Okudah are all off to the NFL, leaving three big holes to fill. The return of Shaun Wade was a big step for the 2020 Buckeyes. Now they need to fill the rest of the holes.
Safety Josh Proctor, and cornerbacks Amir Riep, Cameron Brown, and Sevyn Banks are among the players considered among the most likely to step into a starting role this fall.