John Vermilya steps down as Buckley soccer head coach after 16 years

Feb. 21—BUCKLEY — A motion to accept John Vermilya's resignation as varsity soccer coach was approved unanimously and without discussion at the Buckley Community Schools Board of Education meeting Tuesday.

The departure of the longtime coach has been the topic of conversation among many in the Buckley community after Vermilya informed his coaching staff and his players of his decision to resign from his post three weeks ago.

"This happens with every coach. Sooner or later, you go to loggerheads with the administration — usually about something silly — and the administration has to flex its muscles," Vermilya said. "So after 16 years, it was time."

Vermilya alluded to the "loggerheads" situation in a Facebook post announcing his resignation. Vermilya wrote: "Players, Parents, and Legends. Thank you for 16 years of great memories. Please be respectful to the school's leadership in your response to my resignation as coach. This was my decision and adults can agree to disagree, agreeably. Much love to the whole Buckley soccer family."

As word spread through the small northern Michigan town, many in the community eyed Tuesday's board meeting as an opportunity to voice their displeasure regarding the disciplinary actions that were set to be taken against Vermilya and assistant coach Ryan Jones. Some chose to be seen rather than heard as the board meeting became standing-room only by 7 p.m.

During public comment, several spoke about Jones being given a lifetime ban from the sidelines during games but still being allowed at practices and Vermilya being given a four-game suspension to start the girls season after an incident during the Buckley boys team's final game of the 2023 season.

Jones, whom Vermilya refers to as his "best friend" and "the crazy, red-haired Welshman," received a yellow card during that game, which became particularly heated between the Bears and Benzie Central.

Vermilya felt the punishments were not in line with Jones' actions.

"Coaches get yellow cards all the time. Basketball coaches get technicals. That's what a yellow card is. It's a technical," Vermilya said. "There was just some bad communication, misunderstanding."

Vermilya said he heard from Buckley Athletic Director Todd Frazee about the sideline ban for Jones and the four-game suspension for him. He asked Frazee for three days to think about it before offering his response.

"I thought about, prayed about it, talked it over with my wife, talked it over with my youngest daughter — who's a senior soccer player this year — and they were 100 percent supportive," he said. "And I just said, 'I'm done.'"

Before Tuesday's meeting, Frazee said he could not comment on the situation.

"I'm not allowed to talk about it," Frazee said, citing employee privacy concerns. "I cannot discuss any of that."

Frazee did say that Vermilya has given a lot of his time and commitment to the program while finding championship success on the boys side and starting the girls co-op program with Mesick.

"He's done a lot for the program," Frazee said, adding that one of Vermilya's biggest strengths as a coach was building good relationships with his players. "He was able to connect with them on both the boys and girls side and foster a lot of accountability to the young men and women for life outside of soccer."

Frazee said he was not completely surprised to receive Vermilya's resignation, but he admitted he was "a little surprised."

"I never question people who decide to move on," he said. "There are always circumstances that you don't know about in their lives, and so you just always appreciate those people for the time and commitment that they do put in."

Vermilya said that he wrote in his resignation letter that he felt the "punitive measures" taken by the administration "targeted" him and Jones. He said they were "excessive, without due process and unprecedented."

"So out of loyalty to my friend and out of principle, I'm going to hang it up after 16 years," Vermilya said. "Our players will go to hell and back for Ryan Jones and John Vermilya. But I have to give credit to Ryan. There's just something about him where he can get them to the edge of that competitive fire while staying within the boundaries of good sportsmanship and how we're trying to represent ourselves on the field."

Vermilya, who is also a pastor at The Tabernacle Church in Buckley, had two separate stints as the soccer coach at Buckley. His second one saw the program show its first signs of life following a winless season and a one-win season in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

The 2013 Bears reached the district championship game with playoff wins against Glen Lake, 2-1, and McBain Northern Michigan Christian, 3-2. But Buckley fell 6-1 in the title game to Leland, which would become the Bears' biggest rival over the next decade.

The 2014 season came with another first-round exit in the districts, and it would be the Leland Comets once again to end the Bears' season in 2015.

Leland knocked off the Bears twice during the 2016 regular season, but both games required two overtimes with the first ending in a 1-0 shootout and the second ending 2-0 after the second extra time.

The Bears did not face Leland in the postseason that year, and they rolled through districts to capture the championship with wins over Pentwater, 4-1, Big Rapids Crossroads, 6-0, and McBain NMC, 2-0, before falling to Muskegon Catholic Central in the first round of regionals, 1-0.

The 2017 season was a special one for the Bears.

Led by a group of five — Austin Harris, Denver Cade, Joey Weber, Ridge Beeman and Brock Beeman — who had taken the Buckley boys basketball team to the state finals in March, the Bears began the season with seven straight wins before a 2-1 loss to Leland.

But the Bears would finally get that monkey off their collective back 16 days later with a 3-0 home victory over the Comets, and they would later knock off Leland in an incredible regional championship match that ended 1-0 after a shootout and brilliant performance by Weber in goal.

Buckley ultimately lost in the state semifinals to Kalamazoo Hackett, 3-1, but advancing to the final four and finishing 20-2-3 was certainly an achievement to be celebrated for a program that suffered a winless season less than a decade previous.

The Bears could not advance out of the districts in 2018, and Leland became a thorn in Buckley's side again in 2019 with an undefeated conference season and knocking the Bears out of the postseason in district play. The Bears repaid that favor in 2021, going 10-0 to win the Vermilya's first Northwest Conference championship and beating Leland, 1-0, for another district title.

The Buckley boys team has bowed out in district action the last two seasons, but Vermilya is also responsible for the resurgence of the girls soccer program at Buckley after the boys team had been co-ed during his tenure.

The Bears' girls squad began in earnest in 2021, going 5-11-1 in their inaugural season and reaching the district championship game after wins over Mason County Central, 7-0, and Big Rapids Crossroads, 2-1. McBain NMC got the best of Buckley in the district title match, 3-1. The next two seasons saw the Bears go 12-16-6.

"We live in that town. We care about that town. We care about those people," Vermilya said, referring to himself and Jones. "We have such a great group of volunteer coaches. The night before I gave my resignation, I got them together and said, 'Hey, I'm still Buckley soccer's biggest fan. We didn't spend 16 years building a program just to take our toys and go home.'"

Vermilya is hopeful that one of the remaining coaches will take over the boys program and another will take over the girls program.

"They agreed to carry on, which is fulfilling," Vermilya said. "I'm proud of what we've built, and I didn't want to get in the mud of arguing our case — but Jones and I are a package deal."

Those who spoke at the board meeting Tuesday were hopeful the Vermilya-Jones "package deal" could somehow remain at the helm of the Buckley soccer program. Steve Rath, the father of a former Buckley soccer player, suggested the board reject Vermilya's resignation and "figure it out."

"He's a pillar of the community and cares a lot about these kids," Rath said. "We don't want to lose that. It's very hard to replace. Let's see what we can do to bring him back here."

Sarah Sladek, whose daughter was a goalkeeper for the Bears, could not fight back the emotion when speaking about the value Vermilya and Jones have brought to Buckley's student-athletes.

"Losing John and Ryan is a huge loss to our community," she said. "There are kids in this school who don't know what it is like to have unconditional love until they join the soccer program. John and Ryan have created a program based on a culture of love and family. It doesn't matter age, gender, or how naturally talented an athlete is, when you join the Buckley soccer team, you are joining a family."

Doug King said the punishments seemed a bit harsh and that all involved should work to find a middle ground to keep Vermilya and Jones on as coaches.

"I'm not sure we can calculate how much good they've done for this school," King said. "They're valuable assets to not only our (soccer) program but to our community."

Brielle Porter took aim at the administration's handling of the incident, criticizing them for lack of communication, lack of professionalism and a lack of checks and balances.

"There does not appear to be a policy in place that outlines how and why this decision was made," Porter said. "These consequences were only just handed out to the coaches, nearly four months after the game in question and the end of the season. From my understanding there was no meeting after the game to discuss concerns or behaviors, no probationary period and no communication in the nearly four months since the game to discuss any concerns."

Porter said the punishments were unfair and unjust, calling it a "tragic example" to set for the students and community.

"I want to understand how this decision was made. I want to know if the board was made aware of this decision, and if any corrective action will be made," Porter said. "I want to be able to give answers to students who ask me, with tears in their eyes, 'Why did this happen?'"

When public comment closed and the meeting continued, the only mention of Vermilya was from Buckley Superintendent Jessica Harrand during her superintendent's report, publicly thanking Vermilya for his 16 years of service to the soccer program.

"It wasn't easy," Vermilya said of his decision to step down. "In the last three weeks, we have gotten so many messages from former players, and all of them are meaningful."

Despite the public outcry after Vermilya's resignation and Vermilya's own criticism of how the situation with Jones was handled, Vermilya said neither he nor Jones have any "bitterness or resentment" about how everything played out. Vermilya said he passed that message along to the players when he broke the news to them while urging them to continue playing Buckley soccer.

"'No matter what happens, we love you.' That's what we told them," Vermilya said. "We're not resentful or bitter, but if the last thing that I could teach them as a person is loyalty is important, that's what I wanted to do. 'This might not feel like loyalty. I'm not leaving you. I'm not abandoning you. We love you, but we're resigning, and we still want you to play.'"

Players play and coaches coach, so Vermilya did leave the door open on a possible return to the coaching ranks at some point down the road.

"I'm not saying I'll never coach again," he said, "but, right now, I'm going to take a break."