Michigan has hired a former beloved Ohio State football coach...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Ohio State assistant coach Kerry Coombs is switching sides in college football’s greatest rivalry. He’s been hired as Michigan’s new special teams coordinator. Coombs had two stints with the Buckeyes, first under Urban Meyer from 2012-17, developing a handful of first-round NFL Draft picks in the secondary. He returned as defensive coordinator under Ryan Day from 2020-21, though his second stint wasn’t nearly as fruitful as he was stripped of play-calling duties two games into the 2021 season. He spent the last three seasons coaching at Cincinnati. Now the man who’s coached at both the high school and college level in Ohio is heading to a team he spent so many years gameplanning against. This is the second time since Sherrone Moore took over the Wolverines’ program that he’s hired someone close to the Buckeyes. The first was Tony Alford, who spent almost a decade as OSU’s running backs coach before switching sides in the rivalry in the spring of 2024. Coombs went 6-1 in The Game as an Ohio State assistant coach. His first stint in Columbus made him a beloved figure because of his energetic personality and success as a recruiter and developer. His second stint ended in disappointment as he failed to take that jump schematically as the coordinator for two below-average defenses. He’ll return to Columbus next November having chipped at the reputation even more. The once beloved figure has volunteered to be one of the Buckeyes’ biggest enemies.