The Cincinnati Bearcats named cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs as the team's interim head coach after Luke Fickell took the open job for the Wisconsin Badgers football program, according to a Sunday tweet from ESPN College Football Senior writer Pete Thamel.
Luke Fickell was hired over Wisconsin interim head coach Jim Leonhard after earning a 9-3 record with the Bearcats this season. The three time AAC Head Coach of the Year spent five years with Cincinnati, making one of the largest turnarounds in program history after taking a program that went 4-8 in his first year to a 10-2 record and a Military Bowl win in 2018.
A former Tennessee Titans and Ohio State Buckeyes coach, Kerry Coombs was hired in February 2022 to replace now-Ohio State safeties coach Perry Eliano. Coombs was the Bearcats' defensive backs coach from 2007-08 before being promoted to associate head coach, defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator from 2009-11. He coached for the Ohio State Buckeyes as a cornerbacks coach in 2012 before being promoted to the team's special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach from 2013-17.
Coombs' love for all things Cincinnati kept him connected to the city even after taking roles with the Titans and the Buckeyes, making him a good fit for Fickell's prioritization of “hiring those with ties and equity in the program.”
The news broke one day after a three-point Tulane victory snapped the five-year home winning streak Cincinnati's football program built up over 32 games.
“(Games like these) are what we build off of,” Fickell said after a 28-24 “battle” with the University of South Florida. “This is a large mountain to climb, and our players understand that.
“They’ve been in situations like these before. We know what it’s like when everybody’s swinging at you… We’re thankful to have the crowd to keep us in this thing, seal the deal and make important plays.”
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