Citing safety concerns, the Iowa High School Athletic Association announced Monday high school postseason football will include 16 teams in each of the six classes starting in 2016.
The current system allows 32 teams — the top four teams in each district — in each class to play in the postseason. The schedules for this fall and the 2015 regular season and playoffs remain unchanged.
The decision to cut the playoff teams in half comes after the IHSAA reviewed the current system that allows fewer days of rest and recovery between each game in the postseason. In a nod toward player safety and risk-minimization, the state has been looking at several options.
The decision to trim the playoff field to 16 teams became the option the state feels is in the best interest of the student-athletes.
“Today’s actions put in place a scenario for the football postseason which allows for one week between games,” IHSAA Executive Director Alan Beste said. “The driving force behind this deicision is player safety and keeping the best interest of our students at the forefront.”
Newton football coach Ed Ergenbright appreciates the IHSAA looking out for the student-athletes, but he thinks the issue on injuries and concussions is overblown and media driven.
“I have been at this for 28 years, and I can tell you that our sport is as safe as it’s ever been,” Ergenbright said. “The equipment is better, the rules are better and the kids are coached differently.
“We have had 600-700 kids sign up for youth football since we started the program, and we have only had one concussion during that time. The varsity soccer team had three this season alone. But we are supposed to be believe that football is not safer than soccer.”
The decision to trim the playoff teams came as a suprise to Collins-Maxwell/Baxter coach Rob Luther and Prairie City-Monroe coach Greg Bonnett.
Luther is a member of the Iowa Football Coaches Association (IFCA) Board of Directors. He sits in on several meetings throughout the year, and he thought the 16-team option died three or four months ago.
“I thought they were down to an eight-game regular season and leaving the playoffs alone or a nine-game season that begins a week earlier,” Luther said. “This new format certainly puts more emphasis on early-season games. I am up in the air with it. I can argue both sides.”
Bonnett was surprised the state went the direction it did, but said enough people were upset by the quick turnaround.
“I’m happy about it. It goes back to the way it used to be,” Bonnett said. “I don’t like the quick turnaround. There will be a lot of heartache if you don’t get in, but if you make the playoffs in the new format, you truly deserve to be there.”
Ergenbright feels like the 32-team format works for Class 3A and below. He said the issue of having 2-7, 3-6 and 4-5 teams make the playoffs is consistently relevant in 4A only.
“This has been discussed for three or four years,” Ergenbright said. “It’s been our experience in 3A that those four teams that make the playoffs our of our district have been quality teams. I don’t think you see a lot of 3-6 or 4-5 teams making the playoffs in 3A.”
Newton went 6-3 last year and finished in a three-way tie for second but ended up fourth because of the point system. Colfax-Mingo also was 6-3 and the four seed in Class A.
Neither team would have made the playoffs last year if the new format was in place.
“I think it’s a shame, it’s a bad deal,” Colfax-Mingo coach Jeff Lietz said. “I don’t have a problem with the way it was. It makes district play meaningful through the final two weeks of the season.”
The pressure to win early will be more important in the new format. Teams can’t start slow and still expect to make the playoffs.
“We started 0-4 two years ago and then won five straight to get to the three seed and then won a playoff game,” Lynnville-Sully coach Mike Parkinson said. “If we did that in the new format, there is no way we recover and get into the playoffs. I think the quality of the playoffs will be better though. There is a fine line.”
The time frame between playoff games was an issue for Bonnett and many other coaches. Ergenbright doesn’t have an opinion on playing every Friday because he has never had to do it. But he admitted his players are beat and sore and need to rest before playing another game.
“If it saves a player from injuries or a concussion I will be all for it, but we don’t know if this will help that or not,” Ergenbright said. “You have to let the kids rest up. They are beat up and sore. It affects how you prepare for games.”
Beste said the decision to reduce playoff teams and spread out the playoff games came about after many group discussions took place beginning April 29. Beste said the IHSAA Board of Control discussed many options in that April 29 meeting but decided to gather more input from the IHSAA membership through the IHSAA Representative Council, Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association and the IFCA.
All the groups involved in the discussions then joined together at Monday’s IHSAA Representative Council meeting.
Following the meeting, the IHSAA Board of Control convened and in an unanimous vote decided to retain nine regular season games and move toward a 16-team playoff structure.
“I am glad they are trying some other things,” Parkinson said. “There are two sides to every story. It will be tough on some struggling programs that are trying to build and change the tone of the program, but it will bring another piece of integrity back to the sport with better playoff games.”
Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536
or thyde@newtondailynews.com