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Andy's Take: FHSAA football reclassification proposal seems to be missing the mark

IMG_8358by: Andy Villamarzo7 hours agoAndy_Villamarzo
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The Bragg Memorial Stadium scoreboard displays a pregame screen before the FHSAA Class 4M high school football championship game between Mandarin and Miami Columbus. (Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union)

Chase Stadium, formerly known then as DRV PNK Stadium, on the night of Dec. 17, 2022 produced one of the most memorable finishes to a Florida high school football state championship game in recent memory.

A down-to-the-wire finish, ending with the Columbus Explorers defeating the Apopka Blue Darters, 16-13 in overtime for the Class 4M state championship, concluding a week of stellar title contests across the board.

That was an exciting state title game, which in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s (FHSAA) Metro-Suburban model for football classifications, arguably produced new opportunities for state champions that had either never win a title or hadn’t done so in a long time.

All that got nipped when the association decided to return to its more original 1A-7A classification model, starting with the 2024 season and the old results of the past followed. State championship games with somewhat predictable results.

Last year’s final state championship game was between Miami Northwestern and Raines ended with a 41-0 rout, though the turnout exceeded 10,000 fans at Pitbull Stadium, that was to be expected with the proximity being in the Bulls’ backyard of the 305.

The FHSAA’s reclassification football proposal on Wednesday afternoon for 2026-28 seasons was presented in front of board members as the state nears the end of the 2025 campaign next week.

What is being presented looks to be re-introducing a model that would have six classifications (1A-5A, Rural), the fewest the FHSAA would have had for football since 2002 when the association last had Class A-6A.

Since that time form 2003 and on, the FHSAA has not had any less than seven classes for football, which all in all has seen a variety of programs win state championships or be in competition for one.

In recent memory, however, not a whole lot has change when it comes to the teams challenging at the end for the ultimate prize of winning it all. This year’s classifications seem predictable when it comes down to who may come away hoisting trophies in mid-December.

Taking away two classifications will ultimately limit how many teams have a chance to win it all in less at the end.

Something FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon wants to implement is having a district tournament at the end of the season, which would take place in the final two weeks (Weeks 10-11) as he explained would bring excitement to program’s seasons at the end. Yes and no here.

Problem being voiced by a number of Florida high school head coaches around the state is that if you’re not one of the four teams based on the FHSAA rankings, in the district tournament, you’re left in the proverbial cold to look for two more games to end your season. Or you can just finish with eight.

Maybe this was overlooked, but throw in the fact that the Sunshine State’s high school football schedule is smack dab in the middle of Hurricane Season and that could takeaway a game due to rescheduling conflicts. Now you have programs losing games because of the design of how the season is constructed and Mother Nature.

85 percent of schools via a survey, wanted to keep districts. 78 percent wanted mandatory games. The latter was addressed in the proposal with giving the coaches the autonomy to schedule out their regular season games. All eight of them, anyways.

So the 22 percent was heard in this, which is the minority amount of schools that will get to have it their way, if the proposal passes next week.

Another unaddressed problem is that head coaches of teams across the state of Florida do not have a per se ‘unified voice’ that would speak for the majority of the over 500 schools. This looks to be a continuing problem that would answer a major problem here in providing a voice for the majority in the sport.

There’s classification models the FHSAA could look at that would look at first glance better than the one proposed on Wednesday, including their neighbors to the north in Georgia. The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) has a clear public-private school system that funnels in a multiplier for out-of-zone students. In many cases, this levels out the playing field and provides for a more exciting season all the way around.

The Metro-Suburban series the FHSAA previously had looked like a working classification model that did its job and provided Florida high school football of what it needed and currently wants: Excitement throughout the season.

A handful of Florida high school football head coaches took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to voice their opinions on the FHSAA’s proposal:

“I’ve talked to well over 100 coaches, not one has been in favor of this model. Maybe my circle is too small. Are there any coaches in the state of Florida that are in favor of this? If not, please reach out to the FHSAA board members before the weekend so we can be heard,” Madison County head coach Price Harris said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Way more complicated than need be. 5-6 team districts and you have to play your district. District champs auto bids. Enrollment based is antiquated. Arizona has a solid model of competitive equity reclassified every two years along with an 8 team open,” Father Lopez head coach Mark Gabbard said on social media regarding the proposal changes.

It just feels like there could be some tweaks to this that could help make this reclassification process a bit more advantageous for Florida high school football as a whole rather than for a select few.

The cliche saying “If you don’t evolve, you die,” might be more on the extreme end of believing that change is always necessary for growth.

In the case of the latest reclassification proposal by the FHSAA, the number of reactions or lack thereof, speak to a totally different story altogether.

Change isn’t always the answer.

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