8 man teams

[ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood]

Here's my opinion on the 8 man thing. If a team wants to use an 8 man team to start their program with the hopes of maybe going to 11 man that would be really cool and interesting. Some schools that come to mind would be Bradford, Big Sandy, or even Madison Academic. I also wouldn't blame a school like Gleason for saying forget this and switching to 8 man for a period. That being said I personally don't think any schools goal should be to stay at 8 man forever. I'd also have a problem with it if it started taking mid level to good teams out of 1A. 

[ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood]

1 minute ago, TryNotToSuck said:

They never did. You’re correct about everything, but that was it. They still do 8-man though, which is cute.

I'd like to see another private school from Jackson thrown in the d-2 mix. 

[vandyfan13]

On 2/26/2021 at 11:06 PM, WarEagleCartman said:

Here's my opinion on the 8 man thing. If a team wants to use an 8 man team to start their program with the hopes of maybe going to 11 man that would be really cool and interesting. Some schools that come to mind would be Bradford, Big Sandy, or even Madison Academic. I also wouldn't blame a school like Gleason for saying forget this and switching to 8 man for a period. That being said I personally don't think any schools goal should be to stay at 8 man forever. I'd also have a problem with it if it started taking mid level to good teams out of 1A. 

I don't think you'd ever have to worry about mid level to good teams exiting for it unless they were in a dire numbers situation.....which typically means they're not mid to upper tier anyway.

[ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood]

21 hours ago, vandyfan13 said:

I don't think you'd ever have to worry about mid level to good teams exiting for it unless they were in a dire numbers situation.....which typically means they're not mid to upper tier anyway.

I very much agree with that but you know how it is these days. I'd just be afraid that a school somewhere would come to the conclusion that it would better to dominate 8 man than finish 2-4th in their region ya know?

[vandyfan13]

1 hour ago, WarEagleCartman said:

I very much agree with that but you know how it is these days. I'd just be afraid that a school somewhere would come to the conclusion that it would better to dominate 8 man than finish 2-4th in their region ya know?

Yeah, I get that. But I think that can be mostly controlled with enrollment restrictions and the like. Plus, unfair as it might be, there will always be a stigma about 8 man football that will also keep some of that at bay.

[BiggsB8]

On 2/26/2021 at 11:05 PM, TryNotToSuck said:

They never did. You’re correct about everything, but that was it. They still do 8-man though, which is cute.

Sacred Heart did in fact win a national championship in 8-man in 2016. As someone who graduated there I saw it everyday when I went to the gym lol. We moved up to 11-man in 2017 but it didnt work out. 2018-2020 were rebuilding years for the program as they dropped back to 8-man. 2021 SHJ was good and is finally heading in the right direction. They should be contenting for another title within the next 3-4 years.

[BiggsB8]

On 2/26/2021 at 11:06 PM, WarEagleCartman said:

Here's my opinion on the 8 man thing. If a team wants to use an 8 man team to start their program with the hopes of maybe going to 11 man that would be really cool and interesting. Some schools that come to mind would be Bradford, Big Sandy, or even Madison Academic. I also wouldn't blame a school like Gleason for saying forget this and switching to 8 man for a period. That being said I personally don't think any schools goal should be to stay at 8 man forever. I'd also have a problem with it if it started taking mid level to good teams out of 1A. 

This would be awesome. Since Sacred Heart is the only team right now in West TN we have to drive to Nashville or Arkansas or Mississippi for our games. Having more 8-man teams in the area could benefit everyone travel wise. Also it would be very interesting to see that crosstown rivalry between Sacred Heart and Madison...

[ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood]

18 hours ago, BiggsB8 said:

This would be awesome. Since Sacred Heart is the only team right now in West TN we have to drive to Nashville or Arkansas or Mississippi for our games. Having more 8-man teams in the area could benefit everyone travel wise. Also it would be very interesting to see that crosstown rivalry between Sacred Heart and Madison...

I thought I read a few years back y'all were going to try your hand at 11 man ball. Did that fall through? 

[BiggsB8]

48 minutes ago, WarEagleCartman said:

I thought I read a few years back y'all were going to try your hand at 11 man ball. Did that fall through? 

SHJ moved up for one year in 2017. That didn't work out and they have been in 8 man since 2018. Had a rough couple years until 2021. Should be pretty good the next couple of years, they got a great coaching staff, but I don't think they will move up to 11 any time soon. It's still a really fun and competitive brand of football to watch though. If you are ever in Jackson on a Friday you should definitely drop by St. Mary's to catch a game.