Do programs want to get better?

[Paulcrew]

One big advantage to advancing to
the playoffs, and especially with expanded playoffs, is that it gives football programs the advantage of more practice time. When teams advance to regional semi finals and further, the advantage is big to developing young players.

My question is with the OHSAA allowing schools to play 10
games before November 24, why aren’t more schools continuing their seasons by a week or two? I know basketball and wrestling starts for many players October 29th. However, with games being cancelled and revenue lost, why aren’t schools continuing to
play?

[BigBoneJerome]

Kudos to South Point for trying. I think them and River the only teams taking advantage.

[Paladine]

To answer your question, I don't think most in SEO do want to get much better. I've already seen one of the supposed "best programs" in SEO throw in the towel at the chance of winning a state title and pretty much given up on winning their region, all because of who is in the division and because other schools can "recruit." That is a defeatist mentality and you can't get better with that kind of mindset, no matter how many games you play in a season. That seems rampant among SEO programs.

[IronNation95]

To answer your question, I don't think most in SEO do want to get much better. I've already seen one of the supposed "best programs" in SEO throw in the towel at the chance of winning a state title and pretty much given up on winning their region, all because of who is in the division and because other schools can "recruit." That is a defeatist mentality and you can't get better with that kind of mindset, no matter how many games you play in a season. That seems rampant among SEO programs.

This is CNN...the most trusted name in SEOPS news.

[MR305]

-Seems like the majority of the teams in SE Ohio are content with 8-2 or 9-1 and winning a game or two in the playoffs. Now there are the exceptions: Ironton, Wheelersburg, Fairland, Jackson and Waverly. All of these teams, I feel like have a coaching staff in place that want to take the next step with their team. Outside of these teams I really don't see anyone even close. Unfortunately, this is what you get when you have a staff full of coaches that just go through the motions to complete a season. As of right now, my former high school is content with mediocrity..

[trojandave]

Portsmouth wants to and has gotten better over the past 4 years. From 2008-2017, the Trojans won only 30 games total. Since Coach Bruce Kalb has taken over, in his 4 years PHS has made the playoffs each year. Haven't advanced past the first round, but that certainly doesn't mean they don't want to. Portsmouth had to play on the road all 4 years, at Middletown Madison, West Lafayette Ridgewood, McDermott Northwest, and Zane Trace. If PHS wins vs. ZT, they will have to play at Ironton. Not easy to win on the road in the playoffs.

Portsmouth is still a long way from a state title or even a trip to the state.......but I can assure you as a Trojan alumnus that we're trying to get there, but we just have to get stability and consistency in our program. One little known fact about Portsmouth football is that the Trojans have advanced to the Final 4 twice, in 1984 and 2000. So it's not like the program hasn't been close to getting to the top.

[Football fan]

To be successful you can not start your kids off playing football at 4 or 5 years old you get to much parents evolvement kids get burned out etc schools like Marion local coldwater they don’t start teaching football till 7th grade plus schools in scioto county could compete more if they would get rid of soccer

[beg003]

To be successful you can not start your kids off playing football at 4 or 5 years old you get to much parents evolvement kids get burned out etc schools like Marion local coldwater they don’t start teaching football till 7th grade plus schools in scioto county could compete more if they would get rid of soccer

The not starting tackle football till 7th grade is a great idea and not used enough. Pee Wee football, among other things, has historically been a primary reason that Warren didn’t have good high school teams. Talented players who would have been difference makers were burned out by the time JH and HS came around. Much easier teaching from a clean slate at age 12 or 13 than trying to unlearn bad habits a player has had since they were 7.

[Paladine]

To be successful you can not start your kids off playing football at 4 or 5 years old you get to much parents evolvement kids get burned out etc schools like Marion local coldwater they don’t start teaching football till 7th grade plus schools in scioto county could compete more if they would get rid of soccer

The not starting tackle football till 7th grade is a great idea and not used enough. Pee Wee football, among other things, has historically been a primary reason that Warren didn’t have good high school teams. Talented players who would have been difference makers were burned out by the time JH and HS came around. Much easier teaching from a clean slate at age 12 or 13 than trying to unlearn bad habits a player has had since they were 7.

And don't forget, "daddy ball." That's yet another disease in SEO that cripples the upper level programs. Daddy runs off any of little Johnny's competition at a young age so that Johnny can be a starter.

[Raider6309]

Last I knew the MAC doesn’t start tackle football until middle school. I thought it was stupid how every sport takes up so much time now. It’s almost impossible to play Football, Basketball, and Baseball like you could in the past

[Raider6309]

I’d say the big reason is basketball and wrestling why teams aren’t adding an extra game

[beg003]

To be successful you can not start your kids off playing football at 4 or 5 years old you get to much parents evolvement kids get burned out etc schools like Marion local coldwater they don’t start teaching football till 7th grade plus schools in scioto county could compete more if they would get rid of soccer

The not starting tackle football till 7th grade is a great idea and not used enough. Pee Wee football, among other things, has historically been a primary reason that Warren didn’t have good high school teams. Talented players who would have been difference makers were burned out by the time JH and HS came around. Much easier teaching from a clean slate at age 12 or 13 than trying to unlearn bad habits a player has had since they were 7.

And don't forget, "daddy ball." That's yet another disease in SEO that cripples the upper level programs. Daddy runs off any of little Johnny's competition at a young age so that Johnny can be a starter.

In a bad pee wee program, this goes hand in hand with burnout. Kids mature at different ages too, so it’s so hard to tell who is going to be a good player at ages 7-12. And a lot of kids at a young age aren’t inherently drawn to contact. A bad experience when they are young can completely ruin the game for them before they’re physically ready to play.

[Kirtland80]

We start ours early…and the same playbook is ran from pee wee right on up to varsity

[Paladine]

The not starting tackle football till 7th grade is a great idea and not used enough. Pee Wee football, among other things, has historically been a primary reason that Warren didn’t have good high school teams. Talented players who would have been difference makers were burned out by the time JH and HS came around. Much easier teaching from a clean slate at age 12 or 13 than trying to unlearn bad habits a player has had since they were 7.

And don't forget, "daddy ball." That's yet another disease in SEO that cripples the upper level programs. Daddy runs off any of little Johnny's competition at a young age so that Johnny can be a starter.

In a bad pee wee program, this goes hand in hand with burnout. Kids mature at different ages too, so it’s so hard to tell who is going to be a good player at ages 7-12. And a lot of kids at a young age aren’t inherently drawn to contact. A bad experience when they are young can completely ruin the game for them before they’re physically ready to play.

Agreed, but these daddy's who were terrible when they were young and many didn't even play are hellbent on living life through little Johnny and making sure he gets to start and probably be the QB, whether he's any good or not. The other kids get discouraged and quit. Which only encourages daddy even more because that's what he wanted in the first place.

[Ff3233]

And don't forget, "daddy ball." That's yet another disease in SEO that cripples the upper level programs. Daddy runs off any of little Johnny's competition at a young age so that Johnny can be a starter.

In a bad pee wee program, this goes hand in hand with burnout. Kids mature at different ages too, so it’s so hard to tell who is going to be a good player at ages 7-12. And a lot of kids at a young age aren’t inherently drawn to contact. A bad experience when they are young can completely ruin the game for them before they’re physically ready to play.

Agreed, but these daddy's who were terrible when they were young and many didn't even play are hellbent on living life through little Johnny and making sure he gets to start and probably be the QB, whether he's any good or not. The other kids get discouraged and quit. Which only encourages daddy even more because that's what he wanted in the first place.

Program's are community based not school based. That's why Waterford and fort frye are successful in multiple sports

[Football fan]

Last I knew the MAC doesn’t start tackle football until middle school. I thought it was stupid how every sport takes up so much time now. It’s almost impossible to play Football, Basketball, and Baseball like you could in the past

MAC doesn’t have soccer programs cause it takes away kids from the football program very smart conference all those state titles prove it

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

I think schools want to get better but I do not think enough schools see enough interest from the students to warrant the effort.

[enigmaax]

Sometimes, coaches/staff/school are very interested in being great, but simply don’t have the skill set. It isn’t as though NFL-caliber coaches are just sitting around small towns waiting to coach the local high school team. I’ve seen schools get rid of very passionate, community-driven coaches without any forethought to the fact that someone better may just not exist as a realistic candidate.

[eagles73Taylor]

I coached this year’s juniors and seniors and last years graduating class for Piketon when they started in 3rd grade through 5th grade. This years seniors there were 18 kids, and we won some games, lost a few, but you could see that while no one single kid was a star, all 18 could play. Out of the 18, 15 still playing, one now plays basketball and baseball, the other two just didn’t want to continue. Picked up a couple for 19 seniors this year. My kid was center and a defensive tackle, no daddy ball here. Currently coached my 6th grade son last 2 years. While I’m not the head coach, he played center and middle backer. This group didn’t start tackle until 5th grade. It took until last couple of games for them to figure things out, but they were competitive. We run very similar offense as varsity, as does the junior high.

[greygoose]

All programs want to get better, no one wants to field a crap team. Bottom line is though at a lot of schools in the SEO it takes special groups to come through most lack the ability to "reload" every year that's only at a select number. In terms of facilities and coaching, well you can only do so much with the budget allotted and you can only bring in a coach that is interested in the job.