Three years ago, Kerry Coombs was perfectly comfortable with his life as the defensive backs coach at the University of Cincinnati. Then, the phone rang.
It was Urban Meyer calling. He wanted Coombs to join the Ohio State coaching staff.
A lifelong Cincinnati native, Coombs was hesitant to even hear Meyer out at first. His wife, Holly, may have changed his mind.
"When Urban called I called my wife and I said, ‘Hey, I just want to let you know I got this phone call today and kind of before I tell him no I just want you to know that,’ and she said, ‘Don’t you tell him no,’" Coombs said as he told the story to the media on Monday. "I said, ‘Is that right?’ and she said, ‘First of all, it’s Ohio State and secondly, it’s Urban Meyer. Let’s go do this we can make it work. It’s only an hour and a half away.’"
It wasn't that easy for Coombs, however. A lifelong Cincinnati native, the city was, and still is, in his blood.
Prior to a five-year stint at the University of Cincinnati, he was the head coach for 16 years at Cincinnati Colerain High School, a perennial power in Division I Ohio high school football. He led the Cardinals to the school's only state championship in 2004 with a 15-0 record.
It was difficult for Coombs to leave all of that behind.
"It was still hard," he said. "I loved where I lived and I loved what I was doing, but this is Ohio State. These opportunities don’t come along very often."
Now in his third year as Ohio State's cornerbacks coach, Coombs plays a valuable role in Saturday's game. Perhaps nobody on this year's Ohio State team — player or coach — knows more about the UC program than Coombs. He knows what type of challenge the Bearcats present the Buckeyes. He also knows there may be some added incentive for the Cincinnati players as many of them were not recruited by Ohio State.
“I think they are a very dynamic, athletic team. I think they play very hard and I think their coaches are going to have them incredibly well prepared," Coombs said. "I don’t think that we should undersell the fact that it’s the two major universities in the state of Ohio going against each other. They’ve had great success over the last seven, eight years so I’m sure that their kids, and they’ve got a ton of them from Ohio, are gonna be excited to play in this game just as our kids are. I think it’ll be a special game.”
In addition to his ties to the program, Saturday's game will be a huge test for Coombs as a coach. His cornerbacks will be under heavy fire all evening thanks to a bevy of Cincinnati receivers and quarterback Gunner Kiel.
That would be worrisome for Ohio State fans if this were last year when the Buckeyes ranked 11th in the Big Ten in pass defense. Coombs is hopeful that has changed and going through that experience has helped him grow as a coach.
"I think the offseason has been a great opportunity for me personally to grow," Coombs said. " ... One of the hardest things about college football is that coaching staffs are always changing, but one of the great things about college football is that coaching staffs are always changing. You meet a lot of people and learn a lot of things so it’s been a great opportunity for me and our team and our environment to grow.”
While he may have been hesitant to make the move to Ohio State at first, Coombs seems to have found a home with the Buckeyes, but he's always trying to better himself and better his team.
“I think every experience in life there’s an opportunity for growth and learning," he said. "Nobody likes losing, we hate it here and don’t expect it to happen. I think that was not pleasant. If losing becomes pleasant, you’re probably gonna lose a bunch."
