BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Usually, the path to become a college football head coach involves spending time as a player, part-time assistant, full-time assistant and coordinator before finally reaching the ultimate goal. At the same time, each of these stops usually takes that person all across the country in search of a big break. Rarely is that person able to accomplish all of their career goals at one school.

Towson University head coach Gordy Combs is the exception.

When Towson hosts Morgan State next Saturday, Combs will begin his 37th year as a member of the Towson football family. This includes three as a player, 19 as an assistant coach and the last 15 as head coach.

“This is a great place to be,” said Combs, who has been with Towson for 376 of its 385 career games. “I just never imagined I would be able to do all that I’ve done at one school. That just doesn’t happen in this business.”

In Combs’ years at the helm, Towson has gone 79-69 and had just four losing seasons. Making this success even more impressive are the circumstances surrounding Combs’ tenure. He went from defensive coordinator to head coach in 1992 at a time when Towson nearly eliminated the football program. After going 5-5 his rookie season, the Tigers put together their best stretch in history by going a combined 16-4 over the next two years. This included wins over NCAA playoff teams Delaware and Howard in 1993.

“That was a great injustice that year,” Combs said. “I’ll never understand how we beat those teams and don’t get into the tournament.”

By 1995, Towson had phased out scholarships for football before joining the ECAC Intercollegiate Football Conference. The Tigers then jumped up in competition in 1997 when they joined the Patriot League. Combs suffered through his first two losing seasons as a head coach before adjusting once again to make Towson competitive, going 29-26 over the team’s last five years in the conference.

Combs then led Towson into it toughest challenge yet when it joined the Atlantic-10 in 2004. The Tigers were now in the toughest Division I-AA conference in the country, and worse yet, they had to compete against schools full of scholarship players.

Towson was at a heavy competitive disadvantage, and it showed. The team went 3-8, including 0-8 in conference play. At the same time, the move to the A-10 may have been the final piece of the puzzle that Combs was looking for to make Towson an elite football program.

Along with bringing scholarships back (all 63 will be in place by next year), Towson plays its home games at Unitas Stadium, a $32 million, 11,000-seat facility that was completed in 2003, giving the school one of, if not the best, facility in the conference.

“I’ve always felt that if we had everything in place — the stadium, an elite conference association and a full compliment of scholarships — we could compete with any I-AA school in the country,” Combs said.

Unfortunately for Combs, there was a time when he thought he might not get the chance to enjoy the fruits of his labor, which included helping transition the program from Division III to Division II in 1979 before moving to Division I-AA in 1987. There were rumors that Combs would be fired if he didn’t show improvement last season. Towson’s players rose to the occasion and finished the year at 6-5, including A-10 wins over Delaware, Villanova and Rhode Island.

“Last year had to be one of the most rewarding years in my career,” Combs said. “I felt we had been close to putting something together, but we needed that one win to develop the confidence of our players.”

Ron Snyder is a staff writer for The Examiner. He can be reached at rsnyder@baltimoreexaminer.com.