9 hours ago, JIM SEYMOUR # 85 said:

I am sure there were multiple reasons - but the FB State Games should have never been moved away from WKU.

That was a great venue.

IMVHO.

Agreed but I heard that it was moved to Kroger Field because of WKU joining the CUSA which means they may host the conference championship on any year they make it.

I have worked in High school sports for a long time and indirectly for Mr Tackett. He did a fantastic job. In 40 years there has been a lot of progress and more and more students get to participate in Athletics. He guided the KHSAA through a pandemic and has done a tremendous job. For those that have negative things to so, let me remind you, if you was in that job, there would be people to disagree with you also. Disagreeing with someone does not mean they are wrong, as much as we would like it to. Mr Tackett has been a great commissioner and will be missed greatly.

I didn't always agree with every decision that Tackett made, but then again who does? Overall, I think he's been very good for the state! The biggest surprise to me in this announcement was Butch Cope deciding to retire. I think most people had him pegged to be the next commissioner. KHSAA has a long history of hiring from within so I would expect the next commissioner would be a current associate commissioner. It's my understanding that Bilberry is not interested in that position, but I could be misinformed about that.

It's hard not to be at least somewhat concerned with so much senior experience at the KHSAA departing all at once. That said, I've been thinking about Commissioner Tackett's retirement for a few days now, and my mind keeps wandering back to a few questions that I can't help but wonder about...

1.) First and foremost, should there be term limits or contract limits on how long someone can serve as the KHSAA Commissioner? I realize as a full-time paid job, that would make it less appealing to many potential candidates if there was a defined time-frame on when they would essentially be out of a job in the future, but there's a big part of me that feels like most organizations can really benefit from having some new blood breathed into them with a decent amount of frequency.

2.) Is the KHSAA better off having someone in charge who has basically been a career employee of the KHSAA, or is the KHSAA better off having someone in charge who has spent time in some "boots on the ground" type jobs like a principal, athletic director, or superintendent?

3.) Would there be any advantage to having the KHSAA return to a model of having the head job held by someone elected to the position on a part-time basis as was done in the KHSAA's earliest years, but then also having full-time positions working below them to keep stability and maintain consistency in seeing to the day-to-day business aspects of the KHSAA? I can't help from wonder if that wouldn't help prevent potential stagnancy in mindset or approach to things by consistently having a "fresh set of eyes and ears" in charge.

RE: Question number 3 above, here's my basic spitball:

- Commissioner, Senior Vice-Commissioner, Junior-Vice Commissioner are all elected positions with 3 year terms. (Maybe 4 years? ...whichever, really).

- Elections are held at the end of each term to elect in one new Junior Vice-Commissioner from among the superintendents, principals, and athletic directors around the state. The newly elected individual serves 3 years as Junior Vice-Commissioner, then move up for 3 years to Senior Vice-Commissioner, and then finally serve 3 years as Commissioner before being thanked for their valuable service and moving on from the Commissioner's Office.

- There are three pools created for electable candidates: 1) Urban Center Schools, 2) Rural Schools, and 3) Private Schools. Each category is elected in sequence so at all times all three pools are represented in the Commissioner's Office and in the decision-making process.

- Keep the Board Of Control, as-is, and then there are still full-time paid KHSAA jobs as assistant directors handling things like media operations, external relations, eligibility director, information technology director, director of championships, etc.

- If the individual in the office ends their employment within their school district while still in-office, they finish out the year and then the Board of Control holds a special election to choose someone from the BOC to step in the following year serve out the remaining year(s) of that 3 year term in the Commissioner's Office. Then the subsequent Junior Vice-Commissioner election will elect two new Junior Vice-Commissioners instead of one to fill the additionally vacated role.

On 8/25/2026 at 11:05 PM, JIM SEYMOUR # 85 said:

I am sure there were multiple reasons - but the FB State Games should have never been moved away from WKU.

That was a great venue.

IMVHO.

I think the soccer venue in Louisville would also make a great location for the state football finals. I agree with you about WKU. Perfect size.

While we are on the topic of state tournament venues, softball should have never been taken out of Owensboro, and should never be single elimination.

The commissioner spot should absolutely have a term. At the rate sports are changing today, no one should hold the office indefinitely.

5 hours ago, bruin66 said:

I think the soccer venue in Louisville would also make a great location for the state football finals. I agree with you about WKU. Perfect size.

Not a bad idea - but it's Grass - and 6 games over 2 days that time of the year

could be problematic.....................

On 8/25/2026 at 10:05 PM, JIM SEYMOUR # 85 said:

I am sure there were multiple reasons - but the FB State Games should have never been moved away from WKU.

That was a great venue.

IMVHO.

This right here!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 hours ago, Big East Zebra said:

While we are on the topic of state tournament venues, softball should have never been taken out of Owensboro, and should never be single elimination.

I agree it should never be single elimination! However, I attended the state tournament in Owensboro many times and was always blown away with how below average of a venue Jack C. Fisher park was. I will add that it has been 12 years since I have been to that park, so things could be better now.

GREAT job Mr Tackett!! Everyone takes this job as being easy and just something to do in your spare time, let's see some of the negative folks on here apply for the job!! Can guarantee you that definitely will not happen! Thanks for a tremendous career in KHSAA Julian, job well done.

1 hour ago, nikeman49 said:

GREAT job Mr Tackett!! Everyone takes this job as being easy and just something to do in your spare time, let's see some of the negative folks on here apply for the job!! Can guarantee you that definitely will not happen! Thanks for a tremendous career in KHSAA Julian, job well done.

According to @Colonels_Wear_Blue's excellent article about this history of the KHSAA (https://bluegrasspreps.com/forums/topic/259448-a-brief-history-of-the-kentucky-high-school-athletic-association/#comment-5297952), since making commissioner a full-time position in 1947 the organization has never hired a commissioner that wasn't already an assistant commissioner, so encouraging "some of the negative folks on here" to apply is essentially pointless.

In truth, that may be part of the problem. The KHSAA has always seemed like an insular organization, pay your dues, move up the line. But where are the new ideas? Where is the new blood? Someone earlier mentioned adding new sports - I commend Tackett for doing so, but that kind of stuff is inevitable. I've heard Tackett speak on numerous occasions and almost every single time he's had a snide remark about operations such as BGP (and others that have come and gone); essentially it wasn't worth his time to deal with the "riff-raff" here. But there have been many good ideas floated across these pages that have withered on the vine because no one in power seemed interested. Is that leadership? Is that stubbornness? Are you keeping yourself abreast of what might be better for high school athletics or are you continuing to stack the Board of Control with buddies and yes-men who then get moved out of hard regions or that realignment just so happens to magically benefit?

Tackett has done a good job, just as DeVries, Stout, Wise, and Mills have all done in my lifetime. But it isn't wrong to be critical when things need improvement. It isn't a binary choice - vociferously complain or fall in line without comment - when viewing the organization as a whole and leadership in particular. The KHSAA has an opportunity here to take a step forward in interscholastic athletics. Will they do so, or does the assembly line just churn out another promoted assistant commissioner, keeping up the status quo?

Edited August 28Aug 28 by gchs_uk9

20 hours ago, JIM SEYMOUR # 85 said:

Not a bad idea - but it's Grass - and 6 games over 2 days that time of the year

could be problematic.....................

Agreed. Probably won't happen because of that. But it would be a cool atmosphere.

Julian has done a tremendous job over the past 16 years. Steve Jobs said it best: "If you want to make everyone happy, don't be a leader-sell ice cream.” I certainly haven't agreed with every decision Julian has made, but there is no denying that he has left the organization better than he found it. Chad Collins, the next Commissioner, will benefit greatly from the body of work Julian has built and the foundation he leaves behind.