Kerry Coombs: The Head Coach 'Matters Less Than Who Sits In That Locker'

'West Side Jesus' brought the passion following Thursday's practice.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Dec 8, 2022 5:09 PM EST

CINCINNATI — Interim UC head football coach Kerry Coombs brought his usual passion at practice on Thursday, and it showed through in his media discussion.

The longtime Cincinnati football figure is putting all his work over the next 10 days into making sure the remainder of the 2022 roster is ready to roll against Louisville.

Coombs appears completely focused on Fenway Bowl preparation, despite lingering questions about where he'll coach next. He declined to give any insight into his future.

"I gotta be honest with you—it ain't about me," Coombs told the media on Thursday. "It's not. It's about those kids and those coaches, and I couldn't be more proud of them. I am happy every day that I am in this building and I get to go to work with them...This town, this university, everybody should be incredibly proud of them. That's how my two weeks has gone: I've been walking around really proud of a bunch of really, really tough young men."

The Colerain native has worked as a football coach in Ohio his entire career, save for one season (Tennessee Titans DBs coach in 2018).

Most of that has been right here in Cincinnati. Coombs was the head coach at Colerain High School from 1991-06, and coached at Cincinnati from 2007-11, before returning home in 2022.

"West Side Jesus" expanded more in a passionate rant built around what former players have told him amidst all the chaos of a coaching change for a bowl-eligible team.

"I don't mean this as a slight to Luke [Fickell] or Coach Satterfield or Brian Kelly or Mark Dantonio or Butch Jones or anybody else. It matters less who sits at the end of the hall, than who sits in that locker," Coombs said about the perspective of former players. "Those kids, that team, that has been the mantra, and they believe it because it's true and when those guys reminded me of that, you know, when you hear from those former players, and they remind you of that, and the pride that they have in the team. It's really, really cool."

It's hard to think of a better person associated with UC football to guide the Bearcats through bowl season. Coombs should have whoever ends up running out of the Fenway tunnel fired up to play for Cincinnati one last time in 2022.

"So that's what this is all about," Coombs concluded. "It really is. It's about those kids, and it should be right. They've earned it. They won the games. They earned the bowl trip. It should be about the kids."

UC kicks off the Fenway Bowl next Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on ESPN. The game is available via fuboTV—start your free trial here.

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