Football Coaches Desire Transparency, Sportsmanship In Rankings

The procedure for selecting which teams qualify for the high school football playoffs looks to be under consideration. Once again. Last year, the NJSIAA employed a new process for selecting teams for the playoffs that was shrouded in both controversy and secrecy.

The Born Power Index, a computer-based system that included point spreads among other factors used when determining playoff teams, was used to determine the playoff teams last year.

Local coaches not only disagreed with the use of point spreads to determine who should be in the playoffs, but also with the fact that the formula was kept secret. It also didn’t work. Delran was 7-1 at the playoff cutoff date and failed to make the playoffs.

The NJSIAA Executive Committee will view a proposal that removes the use of point spreads from the formula and makes the formula public at its May meeting, according to officials from the state's governing body for high school sports. A spokesperson was unable to share a copy of the proposed changes with Patch prior to that meeting.

“The most important thing is transparency,” said Highland Regional football coach Brian Leary, whose team was the No. 2 seed in the South Jersey Group 4 playoffs last year and advanced to the semifinals before falling to Clearview. “We need to know where the points are coming from. Last year, you were in the dark. Everybody wants to know where they stand. ... Two years ago, you knew how many points you got for a win, and you could figure it out for yourself. Last year, we were the No. 2 seed, but I wasn’t sure what they wanted us to do.”

That’s because the formula was kept secret for much of the season, before coaches started to figure it out. Many coaches were dismayed to learn that point spreads were part of the equation.

Rob Radice has been coaching high school football for 29 years. He guided Lawrence to the Central Jersey Group 3 final in 2013. For him, coaching high school sports is about molding young men and teaching them to deal with adversity. Using point spreads to figure out the best teams isn’t good sportsmanship, he said.

“I’m not putting points on a team because of a quota,” said Radice, who returns to the coach the Cardinals this year. “There has to be a better way to do it. There needs to be common sense. They need to look at it and say, ‘Is this what’s best for the school? Is this what’s best for the kids?’ If not, then what are we doing here?”

Before last season, the power points formula was based on the group size of the opponents you defeated and the number of wins they had. For example, a win over a Group 4 school with seven wins netted a team 15 points because the group size was doubled (4x2=8) and you earned one point for each of their wins (in this case seven). Power points couldn’t be earned in a loss.

Teams with slightly worse records because they played tougher schedules complained that they were being penalized more than teams with better records against inferior competition.

This resulted in a change in the system, but it seems to have been for the worse. In addition to the complaints previously mentioned, coaches saw an overcompensation when it came to tough schedules. Teams earned points for losses, almost at a complete disregard for records.

“Last year, we were 2-4 going into the last week, but if we had won, we had an outside shot at making the playoffs,” Moorestown coach Beau Sherry said. “That seems crazy. Delran was 7-1 and they didn’t make the playoffs.”

Other teams didn’t have any wins and still had a shot at the playoffs up until the end. Sherry was content with the old system, in which only power points were taken into account. He said that if the system changes again, he’d like to see some coaches input taken into account.

“I prefer the old way, but there’s no perfect way to do it,” Sherry conceded, but he also echoed the other coaches’ comments that transparency, not point spreads, is what’s needed.

“Under the old system, you could pull players if you were winning big,” Sherry said. “But if you’re expected to win by 35 points, what are you supposed to do?”

“Using a point spread is crazy,” Leary said. “We’re supposed to teach sportsmanship, but if you’re telling me to score late when I already have an opponent beat, what’s that teaching? I wouldn’t do it.”

Other proposed changes would modify the power points system so that teams aren’t overly compensated for playing tough schedules, according to nj.com. North 1 and North 2 may be combined into one bracket, while the South Jersey and Central Jersey brackets may be independent of each other. Last year was the first year champions from different regions in the same group played in what were called “bowl games,” but that name may be changed to “regional championships.”