COACHING SCHOOL CONCERNS

Converging at 92nd Annual THSCA Coaching School & Convention in San Antonio, issues over college football on Friday nights, NIL, voucher system addressed

As Texas high school football coaches converged for the 92nd Annual Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) Coaching School and Convention July 21-23 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, the event was buzzing with a number of hot topics that impact student-athletes and sports programs across the state.

As times continue to change in amateur athletics, coaches expressed concerns about college football scheduling games on Friday nights, NIL money for high school athletes, school vouchers and changing the playoff format in other sports to mirror football.

THSCA Executive Director Joe Martin continued to voice displeasure with conference commissioners about games being played on Friday nights, the primary night for high school football – using the Big 12 Conference scheduling TCU against Houston in Fort Worth on Oct. 4 as an example.

“We had asked that not to happen,” Martin said. “We have tried to protect Friday night lights in the state of Texas and we’re concerned with that. We understand that after the regular season, that’s a whole different animal.

“We feel that Texas Friday night football should be preserved for our high schools. We want to continue to build on the Friday night lights that we have and so we want to try to protect that as much as we possibly can.

“We have asked that they don’t do that during the 11 weeks of the regular season. Their season is much longer than that. Let us finish our regular season and you all want to go play on Friday night, go play on Friday night.”

Martin mentioned the possibility of NIL money and school vouchers coming to Texas schools in the future – two topics constantly discussed by the association with vouchers representing the biggest concern.

“We voiced concern about what that would do to public schools, potentially,” Martin said. “We really don’t know exactly what that would do because we don’t know what that bill would include. There are a lot of voucher programs out there. Several that you look at aren’t favorable towards public schools and haven’t been very positive. That’s a concern to us.

“Will there be a voucher system at some point? Probably. Just like there will probably be NIL.”

Of the recent moves by UIL making waves around the state, the organization’s adjustments to playoff brackets for the 2024-25 school year probably created the most buzz. The UIL announced in June that several team sports’ playoffs will be split into divisions starting this year, effectively doubling the number of state champions recognized at the end of each season.

The seemingly popular decision among coaches came as a result of multiple “data dives” intended to find the best way to “maintain competitive equity” and “offer the fairest playoff brackets” possible.

“We were stuck for many years on the additional travel issue in particular for that mid-week game, the typically on Tuesday night game,” UIL Deputy Director Jamey Harrison said. “The additional travel that split conference creates, also the more than double number of trips that you have in those team sports not named football.”

Unanimously approved by its legislative council, the addition of split divisions to playoff brackets increases the six state champions in most team sports in Texas to 12 individual state champion teams in each sport during the 2024-25 athletic year.

This new division format gives schools on the low-end of the state’s enrollment bracket a “much more competitive playoff structure,” with officials characterizing the change as an “expansion of opportunities for state championships” for Texas’s high school athletes.

“That initiative was heavily supported by coaching associations across the state,” UIL Director of Athletics Ray Zepeda said. “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive for something so large of a change in how we do business.”

With Texas A&M football just over a month away, the 21st-ranked Aggies kick off its first season under Mike Elko when Notre Dame travels to Kyle Field on Aug. 31. Before the Aggie staff turns their attention to the practice, Elko spent two days last week talking football and building relationships with high school coaches at the THSCA convention.

Elko appeared as part of a coaches panel with the state’s 13 Division 1 coaches discussing a variety of topics Sunday. Unlike his predecessor Jimbo Fisher, Elko made it a priority to attend the convention.

“It’s an awesome opportunity to come out here,” Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko said. “It’s one of the best conventions, if not the best convention in the country. And, you know, it’s just a great opportunity for our staff to get out here and mingle with other staffs of colleges in the state and also with all the high school guys.

“And so, we’re excited to be here. We’re excited to do our part to brand football in this state and continue the great reputation of football in the state of Texas.”

As head coach of the third-ranked Texas Longhorns, Steve Sarkisian emphasizes culture consistently because of how much of a difference he believes it makes over the course of the season. Believing the idea of culture begins at the high school level, he attributed several of Texas’ 12 wins in 2023 to his program’s culture when speaking to members of the coaching fraternity at the convention.

“Our culture is what makes us who we are,” Sarkisian said. “We take a lot of pride in our culture. We pour into our culture. We are a very connected group. We love one another. We work with one another. That’s not going to change. But at the University of Texas, part of the standard being the standard is competing for championships.”

The annual THSCA Convention & Coaching School represents the most comprehensive athletics conference in the state of Texas. The three-day annual conference offers a wide range of education sessions on both boys and girls sports, athletic administration, as well as health and safety topics, multiple networking opportunities, rules meetings, an on-site job room, an awards banquet, and an astounding array of exhibits.

On average the THSCA Convention draws an attendance of over 12,000 coaches, athletic directors, exhibitors and fans of athletics. In 2022, it set a new attendance record with 16,452 attending over 250 hours of content in 13 sports, health and safety, as well as professional development. The event included eight panel discussions, 32 meetings, 10 networking events, 16 press conferences, utilizing 22 hotels while brining over $9 million in economic impact for the City of San Antonio.

So, after Texas high school coaches welcomed Elko and his staff at the helm of the Aggies, Elko wanted to return the favor, beginning in San Antonio.

“To me, our relationship isn’t about just taking kids or recruiting,” Elko said. “It’s also about a service element in that there’s a lot of high school coaches in this state that we have a lot of experience and a lot of resources to help grow, help talk football with.

“We can learn from them, they can learn from us. That relationship, in and of itself, I think – when you’re a school like Texas A&M in the state of Texas – is really critical. So, we want to open up practice. We want people to be able to come out and watch. We want people to be around in the winter and the spring to talk football. Those things we take very seriously.”