So, it's been rumored that Kerry Coombs is possibly going to make his way back to Columbus to replace one Jeff Hafley as the secondary coach and Co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State. I'm curious if he would do it, and how well he would fill the role if he were to do it.
Regarding the second question, I don't think there's a question as to whether Kerry Coombs can develop Defensive backs. How's this for a stat: Every single cornerback that started at Ohio State during his tenure made it to the NFL. They were all technically sound, and some of them were low 4-stars and 3-stars, showing that he can develop even slightly lower-rated recruits into NFL draft picks.
The real question I have is whether he can fill the role of coordinating the secondary schematically, akin to what Jeff Hafley has been doing this season. This is where I think his NFL experience comes into play. While in college, a lot of the success of the secondary is dependent on technique and discipline, in the NFL, at least in my opinion, there's a certain baseline of talent for every DB that makes it there. What makes secondaries successful in the NFL is film study and schematic adjustments, something that I'm hopeful Coach Coombs picked up which would help him develop AND coordinate our secondary if he coaches here in the future. Just for reference, the Titans' pass defense ranked sixth in the NFL last year, although it has taken a step back this year.
As for whether or not he can recruit well, that's an interesting question. During his tenure, he recruited many great defensive backs, and was the primary recruiter for Shaun Wade. However, Ohio State had many excellent regional recruiters on staff, including Tim Beck, Greg Schiano, and Zach Smith (they all may not have been great coaches, but were fantastic recruiters) as well as Urban Meyer himself, one of the greatest closers of all time. So even if Coombs was a great recruiter, his success may have been due to the fact that he had lots of excellent help. This can be contrasted with the recruits Jeff Hafley has landed, who state that their relationships with him are among the primary reasons they committed to Ohio State. A counterpoint may be this video I found of him giving a recruiting pitch, although I could do without the dramatic music in the background:
Overall, I have faith in his recruiting ability, although his high-intensity approach will certainly be a departure from Jeff Hafley's laid back, personal style.
Now, as for the first question, "would he want to do it", I thought back to the fact that Ryan Day actually reached out to Coach Coombs when he was first hired to replace Urban Meyer, and Coombs, then having completed his first year with the Tennessee Titans, turned him down. Why? My theory is that Ryan Day wasn't a proven commodity at the time, and Coombs was unsure of what his tenure might look like, and didn't want to give up a solid position in the NFL for a first-time HC without any experience.
But things are obviously different now. Ohio State is humming, and it's obvious that Ryan Day means business. The Secondary Room is full of talented, motivated players and is playing lights-out this season. The prospect of ditching a middling NFL team for a perennial national championship contender, along with a significant pay-raise, may be too much to pass up for Coach Coombs. What are your thoughts?
