Improvements to Kentucky High School Football

Having been on both sides of the Ohio River ... Biggest improvement to KY Football would be in fundamentals ... Blocking and Tackling...

 

Basketball in this state focuses on fundamentals at individual level .. kids know and accept that they must grow these skills themselves .. Ky kids likely have some of the best basketball fundamentals in the nation ...

 

Football in many areas has no real feeders. Russell does thru a fantastic JFL system. It's a major factor to the on going success. Kids focus at early age on fundamentals , so by high school they can focus on execution. Football is simple especially at high school level , blocking and tackling by kids who want to , size is not that big a factor ... Improving in these areas would raise the level of football in the enitre state ... You are only as strong as weakest link. Many schools in KY have major room to improve in these basics ... Look at Northern Ky ( Cincy area) schools , they are more like Ohio than the rest of the state .... North East Ky is kind of a mixture of schools with good feeders and those with weak ones ....

You hit the nail on the head.Some of the programs I have been around the football boosters run their peewee and midget league football teams for MONEY ONLY, not because of fundamentals. They collect the gate fee and participation fee and then they are done with it. It would shock you of the name of one of the schools.......

You hit the nail on the head.Some of the programs I have been around the football boosters run their peewee and midget league football teams for MONEY ONLY, not because of fundamentals. They collect the gate fee and participation fee and then they are done with it. It would shock you of the name of one of the schools.......

Would not shock me, I told the people at that JFL that they were ruining their program by letting this happen.

One of the problems with JFL's is incompetent coaches. The fundamentals should always be taught, but many JFL coaches do not know how to teach football. Just because you played football does not mean that you can coach it, unless you learn to coach it by reading books, and using the Internet. I am not talking about all JFL coaches, just some that I have witnessed.

If a FG is missed, the ball goes to the line of scrimmage, not the 20.

I agree with you here, I have always thought this should have been the rule. Many times a team is not penalized for a failed attempt at a field goal from the forty, because they know it is as good as a punt.

I totally agree with their All-State Selection process suggestion.

I think letting the clock run is good, if it didn't it makes for a long miserable night for the losing end.

I wouldn't mind them doing away with the madatory dead period.

I totally agree with their All-State Selection process suggestion.

 

I think letting the clock run is good, if it didn't it makes for a long miserable night for the losing end.

 

I wouldn't mind them doing away with the madatory dead period.

Dead period is used by many, especially seniors, to travel to different college camps and clinics. Many scholarships are borned by attendance to these camps. The underclassmen use other football camps to sharpen their skills for football. The other footballers use the dead period to travel and go on vacations with their parents.

I would like to see the dead period acually lengthened.

Not at all. Play the OT period as regulation. Just as if it was another quarter. Time runs out. Game ends. If tied, play another OT period...:thumb:

Isn't that awfully hard on the players bodies? An extra quarter after a regulation game, particularly teams that can't or don't platoon?

I would rather see OT's moved to the 20 yard line with opportunity for 1st downs rather then just 4 plays.

Here's my list...

 

Do away with the bye week...period.

 

Only have the top 2 teams from each district advance in the playoffs. With 6 classes now, the chances of a deserving team being left out of the playoffs are greatly diminished.

 

Return to matching up different districts in the first round playoff games so that District 1's number 1 seed plays district 2's number 2 seed and so on.

 

Return teams to their natural geographic regions instead of this asinine shifting system they adopted.

 

Adopt some guidelines for minimum facility requirements for eligibility to host a playoff game similar to WV's. Stadiums must meet minimum standards for home and visitors seating, restroom facilities, concessions, parking, pressbox, etc. This would ensure that ALL fans, media and participants can fully enjoy the experience of playoff football.

 

All semifinal games will be played at neutral sites as determined by the competing teams to eliminate the arbitrary homefield advantage thereby giving BOTH teams an equal chance to make it to the carpet. The site may be a college facility or any other high school facility meeting the requirements to host a playoff game.

 

With the elimination of the bye week and one round of playoffs, push back the start of the season to the Friday following labor day. Ten weeks later, your playoffs begin and the finals are the same week in December without running into scheduling conflicts with U of L.

 

With the season starting later, a change to the dead period and beginning of practices is also in order. There is already talk of making the entire month of June dead period. Make the dead period extend for four full weeks to conclude at the end of the second FULL week in July. Also as part of this proposal, only allow passing leagues to begin AFTER the dead period and run for three weeks. The kids will be fresh and the work will spill right into preseason practices. Also, the kids will be better acclimated to the heat before donning pads since they will have had three weeks worth of passing league practices and games in shorts, shirts and helmets. As it is now, some kids are getting into full pads only a few days after beginning any outdoor activity and are more susceptible to heat illness. Another benefit of this proposal would be to appease basketball coaches some by allowing them to have more access to "their" kids for summer leagues (which will only be allowed to take place prior to the start of the dead period) since they will not be out for passing leagues.

 

I think that pretty much covers it...

Great post I agree with all of this and the passing camps just before preseason is a really good idea.

I stole that one from a local coach, wish I could claim it, but it's not mine...:thumb:

The biggest improvement they could make to KY high school football is to move the season back to one or maybe even two weeks earlier than it is now. That way the kids can join up with the basketball team earlier in the season. I feel that it's the football hurting the basketball - contrary to other posts in this thread.

Dead period is used by many, especially seniors, to travel to different college camps and clinics. Many scholarships are borned by attendance to these camps. The underclassmen use other football camps to sharpen their skills for football. The other footballers use the dead period to travel and go on vacations with their parents.

 

I would like to see the dead period acually lengthened.

Those who are "at risk" kids can really be hurt by the lack of structure in their lives during the "dead period". Without sports to keep them focused and active - some kids fill that time by finding trouble. "Idle time is the devil's time."

IMO - two weeks is plenty. Families (and coaches) can go on vacation and have a break.

The exposure camps go on all summer - during both the dead and live periods. In today's world - if a kid can play, coaches will find him. These camps might determine which specific school a student/athlete ends up at, but the level (High Major/Mid Major/Low Major) is seldom changed. Now if a coach won't let his kids go to the exposure camps during the live period - that's another issue... but it should be dealt with on the district level rather than mandating a longer dead period for the entire state. JMO

The biggest improvement they could make to KY high school football is to move the season back to one or maybe even two weeks earlier than it is now. That way the kids can join up with the basketball team earlier in the season. I feel that it's the football hurting the basketball - contrary to other posts in this thread.

That's it, lets get more activity in the heat:eek:

The biggest improvement they could make to KY high school football is to move the season back to one or maybe even two weeks earlier than it is now. That way the kids can join up with the basketball team earlier in the season. I feel that it's the football hurting the basketball - contrary to other posts in this thread.

Gotta disagree here. Basketball is a climate controlled (somewhat) activity. The first couple of weeks of the football season is already brutally hot. How about start bball a week or 2 later? Also what is hurting bball is the reality that the number of kids that can play is limited as are the opportunities at the next level. Way more schollys for football.

Gotta disagree here. Basketball is a climate controlled (somewhat) activity. The first couple of weeks of the football season is already brutally hot. How about start bball a week or 2 later? Also what is hurting bball is the reality that the number of kids that can play is limited as are the opportunities at the next level. Way more schollys for football.

Very true, and well said mala.

Plus, bball doesn't have brats.