A day after the IHSA announced that a proposal had passed to expand the football playoffs by 128 teams, Kendall County-area coaches reacted to the news. "More kids get a chance to play high school football one extra week.”
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Kendall County football coaches react to IHSA playoff expansion. More
kids get chance to play one more game. This article
is being read by an automated voice brought to you
by everlet Tyson. LeBlanc considers a part of himself old
school in how Illinois playoff football is done. The Oswego
(00:26):
East coach loves that football teams have to earn their
spot in the postseason. He appreciates how it differentiates from
all other sports where everybody is let in. But LeBlanc
also wears the hat of a coach and a teacher.
He is someone who values most opportunities for kids as
a coach. How can I not be in favor of
(00:46):
kids getting to play one more game, LeBlanc said, I
look at it from a participation perspective and how hard
kids work in this sport all the other sports everybody
gets in. For me, that is the part that I
can come to peace with. More kids get a chance
to play high school football one extra week, starting in
twenty twenty six, they will It was announced Tuesday that
(01:09):
a proposal to expand the IHSA football playoffs by one
hundred and twenty eight teams was passed by a school
wide membership vote three hundred seven seven two fifty two
with ninety six substentions. Under the proposal submitted by Monticello
High School, the playoff field will expand by one hundred
and twenty eight teams, increasing the field of qualifiers from
(01:30):
two hundred and fifty six teams to three eighty four.
More participation for the playoffs is an overall positive step
for high school football across the state. Plano coach Kyle
Tutt said, anytime you can increase opportunity for more kids
to experience meaningful games, that is a win for the students,
the schools, and the communities. ISSA executive director Craig Anderson
(01:54):
said in a news release that he hoped the expansion
will provide intended relief to our schools by stable conference
movement and eliminating the difficulty of scheduling football games that
many of our schools face each year. Yorkville coach Dan
McGuire said he heard last week the proposal had a
good chance to pass, and I didn't believe it, but
McGuire said it was also clear that enough people were
(02:15):
frustrated with scheduling issues that it became the boiling point
McGuire said that giving his team the best chance to
get to five wins for the playoffs has become more
and more difficult the last several years, playing in the
competitive Southwest Prairie Conference West Division and with non conference
scheduling increasingly difficult. McGuire said that Yorkville did vote for
(02:37):
playoff expansion in part as a nod to its league.
Under the expanded model, the SPC West would have had
all six of its teams in the playoffs in each
of the last three seasons. Fellow conference member As we
Go voted against the proposal. Every year is a battle
Plainfield North I felt was a playoff team this year,
(02:58):
McGuire said. You can look back on multiple years where
I felt that could be said about teams in our
league that didn't make it. Now we will be rewarded
for being in a good conference, tested all year long.
When it's all said and done, I wouldn't be surprised
if a team from our conference could make a run
in the playoffs with the below point five hundred record
because of the challenging league we play in. Using data
from previous seasons, all teams with three or more wins
(03:22):
will make the playoffs. In the case of twenty twenty
five data, thirty two teams that ended two to seven
would have made the field. However, there is also the
concern of how competitive teams like that could be in
a postseason game, especially after the grueling physical demands of
a nine game season. Sandwich would have been one of
those two to seven teams this fall, although that school
(03:45):
did not vote in favor of the proposal. Our process
is not going to change much, Sandwich coach Jason Van
Peltz said. We are not just trying to make the
playoffs at five to four. We have higher aspirations than that.
That is where our mind is at in our mind,
and we should be there anyway if we are achieving
our goals. I'm not sure what this will look like.
(04:06):
We will have to get through the season. Whether it
is beneficial or not remains to be seen. LeBlanc had
a friend he was college teammates with that grew up
in Indiana, where every team makes the playoffs. That person
and a teammate got injured early their senior year and
they wound up three and five by the time the
playoffs came around. They were both healthy enough to not
(04:26):
win a state championship, but to make a run. LeBlanc said,
I don't think that is something that happens in a
day football here, but it could happen in a small school.
I don't think this water's down the playoffs. You hear
arguments about blowouts and playoffs. There are already blowouts in playoffs.
It gives more kids opportunity to play. LeBlanc believes the
expansion will remedy the issues with scheduling and conference jumping. Absolutely.
(04:50):
I think you will see less schools trying to switch conferences,
LeBlanc said, I think you will see more big name
games early in the season. Parsicular season still will include
nine games, but the beginning of the season will start
one week earlier to accommodate the extra week of playoffs
games that need to be scheduled. This adjustment will eliminate
(05:10):
the scrimmage week and will allow for only ten dates
to get in nine practices preseason to meet the previously
established state acclimatization practices. That detail in the plan was
one McGuire was not a fan of. Van Pelt noted
that pushing up the football calendar could mess with summer schedules.
Tut said that losing the week zo scrimmage is a change.
(05:34):
Loosing the scrimmage may be the biggest effect. Tut said
getting a practice against somebody else was a huge advantage
for US. LeBlanc did not anticipate the truncated fall practice
schedule to be as big of an adjustment as some
would believe. We have plenty of practices during the summer,
LeBlanc said. By the time you get to that point
in the preseason, you are just trying to survive to
week one. McGuire can understand why some other schools didn't
(05:57):
want expansion. He's a history major, a guy that likes
to see things stay the way they are. He can
see that point of view. I think we have to
honor the things done in the past, but things are changing.
Maguire said. Ultimately, we are all here to help kids.
It's not about what I want or what Joe Blow wants.
It's about what will help kids the most and give
(06:18):
kids more opportunities.
Kendall County football coaches react to IHSA playoff expansion. More
kids get chance to play one more game. This article
is being read by an automated voice brought to you
by everlet Tyson. LeBlanc considers a part of himself old
school in how Illinois playoff football is done. The Oswego
(00:26):
East coach loves that football teams have to earn their
spot in the postseason. He appreciates how it differentiates from
all other sports where everybody is let in. But LeBlanc
also wears the hat of a coach and a teacher.
He is someone who values most opportunities for kids as
a coach. How can I not be in favor of
(00:46):
kids getting to play one more game, LeBlanc said, I
look at it from a participation perspective and how hard
kids work in this sport all the other sports everybody
gets in. For me, that is the part that I
can come to peace with. More kids get a chance
to play high school football one extra week, starting in
twenty twenty six, they will It was announced Tuesday that
(01:09):
a proposal to expand the IHSA football playoffs by one
hundred and twenty eight teams was passed by a school
wide membership vote three hundred seven seven two fifty two
with ninety six substentions. Under the proposal submitted by Monticello
High School, the playoff field will expand by one hundred
and twenty eight teams, increasing the field of qualifiers from
(01:30):
two hundred and fifty six teams to three eighty four.
More participation for the playoffs is an overall positive step
for high school football across the state. Plano coach Kyle
Tutt said, anytime you can increase opportunity for more kids
to experience meaningful games, that is a win for the students,
the schools, and the communities. ISSA executive director Craig Anderson
(01:54):
said in a news release that he hoped the expansion
will provide intended relief to our schools by stable conference
movement and eliminating the difficulty of scheduling football games that
many of our schools face each year. Yorkville coach Dan
McGuire said he heard last week the proposal had a
good chance to pass, and I didn't believe it, but
McGuire said it was also clear that enough people were
(02:15):
frustrated with scheduling issues that it became the boiling point
McGuire said that giving his team the best chance to
get to five wins for the playoffs has become more
and more difficult the last several years, playing in the
competitive Southwest Prairie Conference West Division and with non conference
scheduling increasingly difficult. McGuire said that Yorkville did vote for
(02:37):
playoff expansion in part as a nod to its league.
Under the expanded model, the SPC West would have had
all six of its teams in the playoffs in each
of the last three seasons. Fellow conference member As we
Go voted against the proposal. Every year is a battle
Plainfield North I felt was a playoff team this year,
(02:58):
McGuire said. You can look back on multiple years where
I felt that could be said about teams in our
league that didn't make it. Now we will be rewarded
for being in a good conference, tested all year long.
When it's all said and done, I wouldn't be surprised
if a team from our conference could make a run
in the playoffs with the below point five hundred record
because of the challenging league we play in. Using data
from previous seasons, all teams with three or more wins
(03:22):
will make the playoffs. In the case of twenty twenty
five data, thirty two teams that ended two to seven
would have made the field. However, there is also the
concern of how competitive teams like that could be in
a postseason game, especially after the grueling physical demands of
a nine game season. Sandwich would have been one of
those two to seven teams this fall, although that school
(03:45):
did not vote in favor of the proposal. Our process
is not going to change much, Sandwich coach Jason Van
Peltz said. We are not just trying to make the
playoffs at five to four. We have higher aspirations than that.
That is where our mind is at in our mind,
and we should be there anyway if we are achieving
our goals. I'm not sure what this will look like.
(04:06):
We will have to get through the season. Whether it
is beneficial or not remains to be seen. LeBlanc had
a friend he was college teammates with that grew up
in Indiana, where every team makes the playoffs. That person
and a teammate got injured early their senior year and
they wound up three and five by the time the
playoffs came around. They were both healthy enough to not
(04:26):
win a state championship, but to make a run. LeBlanc said,
I don't think that is something that happens in a
day football here, but it could happen in a small school.
I don't think this water's down the playoffs. You hear
arguments about blowouts and playoffs. There are already blowouts in playoffs.
It gives more kids opportunity to play. LeBlanc believes the
expansion will remedy the issues with scheduling and conference jumping. Absolutely.
(04:50):
I think you will see less schools trying to switch conferences,
LeBlanc said, I think you will see more big name
games early in the season. Parsicular season still will include
nine games, but the beginning of the season will start
one week earlier to accommodate the extra week of playoffs
games that need to be scheduled. This adjustment will eliminate
(05:10):
the scrimmage week and will allow for only ten dates
to get in nine practices preseason to meet the previously
established state acclimatization practices. That detail in the plan was
one McGuire was not a fan of. Van Pelt noted
that pushing up the football calendar could mess with summer schedules.
Tut said that losing the week zo scrimmage is a change.
(05:34):
Loosing the scrimmage may be the biggest effect. Tut said
getting a practice against somebody else was a huge advantage
for US. LeBlanc did not anticipate the truncated fall practice
schedule to be as big of an adjustment as some
would believe. We have plenty of practices during the summer,
LeBlanc said. By the time you get to that point
in the preseason, you are just trying to survive to
week one. McGuire can understand why some other schools didn't
(05:57):
want expansion. He's a history major, a guy that likes
to see things stay the way they are. He can
see that point of view. I think we have to
honor the things done in the past, but things are changing.
Maguire said. Ultimately, we are all here to help kids.
It's not about what I want or what Joe Blow wants.
It's about what will help kids the most and give
(06:18):
kids more opportunities.
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