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When recruiting a prospective student-athlete, a college football coach is almost always recruiting that young man’s parents and his high school coach as well. Ohio State defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs has filled all three of those roles at different stages of his life, and that experience is part of what helped him earn Rivals.com’s Recruiter of the Year award for 2017.

Coombs was a key member of an Ohio State staff that recruited the second-ranked class in the Rivals.com team recruiting rankings and nearly overtook perennial powerhouse Alabama for the top spot. His contribution to that effort included being the lead recruiter for four-stars Isaiah Pryor, Marcus Williamson, Amir Riep and Kendall Sheffield along with three-stars Jerron Cage and Blake Haubeil. Coombs also gave key assists in the recruitments of five-stars Jeffrey Okudah and Shaun Wade, along with helping flip four-star linebacker Pete Werner.

“Ohio State did its best job ever recruiting nationally this year and Coombs was a huge part of that in addition to some key work locally as well,” Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Mike Farrell said. “Kids like his enthusiasm and they certainly take notice of what he and the Buckeyes do when it comes to putting players in the NFL."

Years before he was recruiting players to the college ranks, though, Coombs was watching his own players go through that process as a state championship-winning head coach at Cincinnati’s Colerain High School.

“The biggest single advantage that a (former) high school coach has is he has seen everybody recruit,” Coombs said. “I was exposed to so many different talents and tremendous recruiters who came through my office that I’d like to think I learned from them. I saw what kids liked, enjoyed and appreciated and what they didn’t and what parents liked, enjoyed and appreciated and didn’t.”

One of those recruiting role models Coombs holds a lot of respect for is former Purdue head coach Joe Tiller, whom Coombs said, “left a great impression on me.” Another was his current boss at Ohio State, Urban Meyer. Their paths crossed when Meyer was leading Bowling Green’s program and he drove himself to Colerain to meet with Coombs.

In an era when head coaches are usually accompanied by their assistant coaches or at least someone to drive them from the airport and back, Meyer’s personal approach and willingness to recruit in the trenches impressed Coombs even then. He sees that approach carrying over to the current staff in Columbus.

“I promise you, the best recruiter on our staff is our head coach,” Coombs remarked. “And we have eight other assistant coaches that they grind and they work. The great thing about our place is I know every other guy is working as hard as I am on the recruiting process, and we’re all working it together.”