INDIAN RIVER – Ian Veal hears about it all the time.
Why would a former Onaway football standout join a Presque Isle rival like Rogers City?
He knows why.
“I think the kids just need someone that’s there, present there all the time, there, before – someone to talk to, really,” Veal said. “I love being around the kids. They’ve made me a better coach, honestly.”
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On Wednesday, Veal – a 2021 Onaway graduate and all-conference performer at defensive end – guided a group of Hurons onto the field as Rogers City’s junior varsity coach during a 6-on-6 event at Inland Lakes. The first year of being a head coach is a thrill for Veal, who assisted the Hurons for two seasons before returning to his alma mater in 2023. Last fall, Veal, an assistant under Eddy Szymoniak, played his part in helping the Cardinals to a winning campaign.
But once he found out about an open head coaching position at Rogers City, Veal took the chance.
“It meant everything,” Veal said on being hired by the Hurons. “As soon as I started coaching, I really wanted to be a head coach, but I was an assistant, because there’s not a lot of JV jobs and I help with middle school a lot, and I just love high school football.
“I think high school football is the best football.”
While Veal is on the other side of the Presque Isle rivalry for now, he’s still crediting those who inspired him to take a huge step in his coaching career. One is his former high school coach, Steve Klinge, who now works on Kingsley’s varsity staff, as well as Szymoniak, who took the Onaway job on short notice and overachieved with the Cardinals.
“(Klinge) was a great man, and I just saw that and thought maybe I could be a coach one day,” Veal said. “I think what really set me up to be an actual coach was last year when I was with Onaway and Eddy stepped up. Last year could’ve been a bad thing, but it wasn’t, and we came out of it with a good year, with the staff working well together.
“I figured I could take a JV job and run with it.”
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Prior to arriving at Inland Lakes on Wednesday, Veal said the nerves hit him as he was preparing to work with his new squad. But once again, he reiterated why he’s in this coaching business in the first place.
“I think it’s just about being there for the kids,” Veal said. “It’s not about drawing up plays, it’s not about X’s and O’s, it’s about the Jimmy and Joes – the kids. I could make up the best play call in the world and it won’t work if the kids don’t want to do it, but these kids will make me look good as a head coach.”
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Once a standout at Onaway, Ian Veal now a football coach at Rogers City
Cheboygan Daily Tribune
