HHF/GID Interview with State Finals Broadcaster Greg Rakestraw

[Guest DT]

You can hear Greg's booming pipes covering Indiana high school sports, college football, the Indy Colts and The Indy 500.  Greg gives us his takes on Hoosier prep football trends and the upcoming season.

 

Hello Greg, and thanks for spending some time with us here at Hoosier High School Football and The Gridiron Digest

 

Question 1 :

You've earned the reputation as "the hardest working media guy in town."  Give our readers a general overview of your current project load, and also a description of your official duties and responsibilities with ISC Sports Network.

 

 

Question 2 :

You've been involved with high school football for quite some time now.  How did you get started in broadcasting, and where does football rate on the list of sporting events you cover?

 

 

 

Question 3 :

Kids just seem to keep getting bigger, stronger and faster year after year.  You get to see the best of the best in the state finals every year.  What are your observations in terms of the individual talent level that we are seeing in today's athletes as compared to what we saw 10 and 20 years ago?

 

 

 

Question 4 :

There has been a major turnover in the coaching ranks over the past 5 years, as many of our Hall of Fame coaches have wrapped up their careers and retired from teaching and coaching.  Lots of new blood in the coaching ranks.  What are some of the differences you see in the new generation of coaches as compared to their recently retired peers?

 

 

Question 5 :

You've seen up close the impact of the Success Factor and the IHSAA's diligence in regard to maintaining competitive balance in Indiana high school football.  There are some who think that the SF rewards the private schools by giving them the opportunity to step up in competition, while punishing the public schools by forcing them up after graduating a very special, maybe once in a lifetime class of seniors.  What is your take on the SF, and has it achieved its objectives as set forth by the IHSAA?

 

 

 

Question 6:

There are many coaches , fans , media members , etc who are proponents of a playoff system that requires qualifications and seeding.  The most popular proposal would eliminate 50% of the schools through a playoff qualification system.  Indiana has chosen to maintain its "all-in" philosophy, mimicking the sacred basketball tournament.  How do you respond to those who say the current model devalues the regular season and minimizes conference championships?

 

 

 

Question 7 :

Based on the historical tournament record, small to medium size 6A schools have virtually zero chance to win a state championship.  The Indy Mega schools own this classification, and there is nothing to indicate a change in this trend.  Great schools like Merrillville, Lafayete Jeff, Columbus North, Warsaw, Valpo, Chesterton, are really stuck in no mans land.  Should the IHSAA consider reducing Class 6A to 24 schools?   This would push those schools with enrollments in the 1900-2200 range down in 5A, giving them new life and a real shot at a post season championship?

 

 

Question 8 :

We saw some great performances in all classes in the state finals last season.  Who are some of the schools that you look for to come out as favorites to defend their 2020 state titles, and do you have any darkhorse candidates that might sneak up and make a run for a blue ring?

 

 

 

 

Question 9 :

Looking over your years of covering the state finals, who were the 2 or three most impressive teams, and impressive players that you watched lead their teams to state championships?

 

 

 

1. So the day job is with the ISC Sports Network. We're a statewide cable channel/website/production company, and we focus a large chunk of our energy on HS sports. This weekend we're producing the Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association All-Star game. In two weeks, it'll be the North-South game at Anderson University. We're all of eight weeks away from the start of the high school football season, it's never far away from HS sports for us. In addition to what I do with ISC, I'm lucky enough to be a big part of the IHSAA Champions Network in terms of calling state championship games, like earlier this week for baseball, and hosting a good chunk of the pairings shows. Then there's what I do with the Colts, Indy Eleven, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IUPUI...so I tend to stay busy 🙂 But at the same time, it's not like I have a real job. I get paid to go to ballgames for a living. Life is pretty good 🙂

 

2. I got my start in broadcasting while a student at the University of Indianapolis. Play-by-play for football, basketball, and baseball is where I started, and by the time I was concluding my sophomore year, I was lucky enough to get on part-time at WNDE. By the time I graduated, I had picked up a full-time gig there about a month before in April 1998. At the same time, I was doing some HS and college play-by-play on 95.9 FM in Franklin, where I could do the sportsradio side of things during the day, and still call games at night. Gave me the chance to further my career in both disciplines as a young professional. I get asked the question all the time about favorite sport, and the answer I give is always the same, if I did just one, I'd probably get burned out, so I love the variety of what I do. But I love football. And I'm fortunate in that I get to see football at the high school, college, and professional levels. 

 

3. I think you can say that across all sports. The training is smarter, starts earlier in age (which  may or may not be a good thing), kids eat healthier, etc. I think if you look across the board in any sport, there are simply better athletes across the board. I do think that in football, with the advent of more 7-on-7, more positional work, camps, etc., that the gap from what we saw 10-20 years ago is even greater than in other sports.

 

4. From a new generation of coaches I think you see more of a willingness to expand the field, go 3, 4, and 5-wide, and put more of the game in the quarterback's hands. We have a generation of coaches now who grew up playing the sport as a video game in addition to putting on the pads. You've had older coaches that have made that transition as well, but I think the younger we get in terms of head coaches, the more you'll see the game continue to open up, even at the smaller school level.

 

5. I have no problem with the success factor. You've seen schools in other sports that have stayed up a level or two, like Providence in volleyball or Leo in softball, and we just had a school win a 3A baseball state title in Southridge who was playing up a class. You'll see Barr-Reeve do that in volleyball the next two years, play up two classes. If you win and move up and stay competitive, then clearly you're at the right level. 

 

6. I've always been in favor of the 'all-in' element of the tournament. I remember what football used to be in this state, and that's nowhere close to what it is these days. There are a lot of factors involved in that, but I think the fact that every school knows they'll play in the postseason plays a big part in that. You wanna talk about adding a level of seeding to the tournament to reward regular season play, I'm fine with that. But if teams wouldn't qualify for the postseason, then I'm not for it.

 

7. I think the issues that the larger schools outside of Indy face is not facing the Indy schools during the regular season. If I'm the Summit Athletic Conference, I'm scrapping playing a full-league round-robin. Play seven league games, and allow the larger schools to try and schedule some of the 6A Indy schools in weeks 1-2. Last year we had some unintentional flexibility with games getting cancelled, and new dance partners being found on short notice. We likely won't have that this year. But if I'm one of the 6A schools (or even at the 5A level), I'm trying to get 1-2 Indy-area schools on my schedule somehow so I know exactly what I'm up against in the postseason.

 

8. I'd say Center Grove is the favorite again in 6A, and while Cathedral lost some key pieces, they're a favorite in any class they're in. Roncalli is loaded up in 4A, as their O-ine is absolutely mammoth. Obviously the 2A and 3A champs are both moving up, so you won't see repeats there, and Covenant Christian is so new, you're not exactly sure what to expect from them, but they had plenty of talent a season ago. In terms of darkhorses...get back with me in September 🙂

 

9. I'll give you the current player that I think is as good as any as I've seen in the high school ranks and that's Caden Curry of CG. I'd put him in my top 3 in terms of HS players I've ever covered. The other two would be James Banks from Ben Davis and Jason Werner of Roncalli. Now, is that a comprehensive list of all-time, absolutely not, this is in my 25 years of doing this, and teams/leagues that I've covered on a regular basis. But in terms of simply being so far ahead of virtually everyone else on the field around you, he's up there. I think in 4-5 years, he's a Sunday player, without question.

 

Now, in terms of greatest all-time teams, the Center Grove team from last year is close. Because of knowing the path they were on, I spent a lot of time crunching numbers on this one. I think 2006 Warren Central might have a slight edge on CG. 2017 Ben Davis wouldn't be far behind. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Greg, and we look forward to your broadcasts again this upcoming season.

 

 

 

 

Tim Phillips

Hoosier High School Football

The Gridiron Digest