Parent: Andover Volleyball Players Planned To Oust Coach

ANDOVER, MA -- The two Andover High School volleyball players at the center of a controversy that has placed head coach E.J. Perry on administrative leave had been working on a plan to oust their coach since last season. According to a post on social media by a parent of a player that was not involved, seniors Alex Shih and Matt Guthrie called their plan "Operation Hydra," in reference to a Marvel Comics plot line in which a company infiltrates an organization in an attempt to ruin a person's reputation.

Andover Patch has reached out to the players, Perry and school officials for comment and will update this story when they respond. The parent who made the post on Facebook has since removed it and could not be reached for comment Friday.

Shih posted and later removed his account of the incident on Instagram after the April 11 match against Lawrence. In his post, Shih did not dispute that he refused the coach's order to leave the court, or that Guthrie refused to substitute him. Shih said Perry tried to substitute Guthrie in after Shih "basically miss[ed] the ball completely." Shih said he looked Perry in the eye and told him he was the "best passer on the team."

"If I go off we would lose the game," Shih wrote.

He said after the match, which Andover won, Perry "basically destroyed me 1-on-1 . . . and he was like you and Matt aren't captains anymore." The two students then went to Andover High School Athletic Director Bill Martin, who placed Perry on leave and sent a note to parents saying his department was conducting an investigation into "credible enough" complaints about Perry's coaching techniques.

The leave does not impact Perry in his role as a teacher at West Elementary School, or his role as head football coach. Perry led the boys volleyball team to a 22-2 record last year and is highly regarded by parents, athletes and colleagues in the school system, according to multiple posts on social media sites supporting Perry.

"I've taught 26 years at West Elementary and I've coached 18 seasons at Andover. It is unfortunate that anyone can make false allegations to the school and then the school feels like it has to react without hearing from the coach," Perry told the Boston Globe on Tuesday. "My only concern is for the players and their well-being right now."

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).