Committee calls for Sept. start, playoffs
FHSAA plan calls for 9-week regular season, blind draw
The Florida High School Athletic Association’s football coaches advisory committee voted 9-0 Wednesday to put forward a plan that would kick off the 2020 season in September and also accommodate teams that can’t take the field until October.
The optimistic proposal, based on the new Aug. 24 practice start date approved by the Florida High School Athletic Association last week, calls for a nine-week regular season starting Friday, Sept. 11, and state playoff brackets that would include every team that signs up to participate. A blind draw, not power rankings, would determine firstround matchups since the number of regular season games played by teams could vary significantly depending on coronavirus conditions and other factors in their communities.
“We just felt like as an advisory board it gave so many options for teams that have so many different scenarios,” said South Sumter coach Ty Lawrence, a member of the committee. “You can create any schedule you want. I believe it gives everybody the best chance to have a successful season.”
The concept fits Option 1 of a three-tiered return-toplay plan for all sports that is being worked on by the FHSAA. Options 1, 2 and 3 and possibly other suggestions are expected to be studied by the association’s athletic directors advisory committee and then brought for consideration to an Aug. 14 in-person meeting of the FHSAA’s 16-member board of directors in Gainesville.
The football option endorsed by the coaches committee has playoffs starting the week of Nov. 13 with play-in games for regions that have more than eight participants for the three small-school classifications (1A through 3A) or more than 16 for the upper five classes (4A through 8A). The state championship games would move back one week to be played Dec. 10-12 for the small schools, presumably in Tallahassee, and Dec. 17-19 for the top five classes at a site that has yet to be announced.
Schools would have until Oct. 12 to opt in or out of the state series. The FHSAA would reclassify playoff participants into one of the eight divisions — with Class 1A remaining as is for small rural schools.
Schools that opt out of the playoffs could continue to play games up to Saturday, Dec. 5. And teams that lose in rounds 1, 2 or 3 of the playoffs could also continue their seasons and play up to that date and up to 10 games.
Districts, which now exist for Class 4A and up, would be eliminated to allow scheduling flexibility. The Ratings Percentage Index seeding system adopted last year would be scrapped. The home team for first round playoff games would be determined by coin flip.
“Games are going to be canceled. And some teams are not going to be able to play as many games as others so the RPI system really does not work this year,” said New Smyrna Beach coach John Wilkinson, a member of the advisory panel, which met via videoconference. “The beauty of this plan is that schools can jump in at anytime (to start seasons). Even if you can’t play until the middle of October you can choose to participate in the state series. A state championship would not be a state championship without the Miami schools. This gives those guys the opportunity even if they start later than us.”
That is not a certainty. Miami-Dade County pushed back its school start date to Aug. 31 (online only) and may not reopen its campuses until October.
Orange County recently postponed the start of tryouts indefinitely for its public schools. And school districts had set later than Aug. 24 start dates for football practice in Seminole (Aug. 31) and Osceola (Sept. 7).
Wilkinson said the football committee has worked closely with Frank Beasley, the FHSAA’s administrator in charge of football, and solicited feedback from coaches across the state.
“I think this plan really covers the bases for everybody,” Wilkinson said. “If you lose in the early rounds of the playoffs you can still have the option of playing more games. It’s the only way to make it fair for all.”
Option 2, designed for a scenario in which schools can’t open practices until after August, would scrap the state playoffs. It would end regular seasons Nov. 28 and allow regional or local FHSAA-sanctioned
tournaments, games or events over a two-week period (Nov. 30-Dec. 12).
The winter and spring sports seasons would stay as is under the first two options.
Option 3 would retain playoffs but would shift the practice start date back to Nov. 30 and alter the FHSAA calendar significantly.
Season 1 would include football, bowling, cross country, girls volleyball, cheerleading and girls weightlifting (which is traditionally a winter sport). It would reduce the regular season to six weeks (Dec. 14-Jan. 23) and culminate with state tournaments into February.
Season 2 would start with practices Feb. 15 and include traditional winter sports basketball, soccer and wrestling along with three sports that are usually played in the spring: water polo, tennis and girls flag football. Playoffs would be held in April.
Season 3 would have typical spring sports baseball, softball, track and boys weightlifting; and gain golf and swimming from the fall, and lacrosse from the winter. It would start with April 26 practices and a regular season from May 10 through June 12, followed by playoffs stretching into the summer.
“I think Option 3 is the way to go,” Foundation Academy football coach Brad Lord said. “I think it gives is a better chance of having a season. The other two are a wing and a prayer in my opinion.
“I’d hate to us for to all start Aug. 24 and get all excited and a week later get shut down for two weeks. We’re going to have [coronavirus] cases, all of us. A 14-day quarantine absolutely destroys your season. November gives us time to know more about medicine, maybe even a vaccine.”