Multiple changes are on the horizon for Pennsylvania high school football programs.

The PIAA, the governing body of the state’s high school athletics, has passed one new rule and proposed other changes for high school football programs that may affect the number of games on schedules, the levels of competition, athletic department budgets and what teams make the playoffs.To begin with, the PIAA board of directors and committee members recently adopted what they are calling the 10 per cent rule that changes the way enrollment is calculated in the state’s public school districts. Previously, football programs were classified based upon the total number of male students in the high school district, which included students who were home schooled, cyber schooled and charter schooled. Now only 10 percent of that number will be added to the total population of boys.Consequently, most schools will see a decrease in their PIAA enrollment figures that could drop them into a lower classification.Arguably, the issue the PIAA is addressing that could have the greatest impact is the expansion of the current football playoffs from four to six classifications, which will subsequently affect the number of teams that qualify for the playoffs. If the expansion occurs, it should level the playing field for some smaller Class AAAA schools that now have to compete against opponents whose enrollments list hundreds of more male students.Pleasant Valley head coach, Dave Pacchioni favors the expansion of classifications because his school district enrollment continues to drop each year.“In 2006, we were at a high number of 2,300 students in our high school and we had just 1,800 this past year,” he says. “We graduated 450, but looking into the future, our fourth grade enrollment is only at 300.”Pacchioni’s Bears player larger schools like Easton, Parkland and Whitehall so he feels that a drop in enrollment could jeopardize his team’s chances for playoff qualification if the PIAA classifications remain at four.Northern Lehigh head football coach, Joe Tout also likes the expansion because it should result in more teams making the playoffs.“In most sports, a .500 record gets you into the district playoffs, “ he says, “but in football, there are times when a 7-3 team doesn’t get in due to not enough power ranking points based on strength of schedule. Moving to six classifications could eliminate that issue.”Jim Thorpe head coach, Mark Rosenberger, whose program is now in the class AAA category, believes the 10 per cent rule and re-classifying into six levels is a good idea.“In our district, we have a lot of students who are home schooled. It’s a good thing if the classifications are equal across the board, especially when it comes to the playoffs.”Rosenberger is especially interested in re-classification because his teams have not qualified for the district playoffs the past two seasons despite going 7-3 both times.“We needed to be 8-2 and just didn’t get it done,” he says. “It’s about our power rankings and about the teams we play, which is a great schedule. We play single A schools like Marian and Schuylkill Haven that can be tougher opponents than some AAA schools. The way it is now we have to win eight games to get in.”According to Bob Tonkin, a District 9 PIAA representative, increasing the classifications would lower 80 of the 93 state’s districts and also create a Super 700 class for schools with that many or more boys in the student population.Long time football official, Dan Rossino agrees with the idea of having more class groupings.“The way it is set up now, some of the largest schools are like small colleges in terms of athletic talent and in numbers. Going from four to six would correct this kind of imbalance.”With more teams making the playoffs, the problem of a longer season becomes another issue. Pennsylvania is the fifth largest state in terms of numbers of football programs and its season ended with playoff championship games played on December 13 last year, which brought criticism from several sources.“The consensus is that the season is too long,” says District 11 chairman, Bob Hartman. The PIAA is considering three options: 1) Keep two scrimmages, play nine games, then onto the playoffs. 2) Play one scrimmage, 10 regular season games, and then playoffs. 3) Keep both scrimmages, play 10 games. Cut the playoffs by one week.Tout feels that reducing the regular season schedule to nine games may place another strain on already tight athletic budgets.“With a nine game schedule, every other year schools would have only four home games, limiting ticket and concession sales while increasing transportation costs,” says Tout. “Then they would have to wait until the following year to try to make up the deficit.”On the other hand, Pacchioli favors playing nine games with more preseason scrimmages.“Football requires intense conditioning for the kids who play a 48 minute game,” he says. ”In most scrimmages coaches play ten down series and want to get the JV team some time too so we are not really preparing the athletes to compete for a full game. There’s also now a concern for reducing the number of concussions so full contact practices are limited. We still need to prepare the kids for the full contact game of football.”Pacchioni also would like to see an earlier end of the playoffs. “I’m not a big fan of cold weather football so the closer we can bring the season back to Thanksgiving, the better it would be, especially to ensure that the quality of the championship game is not adversely affected by ice or snow.”Rosenberger’s take on the number of regular season games differs from Pacchioni’s view.“Only four teams make it to the 16th game (playoff semifinals),” he says. “I wouldn’t want to give up a game. It’s unlikely that most schools can get that deep in the playoffs every year so I wouldn’t want to sacrifice a regular season game knowing it’s one less game overall that the kids would get to play.”With all the off-season conditioning and frequent practices, he wouldn’t mind giving up one scrimmage to preserve the 10 game schedule.“As long as the new rules make it fair for all schools, I would support the changes,” he says.The PIAA revealed that 68% of Pennsylvania high school football fans who were polled are in favor of expanding the playoffs and reducing the regular season schedule by one week.Rossino likes the idea of playing ten games with one scrimmage and ending the playoffs a week earlier. He contends that with summer workouts, the players will be game ready with only one scrimmage against another school.“As far as ending the playoffs in mid December, it makes it tough on kids who play basketball or kids who wrestle,” said Rossino. “There’s no down time. They have to jump right into their winter sports.”The PIAA certainly has a lot on its table to determine the future of high school football in Pennsylvania. The executive board and its committee members have said they will seek out the opinions of its school membership before it makes its final decisions by the end of this year.