DEEP RUN — David Combs has been a journeyman since graduating from Southern Wayne High School in 2006.
Now the head baseball coach at South Lenoir, the two-sport star feels his journey is over.
Combs, who was officially named the head coach of the Blue Devils on Monday, has taken an interesting and eventful trip from his last day as a student in Dudley to his first day as a South Lenoir physical education teacher last semester.
He has played baseball at two separate colleges and even did a stint in football at one of the nation’s top Football Championship Subdivision schools.
Then there were the opportunities to continue his baseball career post college in the independent leagues.
In the end, however, coaching and mentoring kids younger than the 25-year-old Wayne County native was where his future sat.
“I was just ready to get into coaching,” the 6-foot, right-handed former reliever for Mount Olive College and Lenoir Community College said.
“It’s always been a dream of mine (to be a coach), even when I played in college. I was studying the game just because I knew I wanted to be the coach. This is a great opportunity.”
Opportunities in athletics have been abundant for Combs.
After receiving his high school diploma from Southern Wayne, Combs had already made plans to pitch for MOC. But during the Trojans’ fall workouts and schedule, something just didn’t feel right — he wanted to play football.
Combs played middle linebacker at Southern Wayne and received interest from Appalachian State, the winner of the Division I-AA national championship his senior year. When a spot opened up on the Mountaineers’ roster, they gave Combs, who was at MOC at the time, a call, he said.
Wanting to get his football fix, Combs left Mount Olive following the fall semester and traveled to Boone, he said, where he enrolled in spring classes and participated in spring football.
But it took only one semester for him to realize that Boone wasn’t where he was supposed to be, either.
“It just wasn’t the right fit, I guess,” Combs said.
Having enrolled in two four-year schools in the same school year (2006-07), Combs’ only choice after leaving ASU was to enroll at a junior college and he chose LCC. Combs had to try out to play baseball and he made the squad.
Like many standout college pitchers, Combs began his career as a catcher. But once Lancers coach Stony Wine saw him pitch — it took only two innings of work in the fall, Combs said — Wine knew he had a diamond in the rough.
A high-80s fastball and a “nasty slider” helped LCC reach the NJCAA Division II World Series in Millington, Tenn., in 2008 — Combs’ only season with the Lancers.
They finished runners-up nationally to LSU-Eunice that season.
“He was a guy who solidified our bullpen and won us a lot of games,” Wine said. “At a questionable point (during a game), he got in there and kind of held down the fort.
“He was an integral part of our success to making the World Series. He was sometimes untouchable.”
After helping LCC reach the pinnacle of the junior college baseball season, Combs went back to Mount Olive — this time as a pitcher — and again helped his team to success.
In his three seasons with the Trojans, they won back-to-back Carolinas Conference titles in 2010 and 2011 and finished third in the NCAA Division II National Championships his senior year.
Had he remained at MOC originally, he would have been a part of its 2008 national championship team. Had he stayed in Boone, he would have been a part of a team that defeated then fifth-ranked Michigan to open the season and won the third of three straight national titles in 2007.
But he doesn’t regret his choices at all.
“It’s kind of crazy because I could have been a part of those national championships. I’m like (the movie) “Good Luck Chuck” for national championships,” Combs said.
“It would have been cool to be a part of those teams, but it just wasn’t meant to be. It just wasn’t the right fit at the right time.”
Combs has now found his fit, conducting offseason workouts with the Blue Devils — official practice begins on Feb. 13 — while fulfilling his dream of becoming a head coach.
Wine feels the first-year coach will do well, just like he did at LCC.
“He could sling it (and) he had a good work ethic,” Wine said, referring to Combs’ ability to pitch.
“He should do fine. He’s got the mentality to communicate well and be a teacher of the game.”
Combs says he has no intentions of leaving Deep Run anytime soon.
That’s one of the big reasons he was given the job.
“The one thing we were looking for is long term,” said SL Athletic Director Lisa Smith, who had to find her second baseball coach in as many years. “One of the things that we did like is that he’s from this area and he wants to be here. He’s going to be here as long as he’s wanted here.”
A journey that began almost seven years ago has landed Combs in a tiny community known for its love of the local high school.
It may have taken Combs a while to find his way to Deep Run, but now he believes it can be his home.
“I’m planning on being here for a good while. I don’t see any reason why I’d leave,” he said. “They have a great staff, great school, a great community.
“There’s not going to be a whole lot better of a high school job to be honest.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.