[Pulp Fiction]

What is the line in the sand... the straw that breaks the camels back.... the nail in the coffin of what determines when a football program gets cancelled?

Win/Loss records?
Number of players?
Facilities?
Lack of support from the school board?



Johnson Central just about cancelled (or this was the word on the street) our football program. In 2000 we had an 11-1 record and winning our first ever district title & playoff game. But then we went through three seasons 2001 (2-8), 2002 (2-8) & 2003 (1-9) of death. The 2003 JC team may have been the worst football team in the state that season. But when coach Matney arrived at JC, everything changed. In 2006, JC went 13-1 & finished the season in the 3A Semi-State game. JC now has one of the nicest facilities in the state, one of the best W/L records in the state & one of the biggest fan bases in the state as well. I'm so glad JC didn't cancel our program.


So let's hear it.... what do you think are the factors that causes a football program to get cancelled?

[Tica]

I would think the bigger debate is merging programs through consolidation, such as the idiocy of two tiny schools in Fulton County continuing to field separate football teams and barely have enough players some years. Otherwise, the reasons to permanently end it would be:

Size/enrollment
Revenue/funding/costs (operations, insurance, equipment and facilities.)
Compliance violations

On the field success or failure should have little to do with it, but consistent failure and or lack of competitiveness is a symptom of another problem. You could also make an inverse argument about what is preventing the start of programs in the counties that don't have football.

[Hatz]

Why would they have cancelled? That would have been crazy talk.

Boyle has had some great years since 1963 and some very good to great eras. But they also had some very bad eras.

In '67 and '68 the program was 0-20. After starting with four winning seasons, unbeaten in '63 (9-0), and a District Title in '66 with a close Regional loss to the State Runner up.

But no one thought of axing the program.

Starting in '83 Boyle was:

5-5, 3-8, 4-7, 7-3, 4-7, 2-8, 1-9, 2-8, 1-9.

(FWIW: Rebels were from '74: 8-3, 9-2, 10-2, 8-4, 6-5, 9-1, 7-3, 6-4, 8-3)

But there was never talk of dropping the program. They hired a guy who went to the playoffs his first year, went 2-8 the next and then took them on one heck of a ride since.

[hoghead]

No intrest in youth league and middle school programs, Money issues and administration support, You have to have a lot of involvement to run a highschool program. Hireing the right guy is a lot of it if he shows progress your program will grow if you go 1-9 every year no one will be interested in it.......Everyone wants to play for a winner not play for a team 1-9 every year.

[BigMelon63]

Look what has happened at Paintsville since Coach Joe Chirico arrived. there were 16 players on the team before he arrived.

[Pulp Fiction]

There are some teams.... that I will not name, that haven't had a winning season in 15+ years. And it's not a 5-5 record loosing on last-second heartbreaking plays. They are getting beat like 40-0 or worse.
They are playing local/district games.... Not top ranked teams. They have a 3-7 record or worse for multiple seasons in a row. They will make the playoffs, but only because there are only four teams in their district.


When does it become a "business" decision for a school system to cancel the program?
Coaches salary, equipment/jerseys, field/stadium maintenance, travel.......

[Fly Like a Duck]

I would think the bigger debate is merging programs through consolidation, such as the idiocy of two tiny schools in Fulton County continuing to field separate football teams and barely have enough players some years. Otherwise, the reasons to permanently end it would be:

Size/enrollment
Revenue/funding/costs (operations, insurance, equipment and facilities.)
Compliance violations

On the field success or failure should have little to do with it, but consistent failure and or lack of competitiveness is a symptom of another problem. You could also make an inverse argument about what is preventing the start of programs in the counties that don't have football.

Why they haven't merged is absolutely beyond me.

Has anybody seen the previews of the NFL Network series, "Football Town" starting on September 22nd, featuring Barrow High School in Alaska (the school with the blue turf field right by a bay)?

Anyway, in the clip that's being shared amongst Twitter/Facebook, the head coach talks about how the school was facing a severe drop out rate and the admin prior to the 2006 school year asked the entire student body what they thought would help with that. There overwhelming answer? A football program.

I'll see if I can find it.

Reality is (and, some won't want to hear this)...it's a given that football obviously costs money, but the flip side of that is; no matter how bad the program is, often times the gate money generated is the only (football and basketball) $$$ provided in school budgets to help field some of the non revenue sports (Soccer, Golf, Tennis, Track, even baseball and softball).

I have friends and relatives across the state who are AD's & I know for a fact (per them) that JV/Freshmen football generate more of a gate than the non revenue varsity sports. Baseball and Softball, unless it's big district match ups (not even all of those) often come out in the red from games.

[Fly Like a Duck]

I think fear of competition has a lot to do with why some haven't started it.

Take far WKY for example, Hickman and Carlisle County's. Both schools would probably be Class A, well, who has been Class A in that area for a long while? Schools like Mayfield, Russellville, etc.

Same goes for Lyon County. Talk about a place somebody could go live the rest of their lives right on Lake Barkely. Here they are wedged right between Caldwell, Trigg, Marshall County, Murray, Calloway.......5 counties/towns who love football...all of whom are right on the lakes & they don't have it. They'd likely be 1A as well. They have very respectable boys basketball and baseball programs.

I think competition comes up and the fear of that, which as others have said....the W/L is the last of importance unless there is just year after year of total incompetency and lack of interest from the community.

Barbourville? Why don't they have one. They would be 1A. Wedged right in there with Pineville, Lynn Camp, Jenkins, etc. I've long thought they were missing the boat. I even bet Union College would "allow" them to use there field.

Private schools like University Heights and/or Community Christian in Hopkinsville. Talk about a potential gold mine if a program was to ever start a program.

Owsley, Menifee and Elliott County's? Why not?

[Fly Like a Duck]

In my original post, I committed my own worst Pet peeve......There, Their, They're.

So, *Their in the 3rd paragraph.

[E's Army]

Somebody needs to pass this information on to the administration at Berea. They are trying to kill football there.

[RunItUpTheGut]

$$$$$$$

[Do-double-gg]

$$$$$$$

I think this is the biggest reason. You would think that if a school who has never had football started a program, even if they were teraible in the first few seasons that the buzz of something new would generate enough money to pay for it just to give it a try. I would think you would need to be very careful to hire a good coach who could show some improvement from game to game and season to season because you would always be right on the edge of loosing the program just as fast as you started it.

[HCS]

I think some of you are making it too complicated.
School size is the biggest factor. All the schools in Kentucky that don't play football are small.
The other factor is tradition. Most of the small schools that do play football have done so for a long time
As Gut said, it's expensive, so the small schools that don't have a tradition of football probably won't start it.

[hoghead]

Hard for small schools to survive due to enrollment and funding schools like Berea,Pineville,Jenkins,ect all the kids that are very good not saying these schools dont have talented kids go to Madison Southern,Bell Co or Letcher Central small school some will have to drop the sport before long cost to much lights,jerseys,equptment,insurance,pay bus drivers ect.