Addition of Greg Schiano at Ohio State Ups Competition Levels to Kerry Coombs, Entire Defensive Staff

By Eric Seger on March 26, 2016 at 7:15 am
The addition of Greg Schiano ups the competition level on Ohio State's defensive coaching staff, Kerry Coombs said.
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Kerry Coombs is intense, raucous and arguably the most upbeat member of Urban Meyer's coaching staff at Ohio State. He's the fiery guy with white hair that stands on end you see yelling and jumping around on the sidelines after his special teams unit flips the field or one of the cornerbacks he coaches breaks up a pass on third down.

Coombs, like the rest of Ohio State's staff, embodies a competitive nature and imposes that to his players. Could the addition of Greg Schiano — Ohio State's new co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach — turn up the intensity even more in the secondary?

"I think we challenge each other every day on everything," Coombs said Thursday of his new colleague. "There's things that he says and I just take it and move on and there are things that I challenge."

Schiano hasn't been an assistant coach since 2000 at Miami, but is readying to call Ohio State's defense this fall with Luke Fickell. He is also responsible for instructing the young talent at safety so its ready to step in following exits of two-year starters Tyvis Powell and Vonn Bell. Coombs is tasked with filling an open slot too, after Eli Apple joined Powell and Bell and left early for the NFL Draft.

“I think we challenge each other every day on everything. There's things that he says and I just take it and move on and there are things that I challenge.”– Kerry Coombs on Greg Schiano

Schiano is also a new face in the defensive meeting rooms at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. He has goals, but one is to make everything competition-oriented.

"I always try to evaluate every single thing we do. To me, meetings are a competitive event," Schiano said March 10 of his safety group. "Meetings aren't where you kick your feet up and talk about football. I want to see them compete in meetings. Who answers me first? Who answers me clearest, loudest, most assured?"

The same goes for coaches. There's a reason Meyer's coaching tree is so extensive and the Buckeyes are on their third safeties coach in four seasons. Everett Withers and Chris Ash now guide their own programs as head coaches at Texas State and Rutgers.

"I think that's part of good relationships," Coombs said. "It's very competitive in our staff room."

How Schiano meshes with Fickell is crucial for Ohio State to old firm on the defensive resurgence Ash was an integral part of the last two years. He, Fickell and Coombs turned around a woeful secondary to one of the nation's best by season's end last year.

Schiano said the transition to his job has been seamless, but things are a bit challenging this spring due to injuries to key guys in the defensive backfield. Cam Burrows and Erick Smith are not full speed yet, which led to Damon Webb working with the safeties some Tuesday when the program allowed the media to watch an hour of practice.

Coombs called Webb's shift "experimental spring stuff," but is another page in the growth process between the new coaches working together. There are things each guy can take from the other, but the goal is help Ohio State put the best 11 guys on the field.

"I love working with Greg Schiano," Coombs said. "He's a professional. He's got extreme volume of knowledge about the game. He's a good father. I love having conversations with him about that and it's another voice."

Coombs added a similar sentiment to new offensive line coach Greg Studrawa, referencing the way Meyer brings in top flight and well-versed coaching minds to fill vacant assistant spots. In turn, it makes the holdovers like Coombs even better.

"You learn things from everybody," Coombs said. "I sit right next to Greg in all the defensive staff meetings and I'm really enjoying that process."

Schiano brings an extra edge and different viewpoint to things Coombs or Fickell might not see. It all pools together so the coaches hope they cover all the bases while they try to replace starters like Bell, Powell, Apple, Joey Bosa, Joshua Perry, Darron Lee and others.

"You've got Luke Fickell, who's got 20 years of great experience, so he can tell you about these things and how they happened here," Coombs said. "Then you've got Greg who's got this great experience of different places, he was coaching quarterbacks for a while. He can give you the offensive perspective.

"You have Larry Johnson with 20-plus years of unbelievable experience. So sitting in our defensive room, you really get the opportunity to learn from all those guys."

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