Ohio High School Football Coaches Oppose Big Ten Plan For Friday Games

The Ohio High School Football Coaches Association issued a press release, stating its opposition to the Big Ten Conference deciding to add Friday night games.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio High School Football Coaches Association (OHSFCA) and several other state coaches’ associations have joined forces to show their combined disappointment in the Big Ten Conference’s recent decision to play football games on Friday nights beginning in 2017.

“We would like to express our disappointment with the Big Ten Conference’s decision to play football games on Friday nights,” said Matt Dennison, president of the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association and head coach at New Philadelphia High School. “Our association is vehemently opposed to this action as it infringes on a great American tradition of high school football, is not in the best interest of student athletes, cripples the small budgets of high school athletic departments, disrupts the relationships between high school coaches and Big Ten coaches, and hinders the recruiting process.”

The OHSFCA has joined with high school football coaches’ associations in Michigan, Minnesota. Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin in opposing the decision.

“It is a complete financial decision that was made to create revenue for the Big Ten,” Dennison continued. “The Big Ten’s quest for money is greater than the great game of football. We would hope that they would reconsider this decision and that Ohio State would follow the lead of Michigan and Penn State in not participating in this endeavor.”

The Big Ten Conference announced last week it would play six conference games on Friday nights beginning in 2017. Michigan and Penn State have alerted the conference that they will not participate in Friday night games.

In Ohio, 716 high school teams with a combined 43,000 players participate in high school football each year.

It doesn’t mean the Big Ten will change its schedule, but the unity among coaches from Big Ten states shows how passionate they are about keeping Friday reserved for high school players.

Ohio and Michigan are two states that may not have to worry as much about schedules conflicting because the top-ranked teams are rarely scheduled for anything other than a traditional Saturday start, but states like Indiana, Maryland, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota could see multiple instances where their Big Ten schools play under Friday night lights.

For the Big Ten, this is all about maximizing dollars out of games that don’t receive great ratings, but the conference risks over-saturizing the market, as more weekday games are played every year.

Here is the schedule for the Big Ten Friday night games for 2017.

Fri., Sept. 1 Washington at Rutgers
Fri., Sept. 1 Utah State at Wisconsin
Fri., Sept. 8 Ohio at Purdue
Fri., Sept. 29 Nebraska at Illinois
Fri., Oct. 13 Northwestern at Maryland
Fri., Oct. 27 Michigan State at Northwestern