When Kyle Whittingham had his introductory press conference when he was named as the new head coach, he said that two or three coaches would likely be retained from Sherrone Moore’s staff. He had already retained RB coach Tony Alford and DL coach Lou Esposito, and on Friday night, we found out the third coach to be retained.
Whittingham and his staff were at Michigan’s basketball game against USC on Friday, where he addressed the Crisler Center. Standing with the staff was special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs, wearing his Michigan gear.
Coombs is likely the final coach to be retained under Whittingham. While Michigan hasn’t officially named a LB or secondary coach, both Brian Jean-Mary and LaMar Morgan have reportedly been told they wouldn’t be retained.
Coombs at Michigan
Coombs hasn’t been in Ann Arbor long, but he’s made a great impression. Following Michigan’s loss to Ohio State, former head coach Sherrone Moore made the move to fire JB Brown as the special teams coordinator. The Wolverines were awful this season under Brown and Moore had to make a move.
Not too long after, he made a splash hire by naming former Ohio State coach Kerry Coombs the new STC.
Coombs, who had been working with Michigan since his hire, made his debut in the Citrus Bowl against Texas. Coombs’ unit looked engaged and it was the best performance from the special teams all season. Kicker Dominic Zvada did miss a field goal, but Michigan’s blocking, punting, and return game were all improved under Coombs’ leadership.
More on Coombs
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.
Most recently, Coombs was the special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach at Cincinnati from 2022-24. In 2023, his cornerbacks battled through injuries throughout the season with five different players earning their first career starts. UC still finished fourth in the Big 12 in pass defense. On special teams, punter Mason Fletcher earned All-Big 12 honorable mention and kicker Carter Brown converted 15-of-19 field goals.
With Coombs on staff, he has familiarity with recruiting in the Midwest. As a top-tier recruiter, Coombs will help Michigan continue its strong recruiting in the area, and he can help work with the secondary.
