By Veteran football coach…Walter Shreffler

Thanks to Coach Walter Shreffler, who retired after 23 yrs. as a H.S. FB Coach and 38 yrs. as a Track Coach, for this opinion piece on the recent OHSAA football playoffs. Shreffler for most of his coaching career was at Celina High School and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.

Other postings by the Coach—

(10-30-25) Mercifully, the era of expansion to 16 teams per regional has come to an end. But is this new, less-is-better era a brighter future?

Lets take a moment to look back on the past four years of playoff expansion.

Four Year Scoring Average of Round One Games-Top Four Seeds​

  • (1 vs 16} 45.7-7.3
  • (2 vs 15} 43.9-10.5
  • (3 vs14} 40.4-12.7
  • (4 vs 13} 38.8-12.0

All Round One Games Ending in the “Mercy Rule”   = 416 or 46% of the games

All Round One Games Ending in 3 to 4 TD Margin   = 199 or 22% of the games played ( But not mercy ruled)

Four Year Totals of These Non-Competitive Games= 615 of 896 or 68.6%

So why the sudden reduction in tournament size after four years of this carnage? Statistically speaking, the top four seeds accounted for 68% of the first round Mercy Ruled  games in 2024. Throw in another 22 games with a margin of 3 to 4 TD’s and you have a percentage of 81%. That means just 18.8% of their first round games were decided by 2 TD’s or less. And there were other statistical low lights.  D-1 #1 seed schools set an all division scoring mark of 48.5 while giving up just 6.5. Of course the biggest insult to the OHSAA playoff format is that in all 28 first round games that the #1 seeds played, 25 were Mercy Ruled and the other 3 were scored 31-7, 42-14, and 27-6. A few years back the OHSAA was crowing about “competitive balance,” not so much anymore.  Anderson punching out Edgewood to the tune of 78-7 in first round action is a mind boggling score in the age of keeping the clock running, but other contests reached into the 50’s and 60’s.

Of course a true cynic would claim the OHSAA is oblivious to their handiwork, and if they are they don’t really care. But two things are important to the Commissioners….money, and image. And there is anecdotal evidence that schools are starting to push back. More losing  programs are saying no to playing a high seed  and traveling long distances,  with no compensation.  It is rumored that one losing program with a big time player called the opposing coach telling him their future Big Ten talent wasn’t playing. The opposing coach promised to play  his second team. These stories, weaving thru the grapevine, does not portray the OHSAA’s product in the best light.

The problem with the playoffs are two fold- not enough good football teams to cover 7 divisions, and the fact the playoffs are structured to make money…for the OHSAA, not the schools.

-The OHSAA continues to levy a tax of $50 on each school per sport just to enter their own tournament.

-The OHSAA refuses to compensate schools for travel expenses until deep into the playoffs

-The OHSAA refuses to compensate  schools completely for hosting home playoff games

 Meanwhile the OHSAA continues to add to their investment portfolio of $19 million.

Obviously the Commissioners, and their six figure incomes, see no embarrassment that their lifestyle is derived from the sweat of teenagers.  

Yes, the schools allegedly have oversight, but more and more the committee appears to consist of a group of bobble heads who rubber stamp  the wishes of the OHSAA. One would think a group of administrators working in the Ohio Public School System would be sensitive regarding  the optics and remind the OHSAA that many of its membership schools fall into the “pay to play” category of financing while the rest rely on gate receipts and fund raising projects to make ends meet. But, no red faces among them as they consistently endorse the desires of the commissioners with 100% unanimous support.

So, will the top 4 seeds getting a bye make a difference?  Perhaps cosmetically, but otherwise doubtful under the present set-up where  financial gain for the exclusive use of the OHSAA is paramount. And that requires keeping the best teams and their enthusiastic fan base in the tournament for as long as possible.

Lets finish by looking at the 4 year totals of past regional finalists to illustrate this point:

  • Seeds 1-2-3 = 169 or 75% of the teams
  • Seeds 4-5-6 = 37   or 16.5%
  • Seeds 7-16  = 18   or  8%*

*Note: just one seed higher than 8 has made the final 4

Good luck to all you high school fans. If your team’s not a top three seed, the chances of your team making it to regional finals stands at 24.5%.  A nice accomplishment, but getting hammered along the way is a much higher probability and the experience will 100% leave your school financially poorer.  

You decide if that experience is priceless.