Which Is More Important: JV or Freshman Football?

[TheDeuce]

Saw a post this morning that suggested that Freshman teams were more important to the health of a program than the JV squad, and I thought that sounded like an interesting discussion topic. In terms of the overall health and direction of a program, which group is more important?

 

I'd say that it would depend on your current outlook... Are we talking next 1-2 years, or next 2-3 years? I think initially it seems that the talent on the JV would be the most important. Many schools have enough kids to have dedicated teams for each level, with no athletes "having" to play JV to field a team. Other schools HAVE to suit up juniors, or they wouldn't be able to field a JV schedule.

 

What say you?

[Harry Doyle]

I'm in the "Depends on the School" crowd.

 

I think for your bigger schools, 4A/5A/6A then JV and Freshmen can give you a pretty good indication of what you have coming up all bc of numbers.

 

Fact is, there aren't a lot of sophomores and freshmen who are playing on Friday nights for those guys. You might have a few Sophomores at the most and very rarely any freshmen (of course, like all things, there are exceptions to the rule).

 

When you get down to your 1A-3A schools is where I don't think you can put a lot of stock into either, be it on the good end or bad.

 

There are some 1A schools who are in that catch 22 spot of maybe only having 10-12 9th/10th & let's say a 1/3 of them play on Friday nights, which leave the others out to dry. Well, the only way those other kids can play is via JV is by taking those other young kids who HAVE to play on Friday nights + some Juniors who may/may not play on Fridays (probably a little of both).

 

Then...you have those schools 1A-3A who are having to rely way too much on Freshmen come Friday nights (as in Starting). Well, those guys are likely going to play on Monday's (maybe not all, but most), but they dang sure aren't going to be playing on Thursday nights (Freshmen games). So, here you are having to play Freshmen games without your best 5-6 bullets vs. another team who isn't in the same boat as you (all of their freshmen play freshmen & don't have to worry about playing them on Friday's).

 

There are many programs out there at those levels who are having to compare apples to oranges on these nights instead of apples to apples.

 

It might sound like a lot of hot air, but it's reality for many.

[rjs4470]

Freshman ball gives you the chance to teach the kids your system, and work on fundamentals. It's important to get them off to the right start. JV to me, helps you develop depth. It's not as important as freshman ball, in the sense that your best kids will be playing varsity starting your sophomore year. JV gives you a chance to fighter develop those who need it, and gets kids ready to fill in if needed. Both are important because they give kids full speed game reps. Munfortunately it's tough for all but the biggest schools and traditional powers to have the numbers to fill all three levels.

[Voice of Reason]

School size makes a big difference in this question.

 

At the smaller schools, from a pure talent point of view, no doubt freshman is more important. You most talented underclassmen probably don't even play JV. You will have some JV sophomores who will be good players for you eventually but they aren't your most talented players.

 

At bigger schools (and well developed small school programs), JV is more important than at the smaller schools because there will be JV sophomores who will eventually be really good players for you. They are just not able to play varsity due to depth. Still, if we are looking to see what talent you have in the program, I think freshman is a better indicator.

 

Finally, I think wins and losses at the JV level mean very little. Competitiveness is more important. Your best underclass players are likely not even playing JV and they will make a huge difference in wins and losses. On the other side, there are players starting JV that will never start varsity. That has an impact on JV wins and losses and means nothing about varsity success.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Voice of Reason

[RH1183]

I think they are equally important...again it would be program dependent in many cases. Freshman football for most programs is about bringing a bunch of kids together that may or may not have played together to get some chemistry and learn a system....experience. It is a big leap from middle school to the High School surroundings in many cases. Expectations and accountability should be instilled if not already done.

JV is a bit unsettled...depending on the program and numbers...some schools can truly use the JV as a tool for underclassmen to perform at different positions, develop schemes...etc. It also can be a place that kids with "no shot" at seeing varsity time go to get snaps..which is unfortunate. As a Pee-wee coach, I have watched a lot of JV games over the years following kids that I have coached and certain programs do a good job at developing sophomores and juniors that may get a "few" snaps on Friday nights. Then there are programs who use the JV as a necessary evil that they have to participate in and do not put much into it from the looks.

All in all, my opinion is that they are equally important from the standpoint of the "overall growth" that happens both mentally and physically from an 8th grade athlete to a Junior or Senior in high school. The freshman year is pivotal in teaching these kids adult concepts and responsibility not only on the football field, but in life. The JV can be viewed as a "punishment", or "your not good enough to play varsity"...type of thing....so it is equally important for teaching the "team concept" and re-iterate the accountability and responsibility thing....Winning is the overall goal and the best players are going to be on the field most of the time....practice time, dedication, ability, mentality of the kid play a big role in how he develops...and certain programs do a good job with the rollor-coaster of emotions that can arise from these kids as they grow....Just my opinion.

[BigVMan23]

All dependent on size of the school, point blank. If a school can run 25 or even more freshman out there for a freshman only team, then that's great and very valuable. But that's not happening at a lot of schools. For those schools that only have 10-15 freshman playing (maybe even less), then put them on the jv with the 15 or so sophomores you have in that class and play everybody, don't worry about record. Platoon, even if it hurts. At least that way you are seeing what kids can do and prepping for the future.

[kypride]

50% depends on the size of the school.

50% depends on the emphasis from the head coach on one or the other. (or both or neither)

[Harry Doyle]

All dependent on size of the school, point blank. If a school can run 25 or even more freshman out there for a freshman only team, then that's great and very valuable. But that's not happening at a lot of schools. For those schools that only have 10-15 freshman playing (maybe even less), then put them on the jv with the 15 or so sophomores you have in that class and play everybody, don't worry about record. Platoon, even if it hurts. At least that way you are seeing what kids can do and prepping for the future.

 

Agreed.

 

I know of this happening at a couple smaller schools right now. This will only pay off IMO.

 

I heard a coach from Ohio (he was at a rural school like most of what's here in KY) say one time that if you have 40-50 kids on your team (I can't remember if he was saying that many 9-12 or 10-12, so that makes a slight difference) and you complain of "not having any depth", then it's your own fault.

 

Pointing out the obvious here, but as he said....that takes time. It's not done over night.

 

They were a program who wasn't a Highlands, but let's say somebody like Monroe County or Mason County here in KY. Roundabouts 3A school who was constantly competing for district titles, and out of a 10 year span, they were going to sneak up on into some Region and even a State Semi here or there (along with having a couple years of just trying not to let things crash and burn simply due to demographics).

 

He said their 9th and JV records every year are really NEVER very good. Lucky to break .500, while most years just winning 2-3 games at each level, but they TWO PLATOONED across the board at those levels.

 

He knew that all of those kids weren't going to be starters by the time they were Juniors and Seniors, as a matter of fact, he knew when they were were 9th/10th...but, his main goal was to be able and build depth. THAT was it. So, that when those guys are Jr's/Sr's....they have had enough in game experience to be on every special team (giving your two way stars a break) and/or to be able and give a few plays here and there to his studs w/out worrying that they were going to be a liability to the TEAM or THEMSELVES.

[NKY Bandit]

I'm going with Freshman. Many top tier guys don't play JV anyway and Freshman is when you install the offense/defense and teach kids your system. After that, it's about the Jimmys and Joes.

[ShamrockChamps]

Freshmen because your good sophomores will be on the Varsity. I think Freshmen ball is way more important and definitely gives you a more accurate glimpse of what the future of the program looks like. A lot of programs play mostly Juniors on JV that do not get significant or any playing time on the Varsity.

[All Tell]

At a school the size of Trinity I look at freshman ball as a way to cull the heard while teaching the basics of your system. JV ball is for fine tuning and preparing the kids for varsity by giving them game reps.

[frankdracman23]

At a school the size of Trinity I look at freshman ball as a way to cull the heard while teaching the basics of your system. JV ball is for fine tuning and preparing the kids for varsity by giving them game reps.

 

Some of the Ohio GCL schools have two Frosh teams. I believe they try to split the talent as equal as they can. I guess it can cull the herd similarly.

[Nardo]

Don't forget that many schools now have "in house" middle school programs. The days of walking in as a freshman and having to learn all new terminology and formations are going bye bye! By the time a lot of these young men are sophomores they've been in the "system" for 3 years.

[Builder1214]

Freshman. If kids have a terrible freshman experience and do not play as sophomores, then JV doesn't mean too much because you've already lost half of your kids.

[NKY Bandit]

Don't forget that many schools now have "in house" middle school programs. The days of walking in as a freshman and having to learn all new terminology and formations are going bye bye! By the time a lot of these young men are sophomores they've been in the "system" for 3 years.

 

I'd hope that most of the middle school programs are going that direction but I think it really depends upon that school.