Crossover coaches speak out - Is economics the real problem?

[OldSchoolLion]

 

Below is an interesting article in which coaches who have coached for both public and private school football teams in Alabama speak out.  What really struck me is the discussion about economics.  One could argue that the big problem in high schools athletics is less of a public vs private thing, and more of a rich vs poor thing.  In other words, some private schools may be winning because they have more funding.  But the exact same can be said for the "richer" public programs.  

The following is a link to Florida's All-Sports Award winners.  http://www.fhsaa.org/news/2017/0614

A quick peak shows some interesting trends.  At the tops of the lists I see a number of affluent private schools and also some public schools frrm traditionally higher income areas.  I don't see a lot of schools from traditionally very poor areas, even though we know there are some very good athletes in their talent pool. 

For example, the scores of Ponte Vedra and Vero Beach blow many of the private schools around the state out of the water.  How do they do it?  Are they recruiting better than the privates?  If so, I don't hear many people complaining about it.  Or is it possible that superior athletic program funding can sometimes trump superior talent.  I have no idea what the budget is of those schools, but last time I was in those areas I saw some pretty fancy homes, if you know what I mean.         

 

'If it isn't broke, don't fix it:' Crossover coaches say private school allegations are false

Before he arrived at McGill-Toolen three years ago, Earnest Hill wasn’t sure what to think about private schools.

He admits he had preconceived notions about private schools’ perceived advantages.

“I think I looked at them like a lot of other coaches do now,” he said. “A lot of things people say about private schools are just not true. Once you get here, you see the difference. But if you haven’t been at a private school, you are always going to point fingers and make accusations.”

Hill, now McGill’s head football coach, is one of many coaches statewide who have been on both sides of the ongoing public vs. private school debate.

The Alabama High School Athletic Association has formed a Task Force to analyze competitive balance between the two when it comes to state championships.

The task force could recommend a change in bylaws to the AHSAA’s Central Board of Control as early as next month that could alter the landscape of AHSAA championship play. During the 2016-2017 school year, private schools won 38 of 111 championships but just four of 35 in the major team sports of football, boys and girls basketball, softball and baseball.

Officials agree that there’s a public perception that private schools enjoy an athletic advantage, but the task force is analyzing data to determine if that’s authentic and, if so, what should be done about it.

“I don’t see it as an advantage,” said Hill, who coached at Spanish Fort, Walker and Greenville – all public schools – before joining the McGill staff as defensive coordinator. “We have 1,100 kids. Hoover has more than 3,000 so who has the advantage? I spent 17 years in public schools, and I didn’t know anything about private schools.

“I don’t think we have the best athletes at McGill, but I do think we have great kids, a great atmosphere, a great curriculum and a great administration, so I guess maybe that is an edge. But we have our problems just like any other school.”

Steve Mask has led St. Paul’s to two Class 5A state football titles in the past three years. However, before landing on the Saints staff, he also spent time has head coach at Bradshaw, Buckhorn and Colbert County, all public schools in north Alabama.

“I basically think that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” Mask said of the current AHSAA system, which includes a 1.35 multiplier for private schools. “The biggest complaint people have is the success a lot of schools are having. But if you just look at private schools, that is narrow-minded because there are some public schools having just as much success, and nobody is saying anything about it. If we are going to be a part of the same association, we should be under the same rules.”

The clear dividing line, Mask pointed out, sits between schools that are funded well – whether they are private or city systems – and schools that aren’t. In the past six years, city schools won more than 40 percent of the boys state titles, private schools more than 30 and county schools a little more than 20 percent.

Affluent schools, whether in suburban school districts or private schools, have found increased athletic success in the last decade.

“If you look at the state championships, I would bet 80 percent of the championships are won by 30 percent of the teams – public or private,” Mask said. “You could go through just about every sport and check off 10 or 15 schools that will have a chance to win the title in each class each year. In my mind, that is a tribute to both public and private schools that are doing everything they can to help their students succeed.”

Bayside Academy football coach Phil Lazenby has spent the last decade at the Class 3A private school in Daphne, winning 76 games and making the playoffs eight times. He led the Admirals to the state championship game in 2015.

His career also included stints at Benjamin Russell, Southside-Gadsden and Guntersville, including multiple trips to state championship games. He said believes there are schools breaking the rules but doesn’t believe it is a problem limited to private schools.

“(With this talk of changes) I think they are trying to placate a few schools that feel like some private schools are taking advantage of the situation,” he said. “We go through the exact same rules that everyone else does. If you get caught recruiting illegally, it is the same for public and private schools, and it goes on in both I can promise you.

“There are always coaches trying to find an edge and going out and getting kids from different schools and systems,” he continued. “I agree with the AHSAA that if recruiting is going on, something needs to be done about it. But it is happening on both sides of the fence.”

A pair of football coaches who had great success at McGill-Toolen – Bart Sessions and Caleb Ross – started their careers in public schools, went to McGill and have now returned to public school coaching and teaching.

Sessions emerged as one of the state’s most coveted assistant coaches at Prattville, Davidson and Daphne before accepting his first head coaching job at McGill-Toolen, the lone Catholic private school in Mobile. He is now in his first year as Gadsden City’s head coach.

“My opinion definitely changed when I got the McGill job,” he said. “I’m sure I thought all private schools were out recruiting and doing terrible things, but it definitely changes when you are at a private school. You see more the reality of it.”

Sessions said when he took over at McGill, he talked to some private school coaches who had been in public school, including UMS-Wright’s Terry Curtis.

“Terry told me from the start that you are going to be accused of recruiting every day as a private school coach,” Sessions said. “But he said if you have a great program, it will recruit itself and that is the case whether you are coaching in public or private school. I think there is a lot more recruiting going on in public schools than private schools today.”

Ross spent time as an assistant at Prattville and Spanish Fort and served one year as head coach at Thompson before succeeding Sessions as head coach at McGill. He was hired earlier this year to lead the Opelika football program.

“I think there are a lot of unknowns if you haven’t been on the private school side,” he said. “You hear things all the time that quite frankly aren’t true. It’s unfair to say that private schools recruit all these athletes. It’s just such a blanket statement. When I was at McGill, we never recruited and we never had to. Kids wanted to come to McGill, and their parents wanted them there not just for athletics but for the academics and moral structure as well.”

So does there need to be a change in rules to level the playing field? There is certainly a contingent, led by state Rep. Ritchie Whorton (R-Owens Cross Roads), who believes so. Whorton proposed a bill during the last Legislative session that would mandate separate championships for public and private schools.

The bill never reached a floor vote, but it appears the AHSAA will make some type of adjustment for private schools by the next reclassification in January. Sessions said he believes there is an easier solution than adopting a new rule or rules.

“I think we already have great rules,” he said. “The rules are clear in what you can or cannot do as it pertains to recruiting. Unfortunately, there always have been a few bad apples who skirt the rules. If we can enforce the rules we have on the book, then I think everything is fine. I realize that is easier said than done.

“We made some positive strides with the enforcement staff that has been hired,” he continued, referring to the AHSAA’s new Investigations Unit. “It just takes one prominent school or coach to get nailed, and it all stops or slows down. Every coach can tell you it happens and pretty much knows who is doing it. If those guys get caught and accused and have to sit out a year or whatever, I think everyone will take notice.”

 

[DarterBlue2]

A timely, insightful post.

One of the reasons why poor schools don't perform well in the all sports category in Florida is the fact many sports are either totally neglected or the kids don't turn out in the poorer schools. Thus, to take soccer as an example, while Oak Ridge and Evans in the Orlando area have a natural demographic (a lot of immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean who play the sport at a high level), they have not fully lived up to their potential. Or in the case of baseball, African American kids don't participate in the sport much anymore due to dwindling participation in Little League. I am not sure whether it is funding at the school level or shifts in the wider society. To play soccer at a high level in the USA, participation in the "club circuit" is essential. Or with baseball, if you did not play little league, then trying to pick the sport up in high school unless the school has an exceptional staff is probably too late.

At the end of the day, it is probably America's loss and helps explain why despite over 300 million people, many with a natural affinity for soccer, we will never field a men's team that poses a serious threat to win the World Cup or even an Olympic medal in the sport.  

[gatorman-uf]

Darter is right. 
Football is the last "community" sport and with schools like IMG that might be going away as well.
AAU and travel ball (volleyball, softball, soccer, and baseball) essentially make it impossible to build a winning program without having the families with $$$ to build your program. They are rarely the sport that a kid starts playing in high school and dominates. Football (including playing QB) is a sport that a high school bowler picks up and excels at. Luis Perez. Football is a sport that if you have just enough athletes, you can do damage. I remember a couple of years ago watching Robert E. Lee and thinking they have the athletes to be competitive, but they lacked the coaching. Coach Small has fixed a lot of that.

In other sports, it doesn't matter the coaching. You can improve the team from poor to average and from average to good, but unless you got the jimmy and joes you aren't going to state. I mean the last state championship finalist in boys soccer that we would say would be a traditional high poverty school is Palm Beach Lakes (West Palm Beach) in 2015. Every other school to me seems like either a) private school or a school with a relatively low poverty rate.

[DisabledAccount]

16 minutes ago, gatorman-uf said:

Darter is right. 
Football is the last "community" sport and with schools like IMG that might be going away as well.
AAU and travel ball (volleyball, softball, soccer, and baseball) essentially make it impossible to build a winning program without having the families with $$$ to build your program. They are rarely the sport that a kid starts playing in high school and dominates. Football (including playing QB) is a sport that a high school bowler picks up and excels at. Luis Perez. Football is a sport that if you have just enough athletes, you can do damage. I remember a couple of years ago watching Robert E. Lee and thinking they have the athletes to be competitive, but they lacked the coaching. Coach Small has fixed a lot of that.

In other sports, it doesn't matter the coaching. You can improve the team from poor to average and from average to good, but unless you got the jimmy and joes you aren't going to state. I mean the last state championship finalist in boys soccer that we would say would be a traditional high poverty school is Palm Beach Lakes (West Palm Beach) in 2015. Every other school to me seems like either a) private school or a school with a relatively low poverty rate.

Lee rise has coincided with ed white and first coast dropping off, question is how will they replace Derrick Jones next year 

 

I will say i notice with Leon, Chiles and Lincoln that they put a lot of money into their soccer program and they are all successful but yet all 3 struggle in football as of late 

 

Oh and columbia is pretty good in spring, in fact in past decade the most successful sport has been softball not football 

 

Softball been in district finals of tournament every year since 2011 i think and won state in 2013