Big step taken toward new high school football playoff plan

A proposal to dramatically overhaul the state?s football playoff system took another step in the approval process yesterday, as the MIAA Board of Directors voted by an 11-2 margin to bring the measure to a special general assembly vote this fall.

If approved by the general assembly, the new system would take effect in the fall of 2013.

The proposal reshapes the playoff layout into six divisions, with each crowning one state champion, and allows over 50 percent of the schools to qualify for the postseason tournament.

To compensate for the increased number of playoff teams, the regular season will undergo a massive restructuring. For playoff-qualifying teams, the regular season will end after week seven, while non-playoff teams would have three games scheduled at the conclusion of the first seven weeks.

Each division would produce two state championship finalists, who would play at Gillette Stadium 10 days after Thanksgiving.

Though today?s vote seems to be one in favor of the plan, Algonquin athletic director Fran Whitten, a member of the Board of Directors who cast one of the two votes against the measure, said it was important to differentiate between the plan and the process.

?I thought it was a matter of principle,? said Whitten in regard to his vote. ?Its not that I was voting for or against the proposal; I was voting against the process. The football state committee passed the proposal, the tournament management committee voted for the proposal. Normally this wouldn?t even get to the board of directors, that would have been enough. And now it has to go to the general assembly. It goes against the precedence set by other sports.?

It is important to note that the last proposal to alter the playoff system was brought before the general assembly in the fall of 2010, and was voted down by a margin of 192-114. Thus, a vote of approval from the general assembly is far from a sure thing.

?There certainly was not the support last time, although the proposal has been tweaked and amended to address a lot of the issues that led to a negative vote,? said Whitten. ?It?s difficult for me to predict whether or not it will pass, but my guess is the vote will be a lot closer. I think that in Central Mass. there are more votes in favor than against, just from talking to people and based on the feedback I have received.?

Franklin athletic director and football coach Brad Sidwell cautioned against becoming overly optimistic.

?I just think change is difficult for a group like this,? said Sidwell. ?Particularly in a sport that is fairly popular.

Sidwell acknowledges the dramatic differences between this system and the one currently in place. Still, in his opinion the current system, which crowns 19 state champions and forces teams to play three playoff games in 10 days while also infringing upon the start of the winter sports season, has run its course.

?I think the majority of the reluctance comes about from where some schools are aligned and who they might play,? said Sidwell. ?Some schools might find it to be a difficult change that they aren?t used to or familiar with and find opponents that they would rather not play.

?I would hope this has more support, but you never know when it comes to these kind of things. I hope everyone looks at the broad spectrum and sees that this would be a much better system for the state as a whole as opposed to looking at their own situation and finding one or two flaws and voting against it.?

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