Continuing a proud coaching tradition

Perry a master at motivating kids

Joanne Rathe/Globe StaffE.J. Perry comes from a long line of athletes and coaches. His Salem team is the defending Class L champion. (Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)

Standing at midcourt in the center of the huddle, E.J. Perry puts his motivational and leadership skills on full display. Offering encouragement and direction passionately yet firmly, he has the full attention of his players.

The coach has an impressive resume. In the last five years, his Salem High, N.H., boys' basketball and volleyball teams have won seven state titles.

His Blue Devils netted their fifth consecutive Division 1 state volleyball crown in late October, and own the national high school record with 93 consecutive victories.

This past week, he was back on the same court for the start of basketball practice, where his Salem team is the two-time defending Class L champion, coming off a 22-0 season. The Blue Devils will tap off the season Dec. 19 at Nashua North.

And he loves to coach. It's a profession that has deep and proud roots in the Perry clan of Andover.

E.J., short for Ernest James III, is following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father. Ernest J. Perry Sr. coached track at Lawrence High for 40 years (1926 to 1966). Perry's father, Ernest J. Perry Jr., previously coached varsity track at Lawrence, Central Catholic, and Greater Lawrence, and is currently the head track coach at Methuen High.

Perry's sister, Louise, is an assistant track coach at Methuen, and Perry's father-in-law, Jim Curtin, is the longtime baseball head coach at Burlington High.

"My mother is the inspiration in raising seven children," said E.J. Perry. "She was an athlete too; she captained the ping-pong team at the University of Lowell. My father got us into sports when we were young so it was natural. I learned that you can use your athletics. I tell the kids now, you put a lot into athletics, get something out too."

The oldest of seven, including five boys, Perry started working with, and instructing, his siblings long before he took on the formal title of "head coach."

His leadership as an older brother and a coach led three more Perry brothers into coaching.

"What people don't see is that he's been a coach since he was 14, when he was making me and our brother (Timmy) run drills in our backyard," said John Perry, who just completed his first season as the head football coach at Merrimack College in North Andover.

"He's a great coach, a great brother. He's someone I always turn to, I talk to him all the time. I'm always learning new ways to be a better coach from him."

The youngest brother, James, is an assistant football coach at Brown University after a record-setting career as a quarterback for the Bears. Timmy Perry, the second-oldest, served as an assistant on E.J. Perry's staff in the early '90s before leaving for law school.

On Monday, E.J. Perry tapped off his 11th season as head varsity basketball coach, working his players just as hard during the first practice of the season as he would before a big playoff game.

His reputation precedes him.

"In elementary school and middle school, you know that the goal is to play for coach Perry," said junior point guard Alex La Rosa. "You know that he knows what it takes to win, and when you make his team, you just want to live up to his expectations."

E.J. Perry's coaching career began at Malden Catholic, where he was hired as the varsity boys' basketball coach in 1989, two years after graduating from Colby College, where he was a four-year player and captain.

After growing up playing basketball and football with his brothers, he was persuaded by Colby coach Dick Whitmore to focus on basketball.

"We had a full-sized hoops court in our backyard," said Perry. "My dad put it in because he saw on TV that basketball players were the best athletes. If you could play basketball, you could play anything. People used to joke and say if you wanted to see a real basketball battle, to go to the Perrys' backyard. Before college I could've played football somewhere, but the Colby coach got me to play basketball so my football career ended there."

Whitmore, now starting his 38th season with the Mules, remains one of Perry's mentors, and an admirer.

"He's one of the greatest competitors of all time at Colby," said Whitmore. "He was always ready to practice, ready to play every single time we hit the court. He brought so much intensity and passion. It's just a wonder to see him transfer that onto his players now."

And Perry, in turn, remains a mentor for his brothers and his players.

"What he does better than anyone else is he knows how to take a team sport and motivate individuals," said James Perry. "He uses different strategies to coach each player but keeps them focused on the team. It's a neat little dance he's able to pull off. I try to do it too, but it's a tough skill to master like he has."

Four-year starting guard Josh Jones agreed.

"He is the best motivator I've known," said Jones. "During hoops he's intense, he knows what to do to get you pumped. He's always competitive and it's not really a surprise his teams win because he really brings out the best in his players. Outside hoops, he's a funny guy, he's always cracking jokes. He loves to get his players to know him."

Sapna Pathak can be reached at sportsgalsp@gmail.com.