Coaches seem OK with prep football playoff format

CEDAR RAPIDS — It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with the decisions the Iowa High School Athletic Association made regarding the prep football playoffs Wednesday. Everything is done and finalized.

Take care of your business, and it's a moot point anyway.

'It's up to you to win the games you need to win,' Cedar Rapids Washington Coach/Activities Director Paul James said. 'That's it.'

The IHSAA's Board of Control voted to stick with eight districts of six teams each in Class 4A and the Eight-Player class, though Class A, 1A, 2A and 3A will have seven districts each, a decrease of one from last season.

District champions and runners-up in all classes will qualify for the playoffs beginning in 2016. In A through 3A, an additional pair of 'wildcard' teams will get in.

The IHSAA previously announced the playoff field would be halved from 32 to 16 per class because of player safety. Teams were playing as many as three postseason games in 10 days, which was unacceptable.

There now will be a week between playoff rounds and between the end of the regular season and playoffs.

'We're always sensitive to the concerns our schools have, and it's hard for us to say we're going to go this way when we know this group is not going to be happy,' Cedar Rapids Xavier Principal and Board of Control member Tom Keating said. 'It puts us in tough positions. But I think the discussions were all on the table.

'The staff did not go into this saying we've got to make sure we don't do this and don't do that. It was how could we make things work.'

The majority of 4A coaches and athletics directors on the eastern side of the state preferred six districts of eight teams, though it was the opposite in Central and Western Iowa.

'The decision to continue to stay with the eight districts (of) six teams in each district was what was the best for the state, best for travel and best for schools to have more flexibility in regard to their ability to schedule teams,' said IHSAA Associate Executive Director Todd Tharp. 'They have four opportunities to schedule whoever they want instead of scheduling two and not knowing who they could get assigned.'

That was the reason Cedar Rapids Kennedy Coach Brian White preferred eight districts, though he said he would have been fine no matter how it turned out. The 2015 4A state runner-up, Kennedy is in a district the next two seasons with Cedar Rapids Prairie, Linn-Mar, Iowa City West, Burlington and Ottumwa.

● 2016, 2017 Iowa prep football districts

'I like this. I do. For various reasons, I like it,' White said. 'To me, this makes the middle of the season, beginning with Week 5, that much more exciting. It's kind of like every team gets a second season.'

'I'm in favor of that,' agreed Iowa City High Coach Dan Sabers, whose team is in a district with Bettendorf, Clinton, Muscatine, Davenport North and Davenport Central. 'I just think it's good for teams to have more flexibility in their schedules. With us, picking up a game with Ames has been great all around. Then we've got the Battle of the Boot with (Iowa City) West. Playing Cedar Falls has been a good thing ... I know people will say, well, you've got four games that don't mean anything. But I've never been in a football game, yet, where I don't want to win.'

James preferred eight districts but seemed OK with six again. Washington was placed in a district with Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Mason City, Cedar Falls, Waterloo East and Waterloo West.

'It does make things cleaner that way,' James said. 'And you can go out and get some tough competition to challenge you in the non district. You can work on some things heading into district play.'

The Iowa Football Coaches Association recommended seven districts for the smaller classes, which the IHSAA OKed. North Fayette Valley Coach Bob Lape and North Linn's Jared Collum agreed with that decision.

'The last two years, we were in a (2A) district that finished in a three-way tie for the championship,' Lape said. 'It was us, New Hampton and (Dyersville) Beckman two years ago, us, Waukon and Beckman this year. This allows all three teams to get in. I've been around long enough to where I've seen a one-loss team not get in.'

The first criteria for selecting 'wildcard' playoff teams is being a district champion. The IHSAA also changed point differentials from a 13-point to 17-point system.

'I like that,' Collum said. 'There won't be as many teams clumped together that way now. It seemed like you had a lot of teams with the same (differential) total. I think that will change.'

District record and head-to-head results also could factor into figuring out wildcard playoff berths, which makes it tricky for schools when it comes to scheduling non-district games. In theory, you probably wouldn't want to have a non-district opponent that's in your class.

'For years, we've always played up a class non district,' Lape said. 'We've played Decorah, we've played Waverly, we've played Independence. We're probably going to look at going that direction again.'

The Board of Control also voted to return the playoffs to a bracketed system and eliminated the 125-mile traveling rule. Once again, schools will need to turn in non-district 'wish lists' to the IHSAA by Feb. 1.

Ranked in order from one to five, the IHSAA will use those to create full 2016-17 schedules for every school in every class. For instance, Kennedy certainly will place Washington and Jefferson at the top of its wish list, and vice versa, in order to keep those longstanding rivalries intact.

The IHSAA is expected to release schedules sometime in February.

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