US31

My "evolving" thoughts on classification: 1a = smallest 32 2a - 5a = classes of 64 6a = top 32 No P/P allowed in 1A SF is rolling 4 year cycle.

There are 2 teams in the HCC that do this A LOT!! I’m not saying they do it illegally. But running unbalanced or Y over formations is becoming a common thing for some teams.

This....over and over.

I would argue that at the lowest levels, (1A-3A) all that has happened is different P/P schools take turns having the advantages. They yo-yo up and down so often there is always a a p/p school there to take up the advantages in population that P/P's afford over smaller public schools. Not the best example of "addressing" the situation. IMHO: There should not be a P/P competing in the 1A tournament. I would argue that a one class "bump" for P/P's, combined with SF for all (public & P/P) with a longer SF adjustment (every 4 instead of every 2) would be a great system.

Yet another example of why a two year cycle is stupid. If SF points is going to be the system, it needs to be AT LEAST 3...preferably 4+. You could reclassify by enrollment every 2 years, and apply SF points every 4 (or even a rolling 4 year cycle).

My retirement career might be the economics officer for sectional assignment committee at IHSAA…. No one on North Meridian can foresee that insanity that a Chatard/Roncalli State Championship would be??? 💵💵💵 They’d fill the whole lower bowl. Bud Wright wouldn’t have anywhere to sit in the endzone!!!🤣🤣

If you got something like this in 2024...you could break 50k attendance. I'm taking some liberties with how SF and sectional assignments might go.... 6A: HCC vs HCC 5A: Harrison vs Whiteland 4A: Chatard vs Roncalli 3A: WL vs MD 2A: Luers vs Lutheran A: AC vs ND Lots of potential "firsts"....schools that are in the metro, near I-65/70/69 etc.....and schools that just travel well.

Northern Indiana bias here....but THE voice of high school football, in my mind, will always be Bob Nagle! #46GameoftheWeek #BetweentheBuns 😀

Not sure anywhere in my response I said that. Simply observing that "grass" surfaces are not automatically "safer" than turf fields. Which is what is being alluded to in much of these recent media reports about turf safety in the NFL. But read it to it what you are looking for....

You stole my snarky ping pong ball comment....well played.

Grass is safer than turf. Fact check = True. However.... Most high school athletic programs do not have the ability to properly maintain a grass surface for an entire season. Most fields have multiple games on them each week as it is (some combination of Var/JV/Frosh/MS/Youth), throw in one Friday night downpour and ensuing mud bath, and that field is trash for the rest of the season. Also keep in mind how much you would need to limit any access to that field outside of games to keep it in playing shape. Having played at the Brickie Bowl in the 90's I can tell you that many high school fields will not be anywhere close to the "safer grass surfaces" discussed in much of the media right now. If anything IHSAA should find ways to support/enforce the safer upkeep of current turf fields. They need maintenance, and periodic replacement as well. I've been on some turf fields recently that are not maintained well and by November they feel like the old Hoosier Dome astroturf.

Westfield won 4A sectional in 07. Lost to Cathedral in regional.

Then no disagreement from me.... However, if the score was 8 or less....and they weren't threatening the QB once he was on a knee....this should be "play football". A version of this happened in a very high profile metro Indy game just this season (shifted all the OL out on a hard count). I don't believe the punt team was the team penalized....

I would argue this play after the timeout was the “last one” that makes sense. If O had fumbled this snap and D recovered ball goes over and they have about 30 seconds and no timeouts. I’m not going to debate the “likely hood” of who might recover a fumbled snap in a “lower level” game. The fact this is a “lower level” game is why I’m more likely to think a bad snap could take place. now if you tell me O is up two scores…fully on your side. I also think it would be shady if they were going after the QB. But “firing off” through the OL when a bad snap could result in them getting the ball back with a chance to win?? That’s AOK with me. Still wondering how you would have addressed the unlikely fumbled snap had it occurred with the R and U in the way🤷🏼‍♂️

I agree in principle 100%....but let me be devil's advocate. Was this victory a shotgun snap? Further, had there been any QB center exchange issues earlier in the game for the team that won? (You said this was a lower level game) If there had, is it "wrong" to try and be in position to recover a bad snap with what I'm assuming would be over 30 seconds on the clock? How would you have addressed a bad snap, muffed snap on that play you told them not to fire out? Not trying to stir the pot....

In a similar situation (2 minute, hurry up, end of half, etc), what are the mechanics involved in equipment related issues? e.g. Play ends in bounds, defensive player's helmet comes off (which means he has to come out), offense is trying to line up and run a play while he's still picking up his helmet. Do officials stop the game clock until he gets off? Does he have to get off on his own? I've seen equipment stuff handled different ways in end of half situations, wondering what is "correct".... Sometimes its that DE that has that one shoe that just comes off at the most opportune times....🤪

Didn't want to derail CA1's thread about illegal punt, but it made me wonder....which penalties are enforced with a LOD? I'm sure I would guess some correctly, but not others....

Keep in mind….Westfield school district is just one township (Washington). They don’t have as much geography to “build out” like Carmel and HSE schools (whose geographic boundaries are HUGE and already built a second high school). I believe Hamilton Heights has two townships to draw from in the NE corner of HamCo. Westfield will never be a Carmel….but maybe a 3-3.5K enrollment. Heights is getting some “flight” from folks put off of “big school culture” of the rest of the county. They may be 4A before Westfield even builds a second middle school🤡

What!?!?!? XC has to have the absolute LOWEST $$ OVERHEAD of any sport! 🤡

I have no "inside" source, but I'm told by multiple people they expect this next year to be "quiet" publicly and then in 23-24 an announcement for some significant changes to the Indy Metro conference landscape. Most of those people have different opinions on what that will be. Personally, I would like to see HCC remain relatively unchanged but see Carmel/CG basically rotate around the HCC football world as semi-permanent non-conf games...that's a voting bloc of one, and I don't actually get a vote. My gut tells me there will be more domino's to drop and chairs to shuffle.

Does the current NHS gym still have the stage at the end?? I could be dating myself by asking this question....

Out of curiosity....what is the record for consecutive sectional titles? I believe Hobart had something like 20 going back to Coach Howell?? Not sure if that was/is the record...

I am not trying to debate any of the points you've made...I think there is some truth to both. Although in my years of teaching, I feel I've seen as many people leave teaching for "traditional jobs" as I have seen people transition to teaching from those same types of jobs. Different strokes for different folks. RE: the admin thing....While you could find examples otherwise, most of the time an "administrator" title is going to come along with a large amount of supervision requirements. Some of this is during the school day (lunch, bus duty, etc), much of it is outside the school day (sporting events, prom, music/theater performances, dances, etc. Often, as a HC gains an administrator title, he or she would only have those supervision requirements outside of his or her sport's season. Now, do I think there are some admin jobs that don't really need to exist...100% I do (most people in "traditional" jobs would say the same thing). But I think some people don't realize the amount of "work" the federal, state, and local governments require a school to do that isn't always directly related to teaching kids. I also don't think people realize the amount of events that go on at a school outside of the school day that require administrative supervision. I'm not pointing this out as a good/bad or pro/con of these admin roles. Just pointing out what most people overlook.

Fully aware my opinion may not be popular with some.... RE: Teacher pay. Some of this is relative to the corporation contract structure. Speaking personally, we have a rather favorable contract structure for experienced teachers with a Master's. I do not feel "underpaid", considering I'm contracted for a little over 180 days a year. If you prorated my salary out over an entire year, my teacher salary is very competitive with most anything else I'd be interested or qualified to do. RE: Coaching pay. For the vast majority of coaches, the off-season commitment has increased exponentially over the years ....your coaching stipend has not. And because these commitments, by their nature, generally occur outside of the school day...it has a much more significant impact on your own family obligations. And its generally not compensated for. Now none of us got into coaching high school football to get rich. But I suspect the turnover your seeing is a direct reflection of the expectation that football coaches give so much more of their offseason time, while still expecting them to have full time teaching workloads and not increasing their extracurricular stipend to an amount commensurate with that time commitment. Off-season weights, off-season football workouts (now ok to do), a full summer weight and football practice schedule, multiple summer scrimmages, throw in a team camp, clinics, etc, etc ....My wife would trade my being MIA during two weeks of 2 a Days, for June/July rules going back to their previous versions. When you have kids with their own Winter, Spring, Summer stuff and a wife that works her own job, the off-season time starts to require sacrifices of more than just Dad...most of that load goes on Mom. We all know this, we signed up for it, we love the game; but a lot of coaches are finding that when it comes to raising a family in the 2020's...the balance just isn't there anymore. With some exceptions, your "mega-schools" will be able to manage this better due to a wide variety of resources, and your tiny schools, won't have as much commitment of time due to the number of athletes that are shared with other sports. Its the schools somewhere in the middle that are really putting the squeeze on their coaches. Of course there are exceptions to this. Notice I don't have any answers... People knock on some schools that created internal positions for head coaches, coordinators, etc. But the reality is, those schools understand what is being asked in terms of the time commitment to have a successful program. If your community has a football program with 75-100+ kids, with an expectation that it will be successful. You want good coaches with staff continuity, that's only gonna happen if the coaches feel the juice is worth the squeeze every year. In some places it isn't. (I'm sure there are a variety of typos, etc above....I don't have the energy to proof read since this was more or less a rant of 🤮mental word vomit)

Directors meet today, Exec Committee meets tomorrow (5/3). Sectional assignments could be released any time after that. Side note: Appears IHSAA may be voting to throw out/modify the 300 mile rule for contests.