Cal McCombs (born August 4, 1945) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player and coach. He was the 29th head football coach for the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

(VMI) in Lexington, Virginia, serving for seven seasons, from 1999 to 2005, compiling a record of 19–60. He lives in Isle of Palms, South Carolina with his wife Lynne. A native of Belton, South Carolina, McCombs is a 1967 graduate of The Citadel, where he earned five varsity letters in football and track. As a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in football, he was an All-

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

and All-State selection. McCombs was inducted into The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988. McCombs was the secondary coach at The Citadel from 1971 to 1983 under head coaches Red Parker, Bobby Ross, and Art Baker and also coached track for two years. He next served as secondary coach and defensive coordinator at the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Un ...

before being named head football coach at VMI in 1998. He was a scout with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

for five years after leaving college coaching. In 2015, he served as a coach in the Medal of Honor Bowl played at The Citadels Johnson Hagood Stadium

Head coaching record

Football

References

1945 births Living people American football defensive backs Air Force Falcons football coaches Denver Broncos scouts The Citadel Bulldogs football coaches The Citadel Bulldogs football players The Citadel Bulldogs track and field coaches The Citadel Bulldogs men's track and field athletes VMI Keydets football coaches Sportspeople from Charleston County, South Carolina {{1990s-collegefootball-coach-stub