Shane McComb Era ends at Palm Desert; football coach takes new job in Alabama

Palm Desert High School football coach Shane McComb has taken a new job as the head football coach at Oak Mountain High School in Birmingham, Alabama.

McComb coached the Aztecs for seven seasons, turning them into a desert power, including six consecutive league titles. He said the time was right to be "uncomfortable" again.

"I felt like for me to make the next step as a coach and as a person, I had to make myself uncomfortable, if you know what I mean, and there's so much truth to that," said McComb, who was 27 when he arrived in the desert and is now 34 and getting married in March. "I've become very comfortable here, and I don't want to become complacent in what I do. I want to get better at what I do, and I want to build on that. For the kids here at Palm Desert, I hope they understand that. And for the kids I raise, I want them to know that dad continued to try to make himself better."

McComb's hiring at Oak Mountain was approved by the school board Thursday night. His Aztecs coaching tenure ends immediately, and McComb will move to Alabama in April.

"We were excited with Coach McComb's passion for young people and his will to see them be successful," said Oak Mountain principal Andrew Gunn. "His emphasis on building a successful program from the ground up starting in the weight room was something we felt would fit our school's needs. We also felt Shane's passion and disposition would fit our community."

Palm Desert athletic director Estevan Valencia said he will post the job opening as soon as possible, and doesn't want the opening to linger too long.

"Hate to see Shane go, of course, but when you have a lot of success like that, obviously people are going to be interested," Valencia said. "I think this job will be highly sought after both from local candidates and people outside the desert, and that's due to the program being in such good shape thanks to coaches like McComb and Pat Blackburn before him."

Looking back

McComb, who will finish with a career record of 53-21 at Palm Desert, will remember his time in the desert fondly. Obviously, the success on the gridiron is part of that.

After going 3-7 his first year, and 2-4 in league play, McComb's Aztecs went 50-14, including 29-2 in league games. That stretch included a record 23-game league winning streak. He had a 4-5 record in nine playoff games and a 5-2 mark in seven Victory Flag rivalry games against La Quinta.

If you know anything about McComb, you won't be surprised to know that the games he remembers most are two frustrating losses.

"Talking about wins and losses over the years, the two games I always look back on are San G in 2018 and Santa Barbara in 2019," McComb said, referring to a second-round playoff loss to San Gorgonio in 2018 and a second-round playoff loss to Santa Barbara in 2019. "I feel like those are two years we definitely could have won our CIF championships, but that's me, always looking at the negative. We've had a lot of wins, too, and I'm proud of all of them, and all the hard work our kids put in to get them."

McComb said when he looks back fondly on his seven years in the desert, things that come to front of mind are the relationships he built with his players and staff, the bonding road trips to places like Texas, Arizona and Utah, and just the fact that the Palm Desert program is back on its feet.

"We worked hard and I'm proud of the relationships I've built, of course, but also taking the program to the next level," McComb said. "I mean people in the inland empire and Orange County now know who Palm Desert is. We got to go play at Permian in Texas, and Arizona, and Utah. Just those memories that those kids will have forever. I've had the same group of coaches with me the last few years, some the last six and a couple all seven years. They have done absolutely everything I asked of them and had my back and been the most loyal group of guys that I can ask for. And that's made everything we've done here that much more special."

Looking ahead

While the school size of McComb's new home is actually a little smaller than Palm Desert High with around 1,600 students, football is king in that part of the world.

Oak Mountain, which went 3-7 last year, plays in the same league with two of the top high school teams in the nation in Thompson and Hoover. McComb has done his research. He knows they can get around 10,000 fans for home games and road games. He knows they have an award-winning band that travels to road games. He was impressed by the facilities and the practice area, and, McComb's favorite place, the weight room.

McComb said when he paid the campus a visit in December he was impressed by the focus on football that the school and the community displayed.

"I'm going to a region that has some of the best high school football and some of the best high school coaches you're going to find, and it's going to challenge me," McComb said. "It's also an area, and you know this is important to me, where everything is football and it shows in the facilities, it shows in the commitment that the principal and school district is going to have. Every license plate has 'Roll Tide' on it. You go to a nice restaurant and people are wearing Alabama football sweaters. You get it."

Speaking about Alabama football, McComb already checked it out, and it's 50 miles from the Oak Mountain High School football field to Tuscaloosa where the Crimson Tide play.

"It's going to be a lot of work the first couple of years, there's no doubt," McComb said about his new squad. "But when we do find that success, it's going to be like no other feeling in a place like that and in a region like that."

So the McComb Era is over in Palm Desert. McComb said he'll never forget the time he spent in the desert and the way the community and the kids he coached embraced him.

"Of course, we had some great players here, but for the most part it's just guys that wanted to be good high school players. But what I respect the most, and will look back on 30 years from now, it's those guys that just wanted to give everything to this program. That buy-in we got from them, those are the type of memories I'm going to look back on," McComb said. "It's not going to be all the wins or the couple CIF championships that got away. I'm going to look back on the kids and the coaches that we had. Palm Desert allowed me to get something done here. I've poured my heart and soul into this place, and it's allowed me to take this next step in my career. It's something I will never forget."

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

McComb at Palm Desert

2016: 3-7 overall, 2-4 league

2017: 10-2 overall, 6-0 league

2018: 11-1 overall, 5-0 league

2019: 8-4 overall, 5-0 league

2020: 5-0 overall, 5-0 league

2021: 8-4 overall, 4-1 league

2022: 8-3 overall, 4-1 league

Notable: Finished with a 53-21 overall mark ... went 31-2 in final 33 league games, including a record six straight league titles and a record 23-game league winning streak ... had a 4-5 playoff record ... had a 5-2 record in Victory Flag games.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Football coach Shane McComb departs Palm Desert for new job in Alabama