Long-time Godinez coach Greg Coombs says ‘it’s time’ and looks forward to time with family

Greg Coombs coaches Godinez in a game last January. (File photo Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)

After coaching high school boys basketball for 39 years in the Santa Ana Unified School District, Greg Coombs is ready for a change and grateful for the experiences he’s had.

Coombs, 63, announced Monday he has stepped down as the Godinez High head coach after 10 years to spend more time with his family. He was also head coach for eight years at Santa Ana High School (the Saints did not have a varsity program in his first season) and for 21 years at Century High.

“I don’t know if there is anyone who is as blessed as I have been to have had the privilege and honor of coaching all of the student-athletes as I have over the years,” Coombs said.

“Any successes that I have had is a direct result of my supportive family.”

Coombs retired from teaching two years ago but continued to be a walk-on coach. He said his wife Linda, who he has been married to for almost 33 years, is also retired and he wanted to spend more time with her along with the couple’s daughters Lindsey and Hannah and grand-daughters Willow and Autumn.

Coombs said he was also appreciative to “the coaches who have coached with me in Santa Ana, and my friends in the coaching fraternity.”

Coombs had 628 career victories, led his teams to 10 league titles and his squads qualified for the CIF playoffs 32 times. In 2018, he was inducted into the 2018 Santa Ana Unified School District Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2015, was named the CIF Southern Section Athletic Director of the year.

Coombs was also named the Orange County coach of the year in 2003 by the Orange County Register and in 2018 was presented the CIF Model Coach Award, one of 13 named in the state.

Coombs steps aside from coaching during an uncertain time for high school sports. The coronavirus pandemic has haulted high school sports since March and in response, CIF officials developed a new plan which includes basketball tentatively starting in March 2021.

Coombs said he and his family are healthy and the coronavirus pandemic did not play a major part in his decision and that his family was his top priority at this time.

He had quite a run as a head coach.

After being an assistant coach at Sunny Hills High School, Coombs took his first head coach coaching job out of college at Santa Ana High School, then went to Century to lead the basketball program when the school started.

“I was very fortunate, at such a young age (23), to be selected to coach at Santa Ana High School,” Coombs said.

“I’ve had the privilege of coaching for 38 years (on the varsity) of great young men, student athletes. The successes I have been able to have and anything I’ve had is the result of the assistant coaches who have coached with me over the years and the basketball community in general and all the coaches who have become close friends.

“Those are the reasons you do it. We’ve had a lot of quality young men who have gone on to do great things as fathers and husbands and citizens, and made us very, very proud of them.”

Coombs was able to consistently field winning teams.

“We were really fortunate in that all the kids who played for us bought into what we were trying to do,” he said. “They were willing to do anything that was asked of them, not just to win games, but to be successful in general.

“We had wonderful kids, but it’s just time, somebody else can move forward with it and I’m sure the kids will do great things for Rob (new coach Morgan) and he will do a wonderful job and I look forward to watching their successes in the future.”

Coombs said he hopes that basketball players will be able to compete next season. High school sports have been shuffled around with basketball scheduled to start in March if students return to in-person schooling and conditions allow them to begin.

“We’re eight months away, so hopefully a lot of stuff can change in that amount of time,” Coombs said. “I don’t want to see kids not be able to play, especially their senior year. I’m sure a lot of the kids who haven’t been able to go to practices every day since March or April, they have probably learned a great lesson on perseverance and I think you will find out when you come back a lot of those kids are working as hard or harder on their own than if they were with you every day.”

Coombs was also able to start up basketball tournaments at Century and Godinez, which he expects will continue.

“We were able to start the Holiday Classic, which is still going on. Andres Hernandez, the head coach who played for me, has been able to keep that going, which is wonderful,” Coombs said. “And when I went over to Godinez, we started the Grizzly Invitational, which was a 24-team tournament and that’s been an outstanding tournament for the last 10 years or so.”

Coombs said he realizes he will miss coaching, the players he coached and the coaches he coached with and against.

“I’m not used to having a lot of free time on my hands over the years,” Coombs said. “But I’m also looking forward to it. I’ve already found a lot of things that can be done to keep you busy. It will be different but I’m looking forward to the next chapter. I’m certainly not just going to sit around, but there are a lot of things we would like to do.”

Coombs said he will try and help out in basketball in “any way I can.” He plans to continue being involved with the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association. He has served as the group’s executive director.

Whether or not coaching is in those plans down the road remains to be seen.

“I never say never, but right now we will just see how it goes,” Coombs said. “I’ve been involved in basketball since I played junior college and then started coaching when I was still a teenager almost.”

Coombs said he is convinced this is the right decision and looks back fondly on his career.

“It’s been a really good run,” he said. “The coaching fraternity is second to none. There are so many wonderful people who have become close friends and I’ve gotten more from them than anything I’ve given anybody else. Same thing with the players and my family. Having their support has meant the world to me.”

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com