‘I think we had an impact’: Meyer makes difficult decision to resign as QND boys basketball coach after nine seasons at helm

QUINCY — The reaction Kevin Meyer received from the news he had resigned as the Quincy Notre Dame boys basketball coach continually brought him to tears as Friday afternoon slowly rolled into night.

“The overwhelming support and the reaching out from my players and coaches across the state has been incredible,” Meyer said. “I felt like we did it the right way. It warms my heart that there are a lot of folks who have a lot of good things to say about Quincy Notre Dame and myself and our program and how we ran it.”

None of the text messages, social media posts or phone calls hit home harder than those from the players he had coached.

“Those are the guys who truly mean the most to me,” Meyer said. “To see guys today, guys from my first team reaching out to me today, I think we had an impact. I think we helped some guys learn how to be men. That’s what it means to me.”

After nine seasons at the helm, the second-winningest coach in program history resigned Friday, the school announced in a press release. Per QND athletic director Bill Connell, an open search for Meyer’s replacement will begin immediately.

Meyer said his reason for resigning was “to start the next chapter of my life.”

“It’s a solid place because with the group that is graduating I have a special connection with them, especially with Jackson obviously,” said Meyer, noting his son, Jackson, who played forward, is a senior. “That made it the right time.”

A 1989 graduate of QND who played on a sectional championship team his senior season, Meyer spent one season as the head girls basketball coach at his alma mater, guiding the Raiders to a 17-9 season in 2014-15. That August, Tom Shields resigned after three months as the boys basketball coach and without ever coaching a game, and Meyer agreed to take over the program.

Over the next nine seasons, he compiled a 176-80 record with five regional championships and one sectional title. His teams won 20 or more games five times. The Raiders went 17-11 last winter and will return a solid group that includes all-state special mention selection Jace Allensworth, point guard Alex Dance and athletes like Jackson Connoyer and Gavin Doellman.

Meyer’s 176 victories are the second most of any coach in program history, trailing only Scott Douglas, who compiled a 360-138 record over 17 seasons.

“I’ve put 30 years in as a player, coach, assistant coach, fan — more than 30 years when it comes to the fan part of it — so this is never easy,” Meyer said. “I go back to two tough decisions I had to make from a coaching standpoint.

“The day I switched from the girls to the boys when the Shields fiasco went down. Eric (Orne) and I made a family and personal and business decision to make the changes that we did. And this one because it’s a great group of kids, just a wonderful group of kids.”

Meyer began his coaching career as an assistant with the QND boys basketball program under Douglas and spent four seasons as Orne’s top assistant with the girls basketball program before replacing Orne as head coach in 2014.

It means The Pit has been a home away from home for the past two decades.

In reality, QND has been a home for much longer.

“I go back to the choice my parents made allowing us to pick out Catholic education,” Meyer said. “I played for two great coaches with Coach (Bob) Kies and Coach (Frank) Longo. I never thought of going to Quincy Notre Dame for the sports part of it. It was the education part of it. It was Ray Heilmann. It was Bruce Greving and Carolyn Kolodziej. The staff was amazing. It instilled a great belief in me for Quincy Notre Dame and what it stood for.

“I’ve always tried to represent QND to the best of my abilities with those folks in mind, the people who paved the path for me. To get the chance to coach alongside Scott Douglas, Bob Sheffield, Greg Altmix, Eric Orne, Mark Longo … those are the greats. All of those guys are the greats. To learn from there and be on the sidelines with them and listen to them and learn from them meant the world to me.”