What is the future of high school football?

MARION - Football is under a scrutiny it hasn’t seen in more than 100 years.

During the Teddy Roosevelt administration, the sport nearly went extinct as talk of banning it from college campuses and school yards became an outcry. But rules were changed, and the sport was tamed.

While not at that level, there is still plenty of chatter about the health and sustainability of the sport in this new century.

But what does that mean for high school football, something that has been a part of the fabric of Ohio communities since the days of the old Rough Rider?

“I’m real hesitant with it,” River Valley head coach Doug Green said.

As rules are introduced to reduce contact, he sees the game changing.

“We’re already seeing things about removing the kickoff,” Green said. “Anything the NFL does is going to trickle down to us. That’s inevitable. We’re kind of at the mercy of whatever they decide.

“I am a little concerned that the grandkids and the game that they play is probably not going to be the same game their parents played or I certainly played. It’s going to be different.”

And Green, who has coached high school football since 1989, is OK with different.

“With older coaches, they are the ones that are most resistant to the change because they’ve always done it this way and always have done that. For us, that’s the toughest part — changing with it.

“If you can’t roll with the changes and deal with what is happening — and it’s happening whether you like it or not — you have to get out.”

Concussions

At the forefront of the talk are concussions. Over the last several years, knowledge of brain injuries, the symptoms and the awareness of what they look like has changed for the better.

While the Ohio High School Athletic Association has taken the enlightenment seriously by mandating training for coaches and officials about the signs and treatments of concussions, and and while the OHSAA most recently partnered with USA Football’s Heads Up Program to increase safety, football still is a contact sport.

Because of it, more parents are thinking twice about their sons playing the sport. Likewise, those who do get hurt are left to ponder the risks and rewards of continuing the sport.

“The biggest thing that worries me about this is with head injuries and parents steering their kids away from playing contact sports when they get older,” Elgin head coach Derek Katris said. “One of the things we need to look at is with youth football. That might be the path where we reduce contact at a really young age and hold off until they get a little more developed at the upper middle school and high school.”

Katris played college football at California University of Pennsylvania through 2006, when old-school thinking about head trauma still ruled. He admits he suffered concussions in his career while playing along the line.

“I’m real careful with my kids because I don’t want the situation with them,” he said. “I try to meet those expectations with my kids because it’s in their best interests.”

He agreed with Green in that the sport could look a lot different 20 years from now as special teams could become a thing of the past. Katris worries about a possible rash of knee injuries as players can no longer target the heads of opponents.

“My biggest fear is that it turns into a flag football situation and that just won’t be anywhere near the same, to be honest with you,” Katris said.

Changes in practice

The Pleasant football team hasn’t practiced in full pads since 2010.

“It’s something I believe in and something that we’ve done,” Pleasant head coach Aaron Cook said. “I’ve had two undefeated teams that played in regional games, so we’ve been OK.”

Cook admits it is unconventional, but it’s also a growing trend that has come from some of the most famous in the game. He said he learned it from Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and that Ohio State’s Urban Meyer uses a similar philosophy.

The Spartans will wear helmets and shoulder pads, but they don’t tackle to the ground in practice. Cook said they can do most tackling drills in shorts if needed.

“Our kids love it,” he said. “We always tell them to tackle right or we go to full pads and we go to the ground and they don’t want to do that. They do things right. It’s a philosophical belief that we’ve adapted. We don’t have a lot of kids, too, so it goes back to that. You’ve got to find a way to keep your kids healthy.”

Cook said he saw too many concussions happen Monday through Thursday with kids taking knees to the head while tackling in practice, so he went in search of a new way of doing business.

“The game has never been safer,” he said. “The helmets we have today compared to what they were in the 1990s when I played is night and day. The technology is incredible. The way you practice, the way you tackle, all that stuff is so different.”

As long as the sport’s leaders are willing to evolve, he’s hopeful for the sport’s longterm health.

Reduced-man football

For a number of reasons, it’s getting hard for programs at small schools like Ridgedale to generate the number of bodies needed to field a competitive team.

“I think a lot of schools are seeing a decline in the number of kids coming out, either because of the concussion piece or because it’s so much easier not to do anything,” Rockets head coach Pat Ballenger said.

One way the game could change is by going to reduced-man football. For the last two springs, OHSAA Commissioner Dan Ross has spoken of a possibility of eight-man football coming to Ohio’s schools sooner rather than later.

Ballenger said Ridgedale Superintendent Bob Britton and Athletic Director Greg Rossman attended a meeting last year with other small schools from around the state to talk about the viability of it.

“I truly think that is going to be a necessity for us in the future beyond the D-VII schools,” Ballenger said. “Our student population is declining. The kids coming out to participate are obviously in decline. To be able to save some form of football in the future, I think we’re going to have to go to a reduced man, if it’s seven-man or nine-man or whatever, just to try to be able to compete and have a sport for these kids.

“We have a lot of talented athletes who want to play football, but if they don’t have friends who want to come out and help them as well, they’re left in a very bad spot.”

Optimistic

Harding head coach John Brady was a standout for the Presidents in the 1970s. He remembers the old school, and he’s seen the sport’s evolution. That’s why he’s hopeful for its future.

“High school football is the greatest thing in the world,” he said. “It brings the community so much closer. It brings schools so much closer. I have no concerns about high school football.”

The experience is too precious for too many for it to go away, he feels.

“When the community and the school backs you up, it’s the greatest thing in the world,” Brady said. “It’s a great high school experience, not only for the players, but for the kids who come to the games and cheer in the student section.”

The consensus of Marion County’s football coaches is that the game will likely evolve, but it will still be played. Because of it, the next generation of football players will continue to experience the joys of playing it in high school.

rmccurdy@gannett.com

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Table of Contents

Page 2: Cover story.

Pages 3-4: Harding.

Pages 5-6: Elgin.

Pages 7-8: Pleasant.

Pages 9-10: Ridgedale.

Pages 11-12: River Valley.

Pages 13-14: Buckeye Valley.

Pages 15-16: Cardington.

Pages 17-18: Highland.

Pages 19-20: Mount Gilead.

Pages 21-22: Northmor.

Pages 23-24: North Union.

Pages 25: Rob McCurdy’s column.

Page 26: 2015 statistics.

Page 27: 2016 composite schedule and 2015 all-stars lists.