Ohio State football: With return of Coombs, can Buckeyes maintain defensive improvement?

>>READ MORE: Ohio State coaching staff complete again

The 2018 Ohio State defense allowed more points (25.5) and yards (403.4) per game than any unit in school history. Those figures ranked 51st (tied) and 72nd in the nation, respectively, while the Buckeyes were 86th in passing yards allowed per game (245.2) and 42nd in opponent passing efficiency (122.24).

Last season, the Buckeyes finished No. 1 in the nation in total defense (259.7 ypg.), passing yards allowed (156) and opponent passing efficiency (97.5) while finishing fourth in scoring defense (13.7 ppg.).

New co-coordinators Greg Mattison and Jeff Hafley were largely credited with the turnaround with strong contributions from fellow newcomers to the staff Al Washington and Matt Barnes.

While Mattison’s expertise is the front seven, Hafley handled the secondary.

Hafley was viewed as a success both in terms of overhauling the scheme Ohio State played in the secondary and developing the talented players that had been recruited in no small part by Coombs.

“On the season, I think it was a success,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said last week in his first meeting with reporters since the Buckeyes lost to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. "We installed that new scheme, and I thought it was really well done across the board. I wish we had done a couple more things in that last game that would have helped us win the game. But at the end of the day I thought it was a great start and now we've got to build on it.”

>>RELATED: Numbers to know from the 2019 season 

While Mattison put his spin on the 4-3 front Ohio State has run some version of since the mid 1990s, Hafley moved the secondary to a new look with a single high safety deep, two cornerbacks and a “slot corner” in place of the traditional strong safety.

From that look, Ohio State mixed straight man-to-man coverage with a hybrid Cover 3 zone he brought with him from the San Francisco 49ers, a scheme Day has said he wants the Buckeyes to maintain moving forward.

“Yeah, that's kind of our base,” Day said last week. “We definitely can get to a two-high (safety) look and we will. We're going to diversify a little bit more this year, but certainly we don't want to change our philosophy. We kind of built that this year. We thought we made some great strides there. Certainly not perfect, but we’re going to keep the structure of what it is now, but we're going to diversify a little bit as we move forward.”

In Coombs’ first tenure in Columbus from 2012-17, three different secondary coaches deployed different looks, but some form of man coverage was typically a major part of them all.

He and Mattison, who also has NFL experience in his 50-year coaching career, are likely to work together to craft the 2020 strategy with much input from returning second-year assistants Al Washington and Matt Barnes along with long-time defensive line coach Larry Johnson, who also has the title of associate head coach.

>>RELATED: Buckeyes’ season ends in Fiesta Bowl | 7 Takeaways | Mistakes add to sting of loss

Of the returning Ohio State defensive backs, Coombs has already coached Shaun Wade, Amir Riep and Marcus Williamson, who will be fourth-year collegians this year, and he recruited Josh Proctor, Tyreke Johnson, Marcus Hooker and Sevyn Banks before taking the Titans job two years ago.

That familiarity could come in handy as Coombs’ return to Columbus will coincide with a big rebuilding project. Three starters must be replaced, but Wade provides a major building block.

Wade was a standout at slot corner last season, but Day said he will play outside this year, a move that should bolster his NFL Draft stock.

Coombs, who was known as a tenacious recruiter during his college coaching days, also is likely to prioritize getting Cameron Martinez to sign with Ohio State on Feb. 5.

Martinez, a four-star athlete from Muskegon, Mich., verbally committed to Ohio State in July but opted not to sign a national letter of intent in December after Hafley's departure.

Although he is reportedly being recruited by Northwestern and Notre Dame according to rivals.com, Martinez remains verbally committed to Ohio State.

While the Buckeyes wait for his final decision, three freshmen defensive backs are already in school and taking part in winter workouts — Lejond Cavazos, a cornerback from San Antonio via IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and fellow four-stars Kourt Williams (Bellflower, Calif./St. John Bosco) and Ryan Watts (Little Elm, Texas) — and expected to vie for playing time this fall.

If quotes from the Titans are any indication, Coombs will be missed in Tennessee.

"I think I was a special player for him, and I think he was a special coach for me," Titans cornerback Logan Ryan told The Tennesseean after commending Coombs for the way he won over veterans in his first NFL job.

“To kind of work with us and our veteran group that we had and our stubbornness, he helped us build a brotherhood.

“He’s a great motivator, a great leader of men and that’s exactly what he brought.”