Extending the window for spring football practice may be one way the KHSAA keeps it from being canceled for a second straight year due to COVID-19.
At last week’s board of control meeting, Commissioner Julian Tackett said they may look at an option that will allow the spring practice window to end May 31 instead of the last day of school.
Spring football practice can begin on March 22, which is the week of the region basketball tournaments and runs for 10 days. Some schools choose to practice early and others later. Tackett said the decision on spring football will likely rest at the local level.
Once school ends, football practice doesn’t resume until after the dead period ends in July. Schools usually spend mid-July mixing practice with 7-on-7 drills.
The KHSAA ended spring football practice in 1977 but brought it back in 1998, allowing schools to conduct 10 practices during a three-week period after basketball season ends.
Meanwhile, Tackett said he expects football coaches to approach the board of control requesting the football playoff format revert back to districts playing other districts in the first round.
Two years ago, the KHSAA voted to change to a format that has teams playing other teams from within their districts in the first and second rounds of the playoffs. This move cuts down on travel in most instances. It’s a change from the cross-bracketing system that features the top four teams from one district facing the top four teams from another district in the first round.
The same inter-district format was used in 2006 and 2007 before the KHSAA switched back to the traditional format that a majority of coaches in the state favor.
Two years ago, the Kentucky Football Coaches Association said 90-percent of the coaches who responded to their survey said they were against inter-district play because of the potential quick turnaround of playing a team in the regular season and then seeing them in the playoffs two or three weeks later.
Tackett said the current format saves schools money because it cuts down on travel costs.
Tackett said there will be no changes to the postseason format for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
