ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Kerry Coombs is back.
The longtime football coach with significant Cincinnati-area connections is joining the University of Michigan staff as the Wolverines' special teams coordinator.
University of Michigan announced the hiring of the 1979 Colerain High School graduate to its staff on Saturday night.
Coombs, who led Colerain to the 2004 Division I state championship, brings 42 years of coaching experience to his position in Ann Arbor. He’s been a mentor to high school, college and NFL players.
“Coach Kerry Coombs is a proven, exceptional football coach, and we're thrilled to welcome him to our program," Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said in a statement Saturday night.
"Kerry's leadership of our special teams will be invaluable. His expertise in teaching and mentoring has consistently shaped both outstanding athletes and remarkable young men --including some of the nation's top special teams players and cornerbacks. We're proud to have Kerry, (wife) Holly, and their family join the Michigan Football family."
Coombs is a former Ohio State University defensive coordinator and assistant coach, former University of Cincinnati special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach, former NFL assistant coach and former longtime Colerain head coach.
Coombs served two stints at UC including 2007 to 2011 and most recently as the Bearcats’ cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator from January 2022 to December 2024.
Coombs spent one year with then-head coach Luke Fickell and two seasons with current UC head coach Scott Satterfield.
Coombs joined Brian Kelly's staff at UC in 2007 as defensive backs coach and stayed with the program through the 2011 season when Butch Jones was the head coach. Coombs oversaw defensive backs and special teams during his first tenure.
Prior to his most recent stint at UC, Coombs was at Ohio State as the defensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021. He helped the Buckeyes to the Big Ten Championship and an appearance in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in 2020.
Coombs joined the Tennessee Titans organization as the team's secondary coach for two seasons (2018-19) between stints at Ohio State. During his time in Nashville, Coombs produced one of the league's best units, ranking in the top 10 in pass defense both seasons, and among the top groups in passer rating, opponent completion percentage and interceptions. The Titans made the playoffs in 2019 but lost in the AFC championship game.
Coombs was an assistant coach at OSU from 2012-2017, helping develop five first-round NFL draft picks as a mentor to cornerbacks. He added the duties of special teams coordinator during his final five seasons in Columbus (2013-17) of his first stint with the Buckeyes.
Besides coaching, Coombs was named the 2017 Rivals.com National Recruiter of the Year and also was selected as the Big Ten's Recruiter of the Year on three occasions.
Coombs became the Colerain head coach in 1991 and led his alma mater for 16 years. Coombs' teams earned a 161-34 overall record during his tenure with 10 state playoff appearances and reached the state semifinals on five occasions. The Cardinals won the 2004 Division I state championship. That team has been inducted into the Buddy LaRosa's High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Coombs, a Reading Sorrentos Hamilton County Sports Hall of Famer, was an assistant coach at the old Greenhills High School and Lakota High Schools before accepting the head coach duties at Loveland High School in 1989.
Coombs graduated from the University of Dayton in 1983. He was part of the Flyers' 1980 NCAA Division III national championship.
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