time coaching the Markham Waxers of the Metro Junior A Hockey League before landing his first Ontario Hockey League job as an assistant coach of the Plymouth Whalers from 1997–2001, which is where he first worked with Whalers head coach Peter DeBoer. In 2001, both DeBoer and Spott would leave the Whalers and move to the Kitchener Rangers, where DeBoer was once again the head coach and general manager, while Spott took the assistant coaching job and assistant general manager job. DeBoer would leave the Rangers in 2008 to take a job with the Florida Panthers, and the Rangers promoted Spott to become the head coach and general manager of the club. In his first season as head coach with the Rangers in 2008–09, the rebuilding club failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2000–01 season. The Rangers improved greatly in Spott's second season as head coach in 2009–10, as Kitchener improved by 34 points, as they had a 42–19–4–3 record, as Kitchener finished in second place in the Midwest Division. The Rangers defeated the Saginaw Spirit in six games in the Western Conference quarter-finals, then the team upset the favoured London Knights in seven games in the semi-finals. Kitchener then faced the heavily favoured Windsor Spitfires in the Western Conference finals, and went up 3 games to 0 in the best of seven series, however, the Spitfires came all the way back, and defeated the Rangers in seven games. It marked the first time since 2005 that a team came back from a 3–0 deficit to win a series. Kitchener had another solid season in 2010–11, as the club had a 38–21–4–5 record, earning 85 points, and second place in the Midwest Division for the second consecutive season. Kitchener faced off against the Plymouth Whalers in the Western Conference quarter-finals, however, the club was upset by the Whalers in seven games. The Rangers once again made the playoffs in 2011–12, finishing the regular season with a 42-24-1-1 record, registering 86 points and capturing second place in the Midwest Division for the third straight season. In the playoffs, Spott led the Rangers to a six-game opening round victory over the defending OHL champions, the Owen Sound Attack. In the second round, Kitchener defeated the Plymouth Whalers in seven games to earn a trip to the Western Conference finals for the second time in three seasons.