Summer Thoughts...9 man football with six classes

[northeastNebraska]

Have seen this idea posted on here before of going to 6 classes for football.

A
B
C - 11 man
9 man
8 man
6 man

9 man enrollment between 60 & 40 (Maybe go to 70?)
8 man between 39 & 25
6 man 25 and below

New classes
A no changes
B no changes
C-11 man 55-60 teams +\- depending on opt ups
9 man 50-55 teams +\-
8 man 55-60 teams
6 man 40-45

Thoughts? Does Nebraska need 110 schools playing 8 man football?

 

[Power_I_82]

I think generally when you see a state offer 9 man they don't offer 8 man. To me there is no sense in having the two separate divisions for 1 player. If they can't play/compete at 11 man pulling one more kid off the field probably isn't a big deal. I think all you would do is see schools transition to 9 man and eventually wind up playing 8 anyway. Wyoming I believe I was told only has 16 schools that play 9 man. I guess I'd rather see a larger class with smaller playoff pool than a small class crowning a state champ. When 6 man was holding state title games with less than 10-12 teams was it really a legit state title? Most conferences have more teams than that now. I guess I feel the 2 classes of 8 man serves its purpose. Not saying that the enrollment numbers can't be moved around to help things out if needed. I think the issue at hand is the small C-2 teams feel they can't compete with the big C-2's. I think the D-2's feel the same way. Most small D-2's could drop to 6 man if they wanted though. So many factors influence numbers and participation and they vary from school to school. Not sure we will ever have a system everyone can agree with!

 

[ClkTwr2011]

Would the goal be to split the current 8 man teams into a 9 man and an 8 man class, or is the goal to also pull some of the current 11 man teams down?

I asks this because most 11 man teams that get reclassified will just opt up to 11 man. It is clearly the better way to go if you have the numbers. You put 20% more players on the field.

As @Power_I_82 said, we don't need a tiny class.

 

[Power_I_82]

I think you would get several small C-2 teams that dropped to 9 man if you had the option. I doubt any or very few at the least 8 man teams would move up. Usually the only reason a team moves up is they have to to be playoff eligible. I think keeping everything 8 man would make the scheduling/travel much easier for everyone. I just think back to the Wyoming coach I talked to saying only 16 teams play 9 man and how big of an issue travel must be for some of those schools.

 

[northeastNebraska]

Would the goal be to split the current 8 man teams into a 9 man and an 8 man class, or is the goal to also pull some of the current 11 man teams down?

I asks this because most 11 man teams that get reclassified will just opt up to 11 man. It is clearly the better way to go if you have the numbers. You put 20% more players on the field.

As @Power_I_82 said, we don't need a tiny class.

My original post/idea was to pull some of the 11 man teams from C2 down and bump up some 8 man teams. C2 is just an odd duck right now. Some teams could compete playing in C1, while others should be playing down a class. I like the game of 9 man more than 8 man. I think that change would be easier to adjust to compared from going to 11 to 8, but that is just my opinion. I have talked to a few 11 man coaches who have said the same thing.

I always enjoy reading what other peoples ideas are on classifications. Nebraska is changing rapidly outside of LNK and Omaha. For the game of football to survive and be healthy in our state, there needs to be more co-ops and consolidations.

Classes A and B should be adjusted too. Honestly, should Norfolk be competing against Millard North? To me, they shouldn't. Norfolk, Fremont, Columbus, North Platte should be in Class B.

 

[Power_I_82]

I'm sure this is something Nate and the NSAA people are constantly looking at. Agree with your A and B assessment to a degree. Those teams seem to not fit with the Metro teams and GI/Kearney. If they bump down are the Class B teams gonna raise hell with having to play schools that are that much bigger? Probably. Its a tough deal but in every class there is a pretty big difference in the enrollment at the top of the class and the schools at the bottom of the class. In the end its probably just something you are going to have to deal with. Not everybody will always be happy!

 

[nenebskers]

I'm sure this is something Nate and the NSAA people are constantly looking at. Agree with your A and B assessment to a degree. Those teams seem to not fit with the Metro teams and GI/Kearney. If they bump down are the Class B teams gonna raise hell with having to play schools that are that much bigger? Probably. Its a tough deal but in every class there is a pretty big difference in the enrollment at the top of the class and the schools at the bottom of the class. In the end its probably just something you are going to have to deal with. Not everybody will always be happy!

We're many years away but with the Metro areas growing A and B are getting more leveled and balanced. It would help if there were more communities in that Beatrice, Blair, York, Seward, McCook, etc...size but most of those seem to be holding or getting smaller. Not too many are growing. They will likely all grow eventually which will help level out the gap in B but it could be 20-50 years.

It might be 20+ years away but I'm guessing you will eventually see class B resemble the cities with 10k-30k in population and hopefully C2-D2 condensed down to 2 classes.

 

[northeastNebraska]

We're many years away but with the Metro areas growing A and B are getting more leveled and balanced. It would help if there were more communities in that Beatrice, Blair, York, Seward, McCook, etc...size but most of those seem to be holding or getting smaller. Not too many are growing. They will likely all grow eventually which will help level out the gap in B but it could be 20-50 years.

It might be 20+ years away but I'm guessing you will eventually see class B resemble the cities with 10k-30k in population and hopefully C2-D2 condensed down to 2 classes.

I'm hoping we can get to that point. The only schools outside of Omaha and LNK that should be in Class A are GISH and Kearney. Kearney is going to continue to grow, but I don't see them adding a second public high school. Maybe in 20 years.

It seems like younger people who grew up in a small town, example Howells, are moving back to the area after college, but they are living in Columbus. If someone grew up in Hershey, they may live in North Platte, Hooper live in Fremont.

Towns like Minden, West Point, Broken Bow, Gothenburg, Cozad, Wayne, O'Neill will be interesting to see their population shifts over the next 20 years. Will they shrink, grow or stay the same. Towns between 3,000-5,000 seem to be doing well right now with revitalizing their communities and trying to pump money in to have nicer parks, main streets, etc. hoping that it will bring younger families back.

 

[nenebskers]

I'm hoping we can get to that point. The only schools outside of Omaha and LNK that should be in Class A are GISH and Kearney. Kearney is going to continue to grow, but I don't see them adding a second public high school. Maybe in 20 years.

It seems like younger people who grew up in a small town, example Howells, are moving back to the area after college, but they are living in Columbus. If someone grew up in Hershey, they may live in North Platte, Hooper live in Fremont.

Towns like Minden, West Point, Broken Bow, Gothenburg, Cozad, Wayne, O'Neill will be interesting to see their population shifts over the next 20 years. Will they shrink, grow or stay the same. Towns between 3,000-5,000 seem to be doing well right now with revitalizing their communities and trying to pump money in to have nicer parks, main streets, etc. hoping that it will bring younger families back.

Yep, I could see those cities growing if.....they make the effort. Sit back and hope it happens it won't.

 

[abaxa5]

We're many years away but with the Metro areas growing A and B are getting more leveled and balanced. It would help if there were more communities in that Beatrice, Blair, York, Seward, McCook, etc...size but most of those seem to be holding or getting smaller. Not too many are growing. They will likely all grow eventually which will help level out the gap in B but it could be 20-50 years.

It might be 20+ years away but I'm guessing you will eventually see class B resemble the cities with 10k-30k in population and hopefully C2-D2 condensed down to 2 classes.

When you mention the Metro growing you have to think about the Class B schools in those areas and how fast they're growing. Bennington will probably be the next school to move up to A. It'll be a while yet but it will eventually happen to Norris and Waverly.

 

[nenebskers]

When you mention the Metro growing you have to think about the Class B schools in those areas and how fast they're growing. Bennington will probably be the next school to move up to A. It'll be a while yet but it will eventually happen to Norris and Waverly.

Yep, they'll be A and will be replaced with Malcolm, Ashland Greenwood, etc....growing into B. The sprawl will continue.

 

[northeastNebraska]

When you mention the Metro growing you have to think about the Class B schools in those areas and how fast they're growing. Bennington will probably be the next school to move up to A. It'll be a while yet but it will eventually happen to Norris and Waverly.

Bennington won’t be Class A. They will have a new high school within the next 5 years.

 

[ULTFO]

I believe that it must be fixed from the top down, not the bottom up. Create a class AA, which would include all the metro schools and all the LPS schools, along with maybe GI and Kearney. Then have a Class A with the Norfolks sized schools and bring up some of the top of Class B. Then Class B would be the bottom part of B and the top of C!, which will leave you with a good competitive C1 and C2. Now the schools like LHNE will not opt to stay in 8 man because they can not compete with all the big C2 schools.

Fix it from the top down, and it will create more competitive classes.

Just my thought.