Ohio State football: How Kerry Coombs will do as sole DC

Now that Kerry Coombs is the only Defensive Coordinator of the Ohio State football team, will he be able to shine?

Everyone knows that the secondary is what held back the Ohio State football team from winning the national title last season. DeVonta Smith killed the Buckeyes in the first half and they were never able to get back in it after his monster performance.

That poor performance was laid at the feet of Kerry Coombs. Coombs spent last season as the Co-Defensive Coordinator in addition to coaching the secondary. The secondary underperformed the entire season and it finally caught up to them in that final game.

Gone now is Greg Mattison, who was the other Co-Defensive Coordinator. Now it’s just Coombs running the show. Coombs has also shifted the defensive back to a 4-2-5 which is what Coach Ryan Day wanted to run after it was so effective back in 2019.

It’s up to Coombs to get this defense back to where it should be in 2021. He doesn’t have any excuses left. The personnel wasn’t great in 2020, but that also falls at the feet of Coombs. Coaching should improve their performance and it’s up to Coombs to do that.

If Coombs can get the defense back to playing good, not elite but just good, this team might be able to win it all in 2021. The offense is loaded, even with a new quarterback taking the helm. It’ll be up to the defense to hold up their end of the bargain.

Coombs will need to show that he is the man to lead the defense this season. If the defense struggles again, or somehow gets worse, Coombs could be searching for a new job when 2023 rolls around. He might get one more year, but would definitely be gone the following year.

I fully expect Coombs to coach very well this season and get the Buckeyes back to playing great defense. I would be shocked to see them performing poorly again, especially in the secondary.