Individual story sources

Athletic directors

Brian DeBerry, Grayson High School
Richard Ricketts, Prince Avenue Christian

Coaches

Jeff Herron, Grayson High School
Jason Tone, Worth County High School
Xarvia Smith, assistant coach, Allatoona High School

As I work through the database, there will be several more athletic directors and head coaches that are added to this list. These particular people just happened to discuss topics that carry over to my individual project as well as my part of the team project.

To add

Historians – Potentially the people who write the Georgia High School Football Daily newsletter. I talked to Chip Towers about this story, and he said they would be good sources. They were previously AJC employees.

Records to Get

Team project

Jeff Herron’s history as a head coach & his former assistants’ records as head coaches – Available via GHSFHA
FOIA emails between the Grayson athletic director and Herron
Stories pertinent to finding out how many Herron assistants have become head coaches – Online newspaper databases
Herron’s contract with Grayson High School

Individual project

Records of all of Georgia’s state playoff teams in the last five years – GHSFHA
Created database featuring a particular coach’s time at school, time as a head coach overall, winning percentage leading into the playoff season and prior playoff appearances
Contract information concerning some of the coaches that fall into the average

Jordan’s Updated Story Memo

I wasn’t exactly sure how much information was needed in the update, so I tried to add in any new developments to the original post I made about my story.

There is a famous statistic in college football that since the Southeastern Conference created the SEC Championship Game in 1992, 21 of the 23 coaches who won it played for the title at least once in their first three seasons in the SEC.

With this thinking in mind, I want to explore the characteristics of high school football coaches in the state of Georgia who have made the state playoffs in the last five years and determine on average how long the coach has been at his school. While this is a lot of information, I know this will give me a large sample size to consider and that I have the resources to find these answers.

As I’ve begun to gather the data for this story regarding high school football coaches, I’ve had a lot of luck in making sure my sample size was large enough to be considered. I’ve gathered the playoff teams from classifications AAAAAA down to A private and public schools beginning with last season going back to 2011. With each school, I will find the head coach during that particular season, the number of years at that time, his total number of seasons as a head coach in Georgia, his winning percentage with that school and his overall winning percentage.

The goal from this story is to write something that essentially outlines what makes a high school coach that can take his team to the playoffs. I want to get in touch with several coaches for this story, and I actually think my profile on Jeff Herron is going to be incredibly helpful in this situation. Herron has an impressive coaching tree in that several of his former assistants have gone on to become head coaches. While I contact those coaches to discuss Herron, I can also talk to them about the numbers I’ve found.

My main question is will this be a case like the SEC where a fairly new coach is often the one who can lead his team to success, or is longevity more likely to be the factor that helps a program reach the postseason? Also, how extreme are the coaches who stand out as the outliers among their peers?

Along with the main story that centers on digesting the statistics and hearing from some of these coaches and why this is happening, I will make an infographic both showing this information as well as coaches who fit the profile of the average Georgia high school coach in the playoffs. I also plan to do a sidebar on a coach who stands as an outlier, whether that be a coach who’s been at one team for many more years than his peers or someone brand new to his team.

Jordan’s Personal Story Memo

Individual Story Ideas

– Georgia high school football coaching contracts

A look across the landscape in Georgia high school football quickly reveals the value schools put in their programs being elite. Take Colquitt County, for example, who pays head coach Rush Propst over $122,000 each year to be the head coach of the Packers. While the rise in salaries could be high schools’ responses to top high school coaches leaving to work up the college football coaching ladder, that doesn’t excuse the imbalance between coaches contracts and teachers at the very same school. What are the repercussions of a school committing so much money to one coach who may not even teach a class, and are high contracts completely necessary to build consistent winners?

– Division II tennis

Generally speaking in college athletics, the difference between being competitive and being an afterthought shrinks as you move from the NCAA’s Division III up to Division I-A. That, however, is not exactly the case in Division II men’s tennis due to international players. Programs such as Division II Armstrong Atlantic in Augusta field rosters of nearly all foreign players, with many of the athletes having tried their hand at professional playing careers before giving it the old college try. The result is damaging to the American tennis scene, as many would-be college athletes understand playing at a level lower than Division I tennis still often means competition against Division I-esque talent each match. I want to look at the costs for certain schools in Georgia to recruit and bring in so many international players as well as if there has been blowback from young local players who are not good enough to play professionally or at Division I but don’t want to waste their time against much superior talent.
– Southwest DeKalb football

Southwest DeKalb High School suffered a tremendous tragedy under a month before its first football game when head coach and former Florida State player Michael Tanks suddenly had a stroke and died at the age of 48. Despite Tanks’ unexpected death, the team has gotten off to a 2-0 record under interim head coach Fletcher Salter, who had not been a head coach in the state since he was at McNair High School in 1996. I want to examine how the program has carried on after such a horrible loss with so little time before the season and how Salter has gotten the team to its best start to a season in nine years.
– FBS football scheduling

Appalachian State shocks No. 5 Michigan in the Big House. Georgia Southern embarrasses Florida in the Swamp. James Madison tops a Virginia Tech team that went on to win the ACC. The list of FCS teams losing to FBS squads goes on and on, but if some people in the sport had their way, the games would no longer happen. For some FCS teams, the money they make from these seemingly imbalanced matchups help the entire athletic department stay afloat. How damaging could taking these games away be for programs such as Savannah State, which lost to Florida State and Oklahoma State 139-0 for a cool $860,000 four years ago, and Division II teams, which often get run-off from playing games against FCS opponents?
– Georgia State football

One team’s trash can be another team’s treasure. Just ask Georgia State. The Atlanta Braves’ decision to leave Turner Field for brand-new SunTrust Park has largely overshadowed the future of Turner Field, which will be used by Georgia State football. For a program still trying to become consistent in the Sun Belt Conference, the team’s move from the Georgia Dome to its own stadium could be a step in the right direction. I want to dive into the school’s decision to pursue the purchase and how valuable it can be both in football as far as recruiting and proximity as well as for the school, which wants to essentially make it a southern extension to the school’s campus.

FBS Scheduling Practices Information

Looking at the college football schedule issues I discussed, there are three categories of questions I would have.

The first is questions on the FBS side, like how long these games have been going on and if they are more frequent now than ever before. The second question would be on the FCS side and would concern how valuable the money from these games is and if there is a trickle-down effect to Division II teams. The third category would be about the finances in general, such as if the money they give to teams is worthwhile in the end as well as how many times FCS teams have defeated FBS squads.

One story I found from the Savannah Morning News in 2012 was titled “SSU Reaps Rewards of Moneyball Matchups.” The story discusses FCS program Savannah State, which infamously scheduled games against Oklahoma State and Florida State for the sake of making money. It features interesting quotes from the school’s athletic director, who was quite surprised that the Tigers got so much attention. Unfortunately, I could not find an online version of the story, only the PDF I was able to download.

I also took interest in a 2014 story from the Miami Herald’s Jacob Feldman titled “Money and the College Football Landscape – Checkbooks and Balances.” This story reached out past just one single FCS school, instead looking at several different programs that have taken on these kinds of games. It also detailed the scheduling practices of Miami at the time.

On the odd non-conference games featuring conference games, there’s the store from The Herald-Sun’s Steve Wiseman “Duke wants to follow UNC, Wake Forest on football games.” The story details the information behind the deal between North Carolina and Wake Forest as well as the fact that Duke likes the precedent these two schools have created.

In the area of pro-FCS teams, The Daily Commercial’s Eric Olson had a story three years ago that discussed how the Big Ten would not penalize teams for still playing FCS schools. Along with quotes from commissioner Jim Delaney about his thoughts on playing FCS teams are really good quotes from coaches on the games, specifically then-Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen, who was once the head coach at Southern Utah.

Another good story with a coach’s perspective was The Palm Beach Post’s titled “Fisher not looking down on FCS teams” from last November. This article focused on the thoughts of Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher, who has been one of the activists for playing FCS teams. Considering his background as a former FCS quarterback, it’s interesting to see his opinions on the matter and how he’s determined to push for others to see the points he’s making.

My questions would be:

Is there a true trickle-down effect from FBS to Division II football programs?
How much would FCS teams who normally schedule FBS opponents suffer financially if not for these games?
Is playing FCS — or Division I-AA as they were once known — more prevalent today than ever before?
What is the average difference financially for FBS programs to schedule another FBS team rather than an FCS team?
What is the outlook of the four College Football Playoff teams from last year in regards to playing FCS programs?

Questions about FBS teams scheduling FCS opponents

My topic would be about FBS football programs scheduling non-FBS teams.

In recent years, the importance of playing a top-tier schedule has never been more important due to the College Football Playoff, which puts a lot of value in a team’s schedule. As a result, a debate about playing lower-level opponents such as teams in the FCS has become more prevalent than ever. There is one side of the argument which says playing FCS schools is unnecessary and a weak exploitation of teams that need the money. The Big Ten Conference, for example, has made a rule outlawing FCS opponents.

On the other side of the argument is the FCS programs who need the six-to-seven figure deals to play FBS programs and subsequently pay for other athletic endeavors. There are also FBS head coaches, such as FSU’s Jimbo Fisher, who argue that playing FCS teams can help the sport of football altogether.

My questions would be:

– How long have FBS programs been scheduling FCS opponents?

– How many times have FCS schools defeated FBS programs?

– Had the frequency of FCS opponents been going up prior to the College Football Playoff?

– During the BCS era, was there any correlation between an FBS team’s success on a national level and the number of FCS opponents they played in a given year?

– What is the budget of the average FCS team that doesn’t schedule FBS opponents compared to those who do?

– How often had the Big Ten Conference’s teams been playing FCS opponents compared to the other Power 5 conferences?

– Jimbo Fisher said there is a trickle-down effect that helps FCS and Division II programs generate needed revenue. How accurate is that statement?

The complexity of college football schedules

Something that continues to confuse me is the disconnect that surrounds FBS college football teams’ non-conference schedules.

The major issue lately has been the controversy surrounding playing FCS teams. On one side, you have the Big Ten Conference, which has banned playing FCS schools, while on the other is Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher, who argues that playing these games leads to a trickle-down effect of money that keeps FCS schools and Division II programs afloat. I’m of the mindset that playing perhaps one team on the FCS level each year is acceptable, especially when there are local ties such as when Georgia played Georgia Southern when the Eagles were still in the Southern Conference.

An unusual story yet one that needs mentioning is the decision between Wake Forest and North Carolina to play each other in non-conference games in 2019 and 2021 despite the fact that, you know, they’re both members of the ACC. The FBS level of football now has 128 teams, which means there are 126 other teams in the top classification alone that these teams could have chosen. I think this could set a precedent that could keep marquee matchups from happening in favor of playing games against fairly common opponents.

If going so far between games is an issue, why not get rid of divisions, like what SB Nation writers Jason Kirk and Bill Connelly suggested this summer?