Bard,
I have no problem with you "no calling" that. If he stepped on "part of the line," that's pretty darn close. You could have called the delay of game warning, but it sounds like you made a decent decision to me. One thing I like to do on a spot throw-in is remind the inbounder that they can "back straight up as far as they want."
As far as the coaches comment: It was probably a compliment...but I don't give much credence to coach comments unless the
losing coach tells me and my partner that we did a great job
after the game.
Z