Childress: New football plan helps to provide fair competition

MURFREESBORO – TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress spent this past week traveling through the eastern part of Tennessee, partaking in the association's administrative meetings.

It was the first of a two-week swing across the state in an effort to meet with administrators from schools statewide.

However, in the upcoming weeks he and his staff will be in the association's Hermitage office as they prepare for the final prep football season under the current high school footbal playoff plan. Next year, a new system will be in place. It's a plan that will be immensely easier to comprehend.

Childress took time to speak with DNJ prep editor Tom Kreager while traveling to talk about the current playoff system as well as the one that will replace it next fall:

This marks the final year of the current TSSAA Playoff System, coined the Z-plan. How long did it take you to realize that this system was going to be so difficult to determine playoff teams and seed them?

Childress: It didn't take us long at all. When we started it, during the fifth week is when we normally started doing the scenarios. We had problems there. We were hoping we could minimize them as much as possible. We thought, then, it would be a very, very difficult task because there are over 4,800 data points. You have one person basically that knows how to enter them. It was not a good feeling. It still isn't. You might make one mistake and get the other 200 or so right. But that doesn't make you feel good at all. You want to be 100 percent right. The other negative was when when we made a mistake in the old system — and mistakes were made — it didn't put teams in position to travel across the state because of that mistake being made. The most recent one resulted in Sullivan South traveling to Columbia. If that mistake was made in the old system, they would replace someon in their region."

What, if any, were the positives that came out of the current system?

Childress: If there was anything positive, and this isn't necessarily the system, was classification ifself. We added a sixth class, and with that brought back a lot of the old natural rivalries. It kept people close to home at the beginning. Crowds on Friday nights increased. There were natural rivalries. You played the same teams in football, basketball, baseball and softball whereas football had been separate. But that even changed when coaches realized when all the tweaking started, and they realized that if they were not No. 1 or 2 in the district they had to get wins. Then you had coaches trying to schedule wins. We've had really good teams that have had difficult times playing non-district games. They've had to play people out of state and all over the state. These programs don't have the money to do that. And we were trying to save money for schools. And even when teams didn't travel, people expected payment to play some of these teams. All of that really defeated the purpose of the system.

Did those problems surprise you?

Childress: I think it came as a surprise. We talked about it and thought coaches would want to play good competition. As former coaches, you think the measuring stick would be playing the best to see where you needed to be. It just didn't dawn on ourselves that this could happen.

Are you pleased with the new plan? What obstacles could you foresee next season in determining teams?

Childress: Very much so. I think it answers so many questions that we've heard from administrators. It gets the disparity of the enrollment numbers closer together. Those who are traditionalists say you need to earn your way into the playoffs. They don't like that everyone in 6A will get automatic berths. But we feel we are not doing that because 28 of the 32 make it every year any way when we look at the numbers. When you drop down to the other five, it helps provide fair competition. Fair competition is what it's about for us.

There are several coaches in District 7-AAA that would like teams from the same district sent different directions for the postseason. Do you think that's an idea that should be discussed?

Childress: We hear the same thing in Memphis with boys basketball. It's not just one sport. I think if the board were to ever do something, they wouldn't just do it in one sport. Other sports have regions of the state that are pretty dominant. That's not exclusive to football.

What is the biggest challenge facing the TSSAA today?

Childress: It's probably not just the biggest challenge facing the TSSAA, but the same thing going on across the nation and that is the public and private school situation. I said in a council meeting 20 years ago about a week after I was at the TSSAA and met with several directors from across the Southeast that it was a big challenge. Twenty years later that is still a big challenge.

There has been a lot of discussion on a public-private split. Can you discuss where the TSSAA is in finding a committee? What will they be charged to do?

Childress: Not only has the committee been filled, but they have already met twice. I can't tell you how many hours both sides have met on this subject. We have public school administration and private school administration that we asked to serve on this committee. They were totally on different pages and far apart at first. But as we went on, as the two days of meetings ended, they have pretty much come to a conclusion that if both sides make some concessions they will have something for the legislative council.

Could that be a public-private split?

Childress: I don't think that can be determined yet. No decision has been made, but they felt like regardless, the concensus is they can come to an agreement that they are willing to do what best for the association. Not everyone may be happy. We will come up with a couple of options, or plans ourselves. We'll have subcommittees look at options and we'll tear into the plans. But we feel we have a minimum of two years to make a decision. I think everyone is willing to wait. I think the public school people in the committee realize it's more than saying, 'Let's just do this. Let's just split.' You cannot take an organization like this that has been operating for 89 years and just for the sake of saying we need to get it done, do it.

We need to get something in place that keeps the organization together that's been together for 89 years. You can't do that overnight. Going in, I felt like we had several public schools that didn't realize that. When they realized all that was needed to be addressed they realized it wasn't as easy as they thought.

Is there is a legitimate fear that if the TSSAA forced a split there could be a separation from the association by independent schools?

Childress: I don't really think so. We'll do everything in our power to make sure that didn't happen. Based on the conversations we've had from private schools on that committee, that's the last thing on their mind. And they have told us that is the last thing on their constituents' minds. We don't feel lik that will happen. We don't see that being an issue.

The soccer fields in Murfreesboro were not in good shape for Spring Fling due to winter-kill. Has the association looked at the condition of the fields now? And will they be able to be used for the girls soccer state tournament?

Childress: There is no way we can make that decision right now. We're planning on using those fields. I know Mark (Reeves) has had conversations with Rutherford County. I think he and Thomas (Laird with the Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department) were going to talk this (past) week. We want to play on the best field. But we're not in a position right now to say yay or nay.

Contact Tom Kreager at tkreager@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kreager.

fyi....

About Bernard Childress

Who: TSSAA executive director

Age: 59

Background: Born and raised in Columbia; now lives in Murfreesboro

Education: Columbia Central High School Class of '73; Belmont College, bachelor's degree 1978, varsity basketball

Career: Teacher, coach, assistant principal at Columbia Central for six years; principal at Whitthorne Middle for four years; assistant executive director for TSSAA in 1994; named executive director in January 2009

Family: Wife, Pinkie; daughters, Nicole and Tiffany, both graduates of MTSU