Michigan special teams coach Kerry Coombs weathers job chaos, rivalry jabs

Detroit — Michigan special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs had three coaching opportunities late last year, but the longtime Ohio high school coach who had been part of the Ohio State and Cincinnati staffs and was well-versed in the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, was drawn to the Wolverines. He was hired last year on Dec. 6 and began preparing the special teams players for the upcoming bowl game.

Four days later, head coach Sherrone Moore was fired for an inappropriate relationship with his executive assistant . The program was in upheaval, and Coombs wasn’t sure what this meant for his future. Kyle Whittingham, who had been Utah’s head coach the last 21 years, was hired Dec.

26 , and while Coombs was certainly familiar with him, they did not know each other and didn’t know if he’d be retained. “It was an odd time, to say the least, and someday when I write my book, it'll have a couple of chapters,” Coombs said recently during a stop in Detroit at Horatio Williams Foundation, where he joined his fellow Michigan assistants to meet the Detroit public school football coaches. “We had made the decision to come up here, and we were excited about that, and in a span of, really, 72 hours, our world got turned upside down and had no idea what we were going to do.

” Coombs, noted for his high-energy, positive approach, coached the bowl game, and it was the best overall performance by Michigan’s special teams all season. He had leaned on his faith while weighing his three professional options, and that, ultimately, led him to Ann Arbor. “I was praying that God would put me where I was needed and where I would be happy, and so I think this is where I was needed,” Coombs said.