Since 1990, Greg Perry has been a familiar face in the WPIAL. After spending 28 years combined at Seton LaSalle and Keystone Oaks, Perry was named head football coach at Mt. Lebanon High School in 2024. Although Mt. Lebanon finished 2-5 in conference play, Perry is optimistic about the future of Mt. Lebanon football.
Perry is sending four seniors to Division I programs this year, three of them to the Ivy League. Grayson Beck is attending Princeton University, Joe Malone is attending Cornell University, Patrick Smith is attending the University of Pennsylvania and Jackson Kraemer is attending Villanova University.
For those trying to be recruited, Perry notes that at the end of a player’s junior year, college coaches visit the school and ask about potential prospects. The first part of recruitment is academic — looking at GPA, grades and SAT scores. Then, players are evaluated physically as coaches work them out on the Lebo field to see if they can compete at the next level.
“I’ve been in this a long time, so most coaches will trust my judgment,” Perry said. “Over the years, if you sell someone a bad bag of goods, they’re not going to come back. You have to be honest and straightforward with them about what kind of teammates these kids are, what kind of social life they have, and how they get along in school with other kids.”
Once a player starts getting offers, Perry asks them two questions when choosing a school. The first, he says, is how far away they want to go from home.
“Do you want your parents to be able to come to your games and drive home, or are they going to have to fly and spend the night?” Perry said. “Secondly, and more importantly, are you going to be fine being four hours from home? Two hours from home?”
Perry has learned over the years that many players think they want to go far away but realize later they don’t. He encourages prospects to spend a weekend on campus to see if it’s a good fit.
As a coach, Perry points out that recruiting has two sides and is not always fair, especially for 17- and 18-year-olds.
“There are two sides of it,” Perry said. “I want to be recruited, but I’m not getting recruited, so you get frustrated. The other part of it is, I have 10 offers—how do I tell nine guys no? It’s a process that we’re putting 17- and 18-year-old boys through, and a lot of times, it isn’t a fair process.”
Nowadays, with NIL money and the transfer portal, recruiting looks different. Perry noted that the Ivy League tends to be more lenient on grades now because many players go where the money is—something the Ivy League does not offer.
However, Perry emphasizes the importance of choosing a school based on academics, not just athletics.
“I would tell players to find the school that can put them in a better situation academically,” Perry said. “Sooner or later, your helmet’s going to come off. You could get an injury, you can burn out, but you’re always going to have that education. You need that diploma because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Perry said the most rewarding part of the journey is seeing a player sign his offer and what it means for the family.
“Knowing your player is able to go play at the next level, hopefully get a scholarship, help their parents out and get an education is rewarding,” Perry said. “We have the three boys going to an Ivy for a reason. They all could have gone to a public university, but they wanted to achieve the best education they could.”
Perry reflected not only on their athletic success but also on the type of young men they’ve become under his coaching.
“I feel honored that I’ve gotten to coach all four of these kids,” Perry said. “I’m glad that I came to Mt. Lebanon to be with them. They’re all good gentlemen, and whether they have a football helmet on or not, they’re going to be successful in life. I think they’re going to be good people and good family people down the road, which I’m proud of.”
