7-on-7 football is here; is spring football next for Ohio high schools?
Editor's note: This is the final part in a four-part series on 7-on-7 football. We'll look at how 7-on-7 came to Ohio and how it can coexist with spring sports. The series will also look at how to keep bad seeds out of the game and whether or not spring football is the next step.
If the progression follows form like it has in other states, spring football could be next in Ohio.
A dozen years ago, the Buckeye state was one of 34 states that didn’t allow spring football as it exists now.
Fast forward to the present and there aren’t many associations that don’t toss the pigskin around in April, May and June.
Here in Ohio, weather, finances and facilities all play a role in the decision as does the consideration of not hurting spring sports.
“It's not like we can play baseball in February and have it over with in time for spring football,” OHSAA football administrator Beau Rugg said. “That's what goes on in the southern states. That's why they don't conflict. We don't have the weather. With that in mind, everybody agrees right now, today, that that's not a wise thing to do.
“Will that change? Who knows? I don't think so. Only because at least with our membership — you have to realize we have 819 schools — there's only a small percentage of those that are football power schools that want spring practice to get people to the next level. It would be really hard to change that. I think the people not pushing and being on the same wavelength — important, powerful people as well as our membership and where we live right now — I don't see it changing, but I've been wrong before.”
7-on-7 Football Part 1: Northeast Ohio high school football instrumental in bringing 7-on-7 to spring sports
7-on-7 Football Part 2: With 7-on-7 football now on the spring landscape, how will spring sports be impacted?
7-on-7 Football Part 3: 7-on-7 football is here in the spring; how do schools keep the bad pieces of it out?
Climate plays a factor in spring football when it comes to other states
What Rugg is saying is that in states like Texas, California, Florida and Georgia the spring season starts so much earlier to allow more room for spring football later in the school year.
The Florida high school baseball season is in full swing by mid-February and over in mid-May. Last season, the OHSAA baseball season ended on June 10.
Spring football began on April 29 in Florida this year and they allow for 20 sessions, including five mandated no helmet or pads days, until the end of May.
By comparison, Ohio can run 13 full team practices from May 15 through July 31.
“What a lot of people don't know is that in the south, they start playing their spring sports in January because they can,” OHSAA director of media relations Tim Stried said. “There are a lot of southern states that have their spring state championships early. That opens up spring football.”
COVID showed spring football can work in Ohio
That’s not to say that it can’t work in Ohio, and the COVID season of 2020 proved it.
Some pockets of the state lost out on football in the fall because of the pandemic and the OHSAA allowed for spring football in certain instances.
Cleveland public schools were one of those impacted.
“The freshmen that it happened to will now be seniors,” said Glenville football coach Ted Ginn Sr, who is also the Tarblooders’ track coach. “It happened to us, Lorain and I think Cleveland Central Catholic. They let us have spring football, and what happened after that? We won back-to-back state championships because I was able to coach and develop the kids without having a fall season, so that’s the benefit of spring football. It didn’t interfere with track. I think I was finished by April.”
Is the lack of spring football hurting college recruiting in Ohio?
Hoban coach Tim Tyrrell, who used to coach Chaminade-Madonna in Florida, said the spring football season was used primarily to get college coaches on the field as a recruiting mechanism.
All have spring football.
Ohio (12 four-star athletes) ranked sixth.
“I'm indifferent to it at the moment because I don't think it'll change stuff much here,” Nordonia coach Jeff Fox said. “I don't have an emotional reaction to it, but can you see there could be a domino coming? I think that's the narrative around it. Because the other narrative is doing things like this will kill the other sports. Gotcha. The facade that doing this all of a sudden was going to create multi-sport athletes or kill multi-sport athletes is false anyways.”
GlenOak football coach Scott Garcia would rather there be less talk about 7-on-7 and more talk about spring football.
There isn’t compensation for coaches in terms of stipends to teach outside of the season, so why not bring spring football into the narrative?
“States have been doing this for 20 and 30 years already,” he said. “I would rather see spring football where you could actually practice with your whole team instead of bringing seven guys in somewhere. It doesn't do your team much good to have a small personal percentage like that.
"But if you were able to open up and have some practices maybe three times a week for three weeks or whatever, maybe just to get some extra time that way that would benefit the team because everybody's involved.”
Cooperation would be the key to spring football working in Ohio
The key, like it is everywhere else, is cooperation.
If spring football ever becomes a thing, all involved need to play nice.
“I think it would take a lot of coordination and a lot of and negotiating between coaches,” said Wadsworth track coach Chris Beery, who is also a freshman football coach. “How much are spring coaches willing to sacrifice to keep the kids on their team, and how much are the football coaches going to require of kids?
“I guess ultimately it comes down to the kid. How bad does a kid want to play baseball? How bad does a kid want to run track? And sometimes it's difficult for a 15-, 16-, 17-year-old kid to make that decision to give up a spring sport to play football year round. I think it puts a lot of pressure on kids to pick and choose, and hopefully the adults can create a situation where they don't have to make that decision.
"Hopefully we don't put them in a situation where they have regrets on not getting everything out of the high school experience athletically that maybe they could have had.”
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: With 7-on-7 now in Ohio high schools could spring football be next?
