IHSAA pitches football playoff changes

BOONE – Discussions over the number of qualifying playoff teams in the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s football playoffs have been going on for more than a decade, and another new proposal was brought before the Board of Control at the Thursday, Dec. 19 regular meeting.

Two recommendations for 32 qualifiers per classification were made at the football advisory committee meeting on Dec. 11. Both were proposed by the Iowa Football Coaches Association and approved by the advisory committee, and both would affect the postseasons for classes 3A, 2A, 1A, A and Eight-Player.

The first recommendation for Fall 2020 involved a nine-game regular season and five rounds of playoffs with six days between rounds. The Board of Control denied that proposal on Thursday, prompting the committee’s second recommendation which offered an eight-game regular season and five rounds of playoffs with postseason games remaining on Fridays until reaching the semifinals.

No recommendations were made for Class 4A, currently the 42 largest high schools in the state by enrollment.

Both recommendations had the regular-season starting with Week 1 on Aug. 28. All classes currently have a nine-game regular season schedule with 16 playoff qualifying spots.

The Board of Control will wait until January’s meeting to take action on the recommendation with eight regular season games and 32 playoff spots per class, to allow the IHSAA to meet with Class 4A schools and further discuss football’s playoff qualifying issue.

“We appreciate the advisory committee’s recommendations and the word the committee has done to reach those recommendations,” IHSAA executive director Tom Keating said. “The board has decided to table action on playoff qualifiers in order to address all classes at the same time.”

The IHSAA’s football playoffs expanded from 16 qualifiers per class to 32 qualifiers per class in 2008. All classes returned to 16 qualifiers in 2016. The IFCA and football advisory committee recommended a reversal back to 32 qualifiers at the 2017 meeting, but the Board of Control stuck with 16 qualifiers and approved a proposal to add the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) formula for at-large qualification.’

No recommendations were made this month by the IFCA or advisory committee regarding the RPI or qualifying procedures.

Other recommendations

* Allow the game clock to continuously run any time the scoring margin reaches 35 points or more, unless previously implemented exceptions (injury, score, timeout, score falls back under 35-point margin) occur. Currently, the 35-point continuous clock doesn’t begin until after halftime.

* During the first two days of practice, permit blocking dummies, hand shields, sleds and tackling rings to be used for contact.

* Open up the statewide HUDL team video pool to coaches from all classes.

* Create a recommended pre-game protocol to get both teams on the field for the playing of the National Anthem in regular season, similar to policy for post-season contests.