Conference Realignment Q&A with West Lafayette Head Coach Shane Fry

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Question 1

Athletic conferences have been at the heart of high school sports for decades.  Winning conference championships at one time was the primary goal for hundreds of schools around the state.  Do you feel that the introduction of the state tournament, and the emphasis that it receives, has devalued the conference championship over these past few decades?

 

 

Response

Every program is different. There are a number of factors to be considered for a program to determine what is important and what they can achieve. Winning against a rival school, beating everyone in your county, or winning a conference championship could be a huge deal for some programs.  At West Lafayette our goal is post-season success.  We look at every regular season game as an opportunity to compete and improve.  This has been a sliding scale for us as we have improved our program over the last 20 years.  Back in the mid 2000s when we were struggling our goal was just to have a winning record. Things change and talent runs in cycles for most programs.

 

 

 

 

Question 2

Do you feel that the recent events in The MIC could potentially create a domino effect where other schools begin to reassess their current conference homes and potentially seek better opportunities?

 

Response

Not sure what will happen here.

 

 

 

 

 

Question 3

We have seen a few conferences go to 10 schools (SIAC/SAC) and play a full round robin schedule. eliminating the need for non conference games to fill open dates.  Many like this format primarily due to ease of scheduling and reduced travel.  Others would prefer to have open dates so their schools can seek opportunities to play out of area against stronger competition.  What are your thoughts on the subject and do you have a preference of one option over the other relative to conference makeup?

 

Response

We are in this situation with the Hoosier Conference.  We are a 10 team league, but we are thankful our ADs have chosen the 2 division format and allowed us the flexibility to still schedule 2 non-conference games.  Our league is spread out over a fairly large area so it's good for us to be able to schedule a couple local games against bigger schools for our weeks 1 and 2 non conference games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 4

We are also seeing more conferences move to a divisional set up, sometimes to reduce travel and others to group schools by class designation.  What are some of the positives and negatives of utilizing the divisional setup?

 

Response

We are a divisional set-up in the Hoosier.  As stated above, we like having weeks #1 and #2 as non-conference games. We also really like the week #9 crossover game that creates a matchup of 1v1, 2v2, etc. from opposite divisions.  This is great prep for the playoffs because most seasons you don't know your week 9 opponent until after week 8 which creates a postseason feel.  The negatives would be the possibility of playing a team twice during the regular season becasue of this format. There is also a chance to play a team a 3rd time if you see that team in the playoffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 5

With regards to your school and your conference affiliation, how would you assess the current competitive balance situation within your league, and what changes or improvements would you like to see to help move the conference forwards and remain competitive at both the local and state level?

 

Response

Football is the only sport that it is difficult to create a schedule that fits your current roster/program.  Games are usually scheduled years in advance and there are only 9 regular season games.  If you are at the top or at the bottom of your conference you probably have a schedule that could be changed to better your program.  However, this is usually impossible because you can't just change your conference and there are only a few (if any) spots for non conference opponents.  If ADs/Coaches think outside the box and have a strong desire to help their football program then there are some things that could be done to help with competitive balance.