article Thoughts on Scheduling

[CoachBuckett]

Thoughts on Scheduling

 

Every year no matter what sport or what level of competition those that judge teams judge them by their schedule. As in each game thread or each thread that discusses rankings the constant theme when we are trying to determine who the better team is, is their schedule isn’t tough enough or they should win because they have played a tougher schedule. I know there are different philosophies coaches use when it comes to scheduling. I am not sure I am always convinced that a tougher schedule always equals better team.

 

Many coaches have the philosophy that scheduling up will better prepare them for down the road for district play and the playoffs. I personally can agree with that thought process. Although sometimes scheduling up doesn’t always mean you are playing someone better. Now I know schedules are done a year or two in advance and sometimes you schedule teams based on the prior year’s performance so you think you are playing a better team. Then the next season they are not the team you thought they would be. The good news in the world of judgment you will get credit for playing a tougher schedule. But because that team wasn’t what you thought they would be you leave the game not feeling like your team gained what they needed.

 

There are also coaches that schedule because they have a young team returning or a team that hasn’t been as successful as they would like, so they schedule a few games to help build confidence in their team. Or the feel they should schedule someone because they think they are not ready to compete at certain level and can be more competitive playing someone more evenly matched. I can see both advantages in the situations. But this method seems to be frowned upon in the world of discussions boards. So does this mean that the teams that schedule this way prior to their district going to be less competitive come district play or playoff time?

 

Another type of scheduling that occurs but often isn’t talked about is scheduling for money. In today’s times the dollar is getting harder to come by for athletic teams. So some coaches are scheduling to help with their budget demands. So coaches look at scheduling teams that will either pay them to come play or based on the number of fans that program will travel with. This I think is a smart philosophy no matter what other factors in scheduling you use. One should always consider the gate receipts.

Then there is scheduling based on an opponent’s style of play. Coaches like to schedule a run orientated team or a spread team because they need to improve playing a certain style because that is what they will see in district play and the playoffs. Coaches schedule on style no matter of class because a certain team is good at doing something.

 

The bottom line when it comes to scheduling coaches and athletic director’s schedule for different reasons. I will go out on a limb and say coaches don’t schedule to please us discussion board enthusiast. As fans of high school football I am sure we would all like to see certain match ups that we believe would be great games. But we must remember coaches have reasons for their scheduling of games and we should respect their reasons.

 

What are your thoughts on scheduling? I am sure I have left many reasons out.

[NKY Bandit]

I think coaches should schedule based on the level of the program and the status of the coach. For example, a long tenured coach can lose games to powerhouse schools without drawing too much attention. A new coach without a strong record needs to win games to become a long tenured coach. Some schools need to build confidence in the athletes and administrators and you don't do that playing Colerain, Moeller and Trinity. However, you can't schedule 'light' for too long or you'll get blasted by your fans (and BGP).

 

It's my opinion that SOS should increase with the success and strength of your team.

[Harry Doyle]

90% of the programs across our state haven't won state titles, and 80% of them never will.

 

Get wins. That's what generates excitement. Scheduling tough at most places is overrated. 4-7 and, "well, we lost 6 games to 5 Top 10 teams in their class and only by a combined 30 points.", doesn't mean jack. That does nothing for building interest and participation in a program. Going 9-2, 9-3 and playing a few cupcakes along the way does.

 

.....and, then after a few years of that, is when a coach has to make the decision of:

Do I have the goods coming up to put together a more challenging schedule and have some success (along with administrative support, good feeder program set up, etc, TALENT) or is it time to get the hell out of dodge, because there is nowhere to go from here, but down?

[Harry Doyle]

In my opinion, and I think it's already happened, but with the continuing of 6 classes and only 4 team districts with most, you are going to see more of these yo-yo seasons from teams. One year they are up some, then the next year or two they tank. Why? Only 3 teams are locked into playing them. Back in the day of 4 classes, with several 6, 7, 8 and even 9 team districts; teams were locked into playing more schools that were practically clones of each other due to being more geographically/demographically relative to one another.

[Sweeperboy]

Thoughts on Scheduling

 

The bottom line when it comes to scheduling coaches and athletic director’s schedule for different reasons. I will go out on a limb and say coaches don’t schedule to please us discussion board enthusiast. As fans of high school football I am sure we would all like to see certain match ups that we believe would be great games. But we must remember coaches have reasons for their scheduling of games and we should respect their reasons.

 

What are your thoughts on scheduling? I am sure I have left many reasons out.

 

So are you saying that AD's schedule for their football coach or are you saying they work together on the schedule to do whats best for the HS?

[RCC9]

90% of the programs across our state haven't won state titles, and 80% of them never will.

 

Get wins. That's what generates excitement. Scheduling tough at most places is overrated. 4-7 and, "well, we lost 6 games to 5 Top 10 teams in their class and only by a combined 30 points.", doesn't mean jack. That does nothing for building interest and participation in a program. Going 9-2, 9-3 and playing a few cupcakes along the way does.

 

.....and, then after a few years of that, is when a coach has to make the decision of:

Do I have the goods coming up to put together a more challenging schedule and have some success (along with administrative support, good feeder program set up, etc, TALENT) or is it time to get the hell out of dodge, because there is nowhere to go from here, but down?

 

On the other side, I would say playing a weak schedule and going 9-2 or 9-3 does nothing for the program either. It's fools gold. You eventually have to pay the piper and realize how good you really aren't (once you get to the playoffs). Then you have fans and players second guessing the entire season anyway. I don't believe that every team should play Trinity, but I do think every team should schedule every game for a challenge...some you know you may barely win, some you may barely lose and a couple that show the kids what it takes to get to the next level. I NEVER believe in sceduling cupcakes. I don't care what my record is as long as my kids are improving and we continue to expose the program to great teams and players that challenge them to strive to get better. I'm not a "feel good win" type of guy.

[Harry Doyle]

^^^Depends on the program. As I said, 90% of the schools across the state have never won a title and they never will, either; I don't care what the regular season schedule looks like. It's like all of us that had/have ceilings as far their athletic ability (or lack of), the same goes for a very, very, very, very, very, very large number of football programs across the state.

[gchs_uk9]

A good example of this was what Chuck Smith did when he first went to Boyle County. The Boyle program was in the dumps and one of the first things Smith did was stop playing some of the local teams that were quite frankly ahead of Boyle at the time. Smith's first couple of years saw weaker opponents but also allowed the Boyle kids to see some success. As his time there continued, the schedule grew incrementally tougher, but so did his teams. By the time Boyle had won a couple state championships they were playing very challenging schedules.

 

Does Boyle have their same success if Smith hadn't made scheduling adjustments? Who's to say. But his method was absolutely perfect for the situation he was facing. And there are a whole lot of schools in Kentucky today that look very similar to how Boyle County looked in the fall of 1992.