Scott McVeigh ran a tight ship for 18 seasons at Perkins

The Perkins boys basketball teams had just finished scrimmaging Fremont Ross. The Pirates competed well, but Scott McVeigh wanted to set the tone for the 2009-10 season. There were no flowery pats on the back from the no-nonsense coach when he gathered his freshman, junior varsity and varsity players, only a challenge to get better. "He called everybody cans of corn. He let us know we were average," said Brandon Smith, who was a freshman that season and would go on to be a four-year varsity starter. "He was trying to push us, but at the time I was like, 'I can't believe he said that.' " McVeigh's message was simple: Let's get to work. "Anyone can be a can of corn," he said this week. "You can be better, and obviously that group did get better." Many of the players who were taken to task that day by McVeigh helped Perkins win three straight Sandusky Bay Conference titles starting the following season. The Pirates went 43-1 in the SBC during their memorable three-peat, doing things McVeigh's way. EARLIER THIS WEEK: McVeigh out as Perkins coach, cites parental complaints McVeigh, who was fired last week as Perkins' boys basketball coach after compiling a 237-175 record in 18 seasons, demanded a lot from his players and was not afraid to deliver harsh critiques. Sometimes his methods upset players and parents alike. He said Perkins superintendent Todd Boggs cited "parental complaints" when he was told he wouldn't return to the gym next season. Despite McVeigh's success -- his Perkins teams won five conference titles and two district championships -- he has critics at Perkins. But a group of former players interviewed this week stood by their old coach after the controversial decision that triggered much discussion in the community. Boggs, who is leading the search for McVeigh's replacement, declined an interview request to elaborate on the decision to not renew McVeigh's supplemental contract. "People have been after him for years. It's a different day and age," said Smith, who went on to play at West Liberty University and is now an assistant coach at Glenville State College in West Virginia. "High school coaching is super tough. You've got parents to deal with and they're the ones who pay the money. They have a lot more say than we'd like to admit." Accountability counts Adam Tinker and his teammates were excited about the Pirates' annual intrasquad scrimmage over Christmas break. It was an annual tradition during which players were allowed to relax a little and wear headbands, wristbands and other accessories McVeigh normally did not allow. The players were in their layup lines when McVeigh entered the gym, and the festive tone turned to dread. The players had neglected to complete their normal pre-practice footwork drills, and their coach was not impressed. "He didn't have to say much. Just the look on his face — oh man," said Tinker, who graduated from Perkins in 2009 and now teaches and coaches middle school basketball for Columbus City Schools. "Pack up the balls and get on the line. We were pretty tired after that." There also were rules about shoes and socks, and McVeigh expected his team to represent its school in a classy manner. Accountability. McVeigh lives by that word, and his teams knew it. They had to be clean shaven and long hair was not allowed. The Pirates also were not allowed to wear jewelry, headbands and certainly not leggings, which many players now consider a fashionable part of their uniforms. McVeigh never gave in. "We always aimed to put tough, defensive-minded, disciplined teams on the court and I think we have done that," he said. "We have built a program, not just a team, but a program here. We did the little things right. "If you're in the locker room, make it cleaner when you leave it. You see a piece of trash, pick it up. It's just common courtesy." "Those were the rules. A lot of people didn't like that. I didn't care. I was just there to play basketball," said Austin Spitler, a 2017 graduate and the point guard on McVeigh's last SBC champion. "He wanted to make sure we were a team and represented the school the right way." That was how McVeigh approached things when the public wasn't watching, too. "If you're not touching the line or doing what you're supposed to be doing he doesn't care if you're the best player — you're going to hear about it," Smith said. "He always came off as hard but he had a soft spot. He always got emotional after the season, after we lost in the district or regional." Spitler, who is finishing up his junior year at Ashland University, wants to be a teacher and coach. He said he's learned much from McVeigh. "He may yell at you, but after practice he'd talk man to man. I had zero problems with him as a coach," Spitler said. "It's more than basketball with him. I learned a lot as a man just sitting down talking." Spitler said he'll never forget his Senior Night three years ago. The Pirates defeated St. Paul and were days away from a big road win at Huron that would force a three-way tie atop the conference. "After the game I went up and hugged my mom," Spitler said. "When I came down the stairs Coach McVeigh was waiting. He gave me a hug and said he loved me." Mental toughness Stan Stewart has had a court-side seat for Pirates games for years. The longtime team scorekeeper and former executive director of the SBC said McVeigh's dismissal came as a shock. "He was constantly trying to get the best out of the people there," Stewart said. "It's not easy coaching teenagers. Sometimes they don't want to listen. "Many years ago, the parent said, 'Hey, he's the coach and this is how it's going to be done.' It's not that way anymore." McVeigh, though, insists that players haven't changed since he took the Perkins job in 2002. Parents? That's a different story. "Adults have changed," the social studies teacher said. "They expect less. If you want to see how far society has fallen, go watch a fourth-grade AAU game. I saw a lady throw a chair last spring. Are you kidding me?" McVeigh, who had only one senior on his last Perkins team, said he was told that a decline in player participation also was a reason for his dismissal. He has seen plenty of kids quit through the years and a handful of talented players have transferred. "People quit, but people quit in every sport," Spitler said. 'I didn't see crazy-good talent walking away because of the coach." "Perkins thinks it has a lot of good athletes but there were not great basketball players who didn't play," Smith said. "I think it was the ones who couldn't take him being tough and being held accountable." Smith, who said he was a "hard-headed" kid in high school, played on McVeigh's best team at Perkins — the 2011-12 squad that went 23-3 and advanced to a regional final. He played despite breaking his femur while playing quarterback against Sandusky early in the football season. "That was the best team in Perkins history," Smith said. "I was going to play no matter what." That mental and physical toughness was something McVeigh admired. David Doster, a point guard who also played on the 2011-12 team, would've been a four-year starter but missed his senior season after tearing an ACL late in the football season. He said he had a great relationship with McVeigh, who made him a senior captain while he recovered from knee surgery. "Mental toughness is almost required to thrive under him," Doster said. "A lot of the things schematically revolve around that. He knows he can be himself when he has guys who are mentally tough." Doster took on a student assistant role in his last season, mentoring a young point guard. "He still expected me to be there and do my part," Doster said of his coach. "He expects a lot out of you if you're willing to buy in to that." McVeigh looks back fondly on his successful run at Perkins, which went 1-20 the season before he arrived. "We are the ones that have set the bar," he said. "I cherish a lot of good memories from building this program from a one-win team to taking it to levels that Perkins basketball has never been." McVeigh, who has been busy taking calls from former players and coaching friends he's made during a quarter-century in the demanding business, said he's not sure what's next for him. He's only 48 and is finishing a three-year stint as a district president for the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association. He said Friday that he's been approached by "numerous" schools inside and out of the SBC about coaching again. "It's still too early to make any kind of decision," he said. "Give it time and we'll see what happens. Never say never." ----- Scott McVeigh's coaching highlights at Perkins Career record — 237-175 (18 seasons) SBC championships (5) — 2006-07, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2016-17 District championships (2) — 2012, 2013 Regional runner-up (1) — 2012 (23-3 record)