Phil Rombach takes over as Jesuit High head football coach

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Jesuit football head coach Phil Rombach may be new to the faculty, but he is hardly new to the high school.

“For us getting the call and having the opportunity to come back here, which is essentially home to us, was pretty amazing,” reflected Phil Rombach.

Him and his wife, Kristin, both graduated from Jesuit in the early 2000s.

Phil’s background at the school though goes all the way back to 1990. That’s when his father Gary started as a math teacher and went on to become the Crusader’s Dean of Students, all while coaching the freshman football team along the way.

“I was probably eight years old when I first was here at Jesuit High School,” said Phil. “I kind of grew up on the sidelines watching Coach Potter work, watching Coach Potter build Jesuit football into the program that it is today.”

However, what drew Rombach back to Jesuit goes beyond what he saw on that sideline.

Or, maybe it was playing out on the sideline as well.

“The overall mission of the school is something I believe in deeply. Having grown up here, been around that, been rooted in that for really my entire life, it’s something that’s really special and is definitely the real reason why I’m here at Jesuit High School,” said the father of three. “The football portion of the school is awesome, it’s a fantastic opportunity, but the overall mission of the school is something that I really believe in, and I’m excited to be back here.”

Rombach, who has spent the majority of his career coaching at Linfield, is also excited because he gets to follow in the footsteps Oregon’s all-time winningest football coach and six-time state champion, Ken Potter.

“It’s a pretty awesome opportunity to be able to step in as the head coach following Coach Potter,” said Rombach, who joked in the interview that Potter had emailed him the day before, and he needed to email him back. “We’re going to work our hardest to make sure we’re carrying on the tradition of excellence that Coach Potter established here that’s Jesuit football.”

There is one incredibly key difference between Potter and Rombach.

“I do have a cellphone,” said Rombach with a chuckle about the notoriously cellphone-less Potter. “People have been very excited that I have a cellphone, but when they’re getting calls from me at 8, 9 o’clock at night, I’m not so sure they’re as excited as they once were.”