Local coaches react as IHSAA revises football schedules

HAMPTON – When the Iowa High School Athletic Association announced a revision to the 2020 football schedule, it knocked second-year Bulldog head coach Andy Bruemmer for a loop.

“I was a little more shocked than anything else,” Bruemmer said. “My friends in the coaching business, no one had any idea this was going to come out. I understand it; I’ve been watching numbers and what we were going to do with football and how we are going to adjust.”

The first practice date remains the same for Monday, Aug. 10 and first competition date for Thursday, Aug. 27 but there is a lot that changes after that.

According to the IHSAA release, the regular season has been whittled down from nine weeks to seven with teams having the option of scheduling five, six or seven games within those seven weeks.

Also, in the biggest change of all, all teams in all classes will qualify for the postseason with brackets consisting of six rounds for each class with the IHSAA determining pairings with geography, quality and team availability as primary considerations.

West Fork head football coach James Perez had an inkling that something like this might occur.

“I figured something was coming,” Perez said. “I didn’t know what to expect; it was bound to happen.”

What does that mean for a potential first meeting ever between the Bulldogs and the Warhawks? According to Perez and Bruemmer, it could still happen.

“From what I’ve been told, it’s still happening,” Perez said. “With the COVID (situation), this seems like a good thing since they want to get as local as possible. So, from what I’ve been told, yes, they are working toward something (to keep the in-county game).”

Bruemmer added, “I know that Christi Weiser is working hard to get us non-district games. It is up to the school. She is working on that, seeing what we can do for the non-district. It’s a possibility; It’s one of those, until we make an announcement, type of things. Every school is open (to change) now, not just what we are assigned from the state.”

Both coaches appeared to like the fact that all teams qualify for the playoffs.

“I think it’s kind of cool,” Perez said. “Shortening the season, it makes the season (better with a) player-safety aspect. Let everyone go in the post-season, it gives us all something to look forward to.”

Bruemmer said, “I’m excited about it, what they are doing and thinking. When I coached in Minnesota 25-30 years ago, we had eight regular-season games and everyone made (the playoffs.

“It keeps everyone consistent, if some team did have to miss 14 days, it doesn’t necessarily knock them out of the playoffs, especially if they are in district play. It’s out of our control, where you never know when it will pop up. It’s a weird year. We didn’t think…had no clue the state was going to go this way. In some ways I like it. But we are going to put on our shoulder pads and play football.”

When asked if they thought that football will have the same issue as baseball when a player tested positive for COVID-19 or were awaiting a test, if the team had to sit out, both were unsure.

The IHSAA stated in its release that its revised plan does not penalize teams with a loss or a forfeit due to state, county or local health department determinations. A missed game due to COVID-19 will be considered a “no-contest” and will not be made up. Teams may work with the IHSAA and new possible opponents should they have open dates due to scheduled opponents missing games.

“We are waiting for them to give us more guidance,” Bruemmer said. “That will be up to the local and school decision. What came out (Friday) had nothing to do with it at all.”

Perez added, “We haven’t gotten any information; we’re waiting that from the state and interpret it to the best of our abilities.”

Another thing that Perez likes about the change is the RPI (strength of schedule) factor has been removed.

“They took the RPI out with a restrictive schedule,” Perez said. “That is a little twist – it throws it out the window.”

Both teams plan a camp prior to the first official practice date. The Bulldogs’ is planned from Aug. 3-6 and West Fork’s will be three days’ prior to the first practice.