No one has to tell Phil Rombach about the magnitude of his job in replacing Ken Potter as Jesuit's football coach.
Rombach has seen Jesuit football from many angles, as a Crusaders ballboy in the 1990s, as a member of the first of Potter's four state championship teams in 2000, and as the son of one of Potter's assistant coaches, Gary Rombach.
The 2002 Jesuit graduate knows first-hand how Potter influenced players during a decorated 39-year tenure that included a state-record 368 wins and 34 Metro League titles.
“It's about molding young men and preparing them for life,” Rombach said. “Coach Potter and the staff here have had a big impact on me, on why I coach and how I coach, and the importance of football in my life.”
The task of carrying Jesuit football into the future falls on Rombach, whose hiring was announced last week. He becomes the sixth coach in the 68-year history of the program.
“I'm super thankful for the opportunity and kind of humbled by it,” he said. “I'm just ready to get to work with this next group of guys and coaches and do our best to keep that legacy and tradition of excellence moving forward.”
Rombach played in college at Linfield, helping the Wildcats win the 2004 national title and receiving all-conference honors as a middle linebacker in 2006. He joined the Linfield coaching staff, assisting for 16 seasons, before spending the last three seasons as the head coach at St. Michael's Academy in Austin, Texas.
Early this year, Rombach returned to the Linfield staff under coach Joseph Smith while pursuing the Jesuit job.
“Coach Smith was kind enough to let me continue with the interview process, knowing this was my alma mater, and an awesome place to work and coach,” Rombach said. “I'm pretty lucky to have connections to two pretty awesome programs, and be privileged to coach at both of them.”
Rombach said the Jesuit and Linfield programs share a common philosophy.
“That's what attracted me to Linfield,” he said. “The coaches at Linfield have had a dramatic impact on me, as well. I've been really blessed to have a lot of great coaching mentors in my life.”
Rombach wore many hats on the Linfield staff. He started with coaching linebackers and served as the recruiting coordinator, director of operations, strength and conditioning coach, defensive pass coordinator and defensive backs coach.
He said he and his wife, Kristen, “made the decision not to move and chase the Division I jobs, and to stay and put down some roots.”
Rombach looked into high school coaching opportunities in Oregon, but in 2023, he moved with Kristen and their three young children to Texas to take over the St. Michael's program. He has two sons in Mack and Ben, who are in the seventh and third grade, respectively, and a first-grade daughter in Malia.
“There were some great opportunities here along the way, but for whatever reason, they didn't work out,” Rombach said. “Our family is Catholic and we were looking for that type of fit. We went down and loved it. St. Michael's is an awesome place.”
He went 16-16 in three seasons as the coach at St. Michael's, including 5-6 last season. His staff included former Tigard head coach John Kemper, now the offensive line coach at Anderson of Austin.
“I was lucky to get him down there for two seasons,” Rombach said. “His family is pretty settled in there. They're pretty happy there. They're going to stay.”
Rombach said he is still working on building his staff at Jesuit. He spent his first day on campus Tuesday, meeting with coaches and spending time with Potter and athletes at track practice.
“I grew up around Coach Potter and all the guys he's had on his staff,” Rombach said. “It's pretty awesome to come back and work with some of the guys that coached me. There's a phenomenal staff here.”
Jesuit finished 8-3 last season, falling to West Linn in the state quarterfinals. Among the players eligible to return is running back Luke Ortner, who rushed for 2,057 yards and 24 touchdowns as a junior in 2025.
jerryu@osaa.org
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