Former Mt. Vernon coach Doug Peacock leaves legacy as coach, teacher, family man

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Three rules.

They were pretty simple, really. But good luck trying to wiggle out of these three rules as a teenage boy:

>> Do what you are supposed to do.

>> Do it when you are supposed to do it.

>> Do it to the best of your ability.

These were Doug Peacock’s rules during his more than 30 years as a high school football coach, a span that included a stretch from 1994 to 2010 as the coach at Mt. Vernon. The longtime coach and teacher, a former player at Indiana University under Lee Corso, died Thursday after a battle with stage 4 prostate cancer.

Peacock compiled a 107-79 record during his tenure at Mt. Vernon, leading the Marauders to their first three sectional titles in 1997, 1999 and 2006. After stepping down from coaching in 2010, he and wife Desa, an elementary school teacher for Mt. Vernon schools, continued as teachers until retiring in 2017.

“He’s one of the most genuine people you’d ever meet,” current Mt. Vernon coach Mike Kirschner said. “He truly cared about people and you could tell that by talking to the former players who played for him. He was good for Indiana high school football. He was a community guy who loved what football taught young men.”

Mt. Vernon was a much smaller school when Peacock arrived from Florida in 1994. The 1975 Eastern Hancock graduate had a brief stay in training camp with Kansas City Chiefs after playing on the offensive line at IU. He coached at New Castle in 1981 before moving to Florida to be an assistant at St. Cloud High School.

Peacock even coached one year in the USFL in 1984 as offensive line coach for the Orlando Renegades before getting back into high school coaching as a head coach at Gateway High School in Kissimmee, Fla. He coached there until 1989, then coached at Osceola, another Kissimmee school, before returning to Indiana in 1994 as the Mt. Vernon coach.

“I was a finalist for that job,” said Kirschner, who would get his first head coaching job at Cascade in 1996. “We’d laugh about it. He beat me out for it. I wasn’t good enough.”

Kirschner and Peacock became closer friends when their sons – Kyle Peacock and Jon Kirschner – played together at Olivet Nazarene in the 2000s. The 6-foot-6 Peacock would stand on the field behind the end zone at Olivet games.

“I don’t know if he ever got permission,” Kyle Peacock said with a laugh. “Mike would stand there next to my dad, too. It was kind of hysterical. But he would almost always make it to the games, wherever it was. He’d coach on Friday nights into the wee hours, and mom and dad would both come out. That meant a lot.”

When Peacock arrived at Mt. Vernon, he brought a wing-T offense with him. Scott McMurray, still coaching at New Palestine, got his first job as Peacock’s freshman coach. He worked his way up, coaching on his staff for the entirety of his Mt. Vernon tenure.

“He gave me the playbook and it had four plays,” McMurray said. “I knew zero about the wing-T offense. But the great thing was he said, ‘I’m going to let you coach.’ He said, ‘Keep these kids around. I want them back on next year’s football team.’ That first group ended up winning the first sectional title in 1997.”

McMurray, John Carpenter and Tim Adams made up the core of the Mt. Vernon staff, along with Peacock. “It was really kind of a brotherhood,” McMurray said. That brotherhood continued after they had stopped coaching together. After New Palestine won the state championship in 2014, ’18, ’19 and ’24, McMurray received a text within minutes from Peacock congratulating him on the title.

“I had a great teacher,” McMurray responded.

It was such a regular occurrence that it was notable when Peacock did not send him a congratulations message in November when New Palestine won its fifth title. McMurray met with Peacock on Wednesday after he was placed in hospice care. He drove away knowing it would be the last time he talked to his longtime friend and coaching mentor.

“The drive home wasn’t easy,” McMurray said. “I spend two decades working for the man and lost someone I consider a great friend.”

McMurray still catches himself using what he calls “Peacock-ims” when talking to his current players. Like the term “dirty neck” for a kid who might be a little rough around the edges. “When the kids ask, I say, ‘That’s something my old boss used to say,’” McMurray said.

Doug and Desa had three children – sons Kyle and Kollin, and daughter Kaylee. He leaves behind six grandchildren.

“You almost take for granted how we were raised,” Kyle Peacock said. “We’re blessed to have a family that loves each other and gets to see each other. He held that intact not only as a coach, but as our dad. That’s his legacy.”

Kyle said he has heard from so many people in the 24 hours since his father died. Many he knew. Some he did not. Doug would put together highlight tapes for his players – back in the days when that took some meticulous notetaking – to send to colleges on their behalf.

“I can’t tell you how many of his former players I’ve heard from,” Kyle Peacock said. “They shared stories of things they ran into in college that he would help with. Things I didn’t even know about until now. He would always say any good coach is about more than Xs and Os.”

Peacock appeared in an ESPN piece in the fall before Corso, his former coach at IU, appeared on his last “College Gameday” show. Peacock grew up rooting for Purdue but on his recruiting visit, the Boilermakers’ coaches did not know his name.

“Not only did coach Corso know his name, he knew his parents, Buck and Gwen, and his sister Sherri,” Kyle said.

Those personal connections mattered to Corso. And they mattered to Peacock. When Mt. Vernon made it to the regional in 2020 under Kirschner – and again in 2021 when Mt. Vernon won its first state championship under Vince Lidy – Peacock came back and talked to the team.

Those three rules, simple but effective, were always part of Peacock’s message.

“I still think about those rules,” McMurray said. “Even if you don’t want to do it, you do it now and do it the best you can.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Mt. Vernon football coach, Indiana lineman Doug Peacock died Thursday at age 68

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