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IU catches some crap, but as has been discussed most of the last half of last season, the SEC teams' SOS was greatly inflated. Several teams remained ranked most of or all of last year with zero wins against ranked teams. Without looking, Tennessee and Vandy come to mind as teams I looked up. I am not trusting or even reading anything from ESPN as far as schedule rankings or even actual rankings anymore. They showed their true colors last year propping up the SEC and the ACC over many others.

It kinda shocks me that Mt. Vernon Fortville has fallen so far, but with Coach Kirschner back I expect they will recover.

Here are the Indiana High School football squads that finished winless in 2025, and their current losing streak: Portage - 11 Fort Wayne Wayne - 11 Mt. Vernon (Fortville) - 12 Terre Haute North - 13 New Albany - 16 Bellmont - 42 Prairie Heights - 11 Hammond Central - 12 Evansville Bosse - 21 Blackford - 16 West Vigo - 11 North Vermillion - 11 Frankfort - 29 South Central (Union Mills) - 11 Pike Central - 13 Benton Central - 21 Perry Central - 11 Christal House - 12 Cambridge City Lincoln - 18 Of these moribund programs who have the best change of "turning it around" and having at least a .500 season in 2026?

I think the open transfer rule plays a big part in this as well.

Of course it does. In the aforementioned article about Elwood it is mentioned that the Panthers have lost of number to students to Madison-Grant High School. And in Clinton county the Frankfort --> Clinton Prairie pipeline is alive and well.

Yes sir!! Previous response on another thread. Agreed...does it really matter about non-conference foes, if one has a solid SOS based on their conference? To win a natty, one has to beat some pretty dang good teams when it matters most. BTW, Indiana was criticized last year for their non-conference schedules. If you look at last years ESPN final rankings for all 136 FBS teams, Old Dominion (10-3) and Kennesaw State (10-4) was ranked much better than a large number of P4 teams. (examples to include but not limited to Purdue, North Carolina, West Virgina, Colorado, Boston College, UCLA, etc.) If I look at Old Dominion alone, that list is much bigger with P4 teams. I think some people like to "feel better" about the quality of opponents and give a number of P4 schools way too much credit for the level of competition. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/46128861/2025-college-football-sp+-rankings-all-136-fbs-teams

I've always been an advocate for having a few cupcakes on the schedule, even at the high school level. Tune-up games are important. Rest for starters is important. I've always believed that, so it's hard for me to blame IU for dropping Notre Dame. But the cancelation seemed more mutual. It allowed Notre Dame to reschedule with USC. At the end of the day, Cignetti is a pretty smart guy. I like his approach. IU will be a well oiled machine before getting into the meat of their schedule.

Typically IFCA will come out that Monday leading into Week 1, so after the Week 0 scrimmage is my guess.... from my memory

I find it hard to believe this wouldn't be a factor..............but does the "open enrollment" or school choice not play a factor in this? As someone who has seen schools boastfully (and arrogantly) advertise their satellite bus pickup sites for years, I find it hard to believe that the schools that are having a hard time fielding teams are struggling because of kids staying inside and playing video games. How many of their kids hit the portal and jumped on a roster elsewhere because an adult at another school promised them something "better"????

Bingo There is not 1 admin in the state of Indiana that would be okay taking on CO OP that pushes their school "UP A CLASS" to just take on a handful of athletes..... Now, if a Co Op model is set up where that is NOT an automatic take on full enrollment of said school then let's talk........but until then, as is, no chance

DEM FIGHTING WORDS !!!!!!!

Big difference between 2A in football and 2A in every other sport. Hence why there are six classifications for football despite a smaller pool of schools.

I know what you're saying, but Sheridan IS 2A in almost every other sport.

When do they come out.

Great to hear Rick Zimmerman is back at Jennings! I remember some of his earlier 2000's teams that were competitive. Maybe he will get another shot there or atleast help their staff get it going.

Big news for Indiana football to have Daley back for another season. Hated to see the way he went down last year after such a big season. Absolutely took away his chances to play on Sundays. Hopefully, he can stay healthy this season and get another crack with IU and beyond. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49531735/sources-indiana-dl-stephen-daley-return-fifth-season

Agreed...does it really matter about non-conference foes, if one has a solid SOS based on their conference? To win a natty, one has to beat some pretty dang good teams when it matters most. BTW, Indiana was criticized last year for their non-conference schedules. If you look at last years ESPN final rankings for all 136 FBS teams, Old Dominion (10-3) and Kennesaw State (10-4) was ranked much better than a large number of P4 teams. (examples to include but not limited to Purdue, North Carolina, West Virgina, Colorado, Boston College, UCLA, etc.) If I look at Old Dominion alone, that list is much bigger with P4 teams. I think some people like to "feel better" about the quality of opponents and give a number of P4 schools way too much credit for the level of competition. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/46128861/2025-college-football-sp+-rankings-all-136-fbs-teams

Yes, there are certainly some examples with Georgia and others. But show me that all programs that are pretty dang good at football also have chronic issues with the law. There will always be some outliers, but a bad apple here and there doesn't reflect the great many that come through a program. Now if one chooses to cast judgment on a program based on an outlier, well...then its more about feelings than it is about actual data.

you got him good Tooney !!!! 2 years later..... That "Rook" probably was right then and we know he was NOW

HUDL great for large budgets...... HUDL. kills small schools with tough funding situations. Our package last year was 11K....... not sure how much longer that is sustainable for us Our Stat guys currently. (2) one is on clipboard for defense the other IPAD for HUDL LIVE STAT, then I will personally tag the Offense plays, formations, play call, yardage etc etc etc on data in Hudl Library, when I get done with that, I compare it to the live stats that was done and they are usually pretty darn close few yards here or there..... Defense Staff will do the same and stat tackles etc off film to compare to clipboard. We have another volunteer who runs EZ Drone and we then have a youth coach upstairs with yet another IPAD, to just live record each play upstairs. that is our version of "HUDL REPLAY". With a roster around 30-40 any given year, we have multiple 2 way players, so yeah, we are not setting up TVs Tents and have full on platoon meetings on our sidelines considering on change of possession we typically have about 2 on 2 off these days. :). And yes many times when we played schools bigger than us in our conference or a 2a school like Andrean with 80 guys on their roster and 16 coaches and 2 platoon many places, so when they come off and see and adjust in game, it does become an advantage, but don't take this part as sour grapes at all, just the reality of the technology investment availability and all that deal

It was literally the proposal..... combine enrollment..... shot down..... So Sheridan says, we will Co-Op with TC: That pushes Sheridan from 1a to 2 a for ALL THEIR SPORTS..... good luck with selling that to your school when you're taking on a few football players from another school. The model as written for Co Op is what I have the issue with, because it effects too much overall for 1 sport in this case football. This is a local Co op proposal,

My latest blog. A reflection of uninterrupted time, especially during the season. Retired high school football coach that has transitioned into authorship. Wishing a great season to those about to begin a new journey. Very thankful that Grid Iron Digest allows me to post these blogs. Good luck and I hope you enjoy. https://www.ronglodich.com/author-blog/mow-your-yardyou-wont-regret-it

I was a volunteer for 9 years, took a year off, came back mid-season last year. I was responsible for all of the film, uploading, and sending the film off when I had more responsibilities. With our new head coach, we transitioned to QwikCuts getting away from Hudl because the cost of Hudl has just been increasing with less features especially in their basic package. During the games, yes, I do it all live. I give all the credit to Statman stats because they really do have a great platform, but coming from the standpoint that you have to use Excel and type everything in, you can easily get behind. I am a big supporter of our program and I have always went in with the mindset that I wanted our athletes and our program to be left in better shape than when I came in. My brother and I built an end zone camera tripod several years ago using our knowledge and we donated everything to the program. When I started doing stats, I was the same way. I am always thinking about what happens when I am not able to do this anymore and really pushed for a stats program that anyone could utilize without having any experience. On game days, I am doing live stats during the game. I am able to run the reports and get those sent off to the media so they have them by the end of the game. By doing this, as well, we could sit down afterwards and discuss things and start planning for the next week. With being a small program, I have also been a big proponent of making sure that the stats are done so when Saturday morning hits, that is one less thing to worry about. This year, I am hoping that we can continue that efficiency with Turbostats.

Sounds like Elwood has a reprieve, at least for this season: https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2026/08/04/high-school-football-elwood-social-media-plea-helps-to-generate-numbers-at-second-practice/91171412007/

Hmm, LSU is a public university. I don't see how a private equity firm taking a percentage ownership in a public football program is legal. It certainly isn't ethical.