(6-16-25) Ohio High Schools football coaches around the state react to OHSAA playoff format change from 16 qualifiers to 12 qualifiers—

Richland Source – North central Ohio football coaches have mixed emotions about new playoff format

New Madison coach Kobi Johnson–

“From a competitive standpoint, the lower seeds will have a better chance to compete in the first round.

At the same time I’m a little disappointed because, with our schedule, we felt like we could put ourselves into a position to fall into one of those (13-16) seeds if we win three games.

At the end of the day, you’ve got to win.”

Ashland Crestview coach Steve Haverdill

“For us, when the top 16 teams in each regional qualified, it allowed us to put (state powerhouse) Kirtland on our schedule. We could play a Kirtland and, even if we get beat, we can still get in. Now playing Kirtland could hurt us a little bit.

Going to 12, you’ve got to manipulate your schedule a little bit.”

Tribune Chronicle – Football playoffs reduced from 16 teams to 12 per region

Ursuline coach Dan Reardon

“I prefer 16 because it gets four more teams and four more groups of seniors a chance to play another game. And if the complaint was that the season was too long, they didn’t make the season any shorter by doing this.

I’m a proponent of letting kids play football. The football season is such a short season in general, just 10 guaranteed games. I was in the minority, but I didn’t see the harm in letting four more teams play one more game.”

Chaney head coach Seth Antram

“Even with us getting in on the 16 last year, I definitely support the 12. My opinion is it’s up to us to schedule accordingly, win those games and earn the right (to get) in.”

Everything Ohio 

Olentangy coach Wade Bartholomew (whose team won eight games last season and was the 13th seed in Division I, Region 3)

“I felt like 16 teams was just a little too much, I felt it diminished the process of getting to the playoffs. Making the playoffs used to be a big deal when you made it to the top eight. … (This) makes it nice because now you to have earn the right to play.”

Norwalk Reflector – Playoff changes welcomed by area coaches

Norwalk Football Coach Keith Mora (made the Division III Region 10 field as a 15 seed with a 2-8 record and traveled to No. 2 Medina Buckeye. The result was a 42-7 loss)

“It’s still the better move to be at 12 instead of 16. I was even saying that last year, and I recognize that would have left us out.

I still want what’s right for it as someone who believes in football in our state. It’s too many teams, and you shouldn’t have teams with two wins or fewer getting in. Making it at 1-9 or 0-10 is a travesty. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Major Change in Ohio High School Football

News Talk 1480 WHBC

INDIANA

Still better then Indiana’s playoff selection process. Every team is eligible and there is no seeding process – NONE!

How Indiana places teams in playoff brackets –The IHSAA’s ‘Sacred Cow’ The Blind Draw-

From the IHSAA –

About the Draw
To conduct the random drawing for the footballl playoffs, the IHSAA places ping-pong balls representing each school in each sectional into a lottery-style air mix machine. A motorized fan in the bottom of the machine blows the balls around the inside of the transparent container and air then forces each ball up through a tube in random order.

For example, the first ball retrieved from the machine will be the visiting team in game one with the second ball representing the home team in game one. The third ball to come out is the visitor in game two and the fourth ball the home team in game two. That same method is followed through all 64 sectionals and 16 regionals.

Wisconsin