Football is something of a year-round obsession in the state of Ohio.
If you have any question about that, take a moment to reflect on the fact that you just clicked on an article about the sport when the calendar reads “March” and the start of college football season is still six months away.
That obsession reaches from the professional ranks, where millions of fans still support two of the most moribund franchises in the entire NFL, down to the lowest levels of youth sports.
The Buckeyes are unquestionably the kings of the state, but high school football rules Friday nights from Ashtabula to Cincinnati.
Given the state’s fixation on football, it’s somewhat surprising that the Ohio High School Athletic Association does not officially sanction the sport outside of the fall.
Its 2019 football calendar for football ran from the start of coaching on August 1 to the state title games on December 7. Its official manual for the sport also allows 7-on-7 time in June and July.
However, there are no spring football practices. Here is the OHSAA’s explanation:
“Already the rule in Ohio, there is no contact permitted except during the season, and pads may not be worn at any time except during the season. (Many states that allow spring football practice and contact in the summer have a much higher rate of concussions.)”
The lack of spring football is somewhat unusual among the sport’s biggest states. In Texas, for example, schools are permitted 18 “spring training” practices during a 34-day calendar period.
That can leave Ohio players lagging behind their out-of-state counterparts in some ways.
Urban Meyer discussed that as an issue when he was the head coach at OSU, and now Ryan Day is aiming to do something about it.
“I think I made it public that I proposed a five-day spring practice schedule or practice for high schools. And they’re in the process of kind of voting on that,” Day said Monday.
The five-day proposal wouldn’t totally close the gap with the Lonestar State or other areas, but it could be a good compromise to balance the stated concerns about player health.
“Hopefully we can get that passed as soon as possible because I do think it matters,” said Day.
“I do think it’s good for the state of Ohio to evaluate these guys whether it’s Ohio State or any colleges, but also for the development of football players throughout the state.”
I don’t know what the hang up is with spring football in Ohio… its 2020. Its pretty damn standard. Make it no contact and let the kids practice. Frankly there should be full practice.
A lot of coaches from other sports are worried that it will cut pretty deeply into their own player pools.
Track, baseball, lacrosse, etc.
Let the kids decide…if a kid prefers spring football to playing baseball or lacrosse in the spring then so be it. If they are really committed baseball or lacrosse players they will choose to play those sports in the spring instead. But if a kid wants to improve himself as a football player during the spring instead of playing lacrosse he should be able to.
totally agree 😉
Five days? You can’t even get conditioned in five days. What’s the point? Is this just an inch of progress toward something else?