McCombs new head coach at Valley

McCombs, who left Benjamin Russell and had multiple subsequent job opportunities fall by the wayside during the summer, said he and his wife, Lori, were heading to the lawyer’s office to close on their house in Alexander City at about 3 p.m. when his phone rang and Riley was on the other end.

McCombs had been recommended and approved as Valley’s new head football coach and athletic director at the school board meeting Thursday.

“It’s been an eventful day,” McCombs said. “The timing of this has been a godsend.

“It’s been an interesting summer, but it ended great.”

It’s about to get even more interesting for the 40-year-old McCombs.

He’s stepping into a situation with a brand-new team that is only 10 days removed from the resignation of former coach and athletic director Roger McDonald.

And McCombs is taking over with only three days to go until fall practice starts Monday.

“You can always approach things one of two ways: ‘Oh God, I can’t get this done,’ or, ‘Oh God, thank you for this challenge,’” McCombs said. “This is going to be a unique situation, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

McCombs, a graduate of Pinson Valley that went to UAB but didn’t play college ball, — “It wasn’t a good recruiting year for 165-pound linebackers who didn’t run real well,” he said — was an assistant at Pinson and then for 10 years under Jack Wood at Hewitt-Trussville.

He got his first head coaching job at Glencoe in 1999, then moved to Gardendale (2000-01) and Geneva (2003-06) before coming to Benjamin Russell (2007-08).

McCombs said he left Russell because his wife had lost her job, and he found a situation he felt was workable for he and his family at Etowah.

He was hired in late May but — despite the best efforts of both sides, he said — couldn’t come to an agreement and resigned a little more than a week later.

“It was a big miscommunication,” McCombs said. “That fell through, and I hate that it did.”

McCombs has a 69-34 record in nine years as a head coach, including trips to the state quarterfinals with Gardendale (2001) and Geneva (2005).

Valley principal Jim Davidson, who worked with McCombs at Benjamin Russell the past two years, said he is looking forward to continuing their relationship.

Davidson said McCombs will have his first meeting with the team today at 4:30 p.m. at the field house.

“I know (the players) have got to have a million question marks right now,” McCombs said. “The situation is unprecedented: I’ve never heard of it happening like this, this late. My job is to alleviate any concerns they have.

“Someone is in charge now, so it’s time to get to work.”

McCombs said he is going to have to rely heavily on his staff in the coming days to get to know Valley’s system and its players, not only for their athletic ability, but for their character.

“The challenge in team-building is like building a family, and I want to get that process started in earnest (today) and hit the ground running Monday,” McCombs said. “I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to do it.