Brayden Coombs is the new Detroit Lions special teams coordinator. The youthful coach was hired on Saturday to replace the departed John Bonamego. He comes to the Lions from the Cincinnati Bengals, where he has worked in various capacities since 2009.

To get more info on the newest member of the Lions coaching staff, I turned to Bengals Wire and editor Chris Roling. He covered Coombs throughout his tenure in Cincinnati.

His high opinion of Coombs is really encouraging, highlighting the breadth of his coaching experience beyond just working with special teams.

The Lions are getting a really interesting up-and-coming coach in Brayden Coombs. His father, Kerry, is something of local-area legend for his work at the high school level (Colerain) before going on to Ohio State, then the Tennessee Titans. Brayden is only 33 but he had been with the Bengals since 2009 (after playing wideout at Miami in Ohio). He worked with both sides of the ball, then closely with special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons (now assistant head coach to Zac Taylor).

Brayden Coombs has experience not only with both sides of the ball, but working as a gameday scout and a quality control coach who had a hand in offensive game plans. Brayden has massive upside as a coach at his current clip and it’s the next best thing after plucking Simmons himself from the Bengals (not happening).

It should say a lot Brayden was one of only seven coaches Zac Taylor kept from the last staff. Simmons is one of the highest-regarded special teams minds in the NFL but he wants to stay local — another team swooping in for Brayden was just a matter of time.

Thanks to Roling for the information!