Coaches endorse adding 32 more berths to playoffs
The high school football playoffs will expand this year for the state’s lower classifications should a new policy get approval next week by athletic directors.
That’s just one of several proposed changes to the Florida High School Athletic Association football playoffs as voted on Wednesday by the FHSAA Football Advisory Committee.
The committee, made up of seven football coaches elected by peers from different parts of the state, endorsed several key changes to the new playoff format at its meeting in Gainesville.
Among those changes is a measure to add two additional playoff teams per region for Class 4A-1A, meaning six teams from each of the 16 small-school regions will make the postseason instead of four. The regional quarterfinal rounds would serve as a bye week for the top two seeds.
Also approved was an increase in playoff points awarded for losses, bonus points for playing up in classification, and an increase in the sizes of playoff rosters.
The athletic director’s advisory committee and the FHSAA Board of Directors will review the recommendations before any changes are finalized. Athletic directors meet Wednesday in Gainesville followed by the board of directors Jan. 29.
A mandate that would force teams in lower classifications to schedule three in-region opponents via random draw was denied by a unanimous vote.
The committee increased the amount of points each team is given for losses by five points in each of the playoff system’s four categories. A loss to a Category 1 team that finishes no worse than 8-2 is now worth 35 points instead of 30, matching the same number of points earned for wins against a Category 4 team that finishes 2-8.
The move was made to help make scheduling easier and add balance to the points format.
Bonus points for playing teams in higher classifications will be given to teams in one-point increments, and capped at a maximum of three points, in a tiersystem based on win-loss records of opponent.
Approved unanimously, the measure would not be instituted until the 2019 season when new schedules Frank Beasley, FHSAA director are made.
An increase in playoff roster sizes from 60 participants to 75, which has been before the board in the past, was approved Wednesday but must now pass through the athletic director’s committee.
Ongoing discussions will be had next week among ADs regarding how to handle postponed and interrupted games following a lengthy debate among coaches. A shell of a proposal was approved by the coaches committee that contains language putting the responsibility on each participating school when considering games to be forfeited or when they will be rescheduled.
“What the language says is, if all parties agree that the game is final, then the game is final,” said Frank of athletics Beasley, director of athletics at the FHSAA. “There’s no language that defines when that needs to happen and no language that defines when games need to be made up and how long teams should sit at a site waiting [on a decision].”
The AD committee will also be presented with the idea of cross-bracketing teams in the postseason, which would combine teams from the two regions in the north and two in the south when seeding for playoffs.
Among the proposals denied by the committee were allowing schools to schedule on a one-year basis, balancing the number of teams in each region in lower classifications, and returning to districts in Class 4A-1A.