RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Some football coaches and fans around the state believe the MHSAA should separate private schools from public schools in the playoffs.
The frustration from some public schools makes sense, especially when you live next door to a private school and draw your neighbor in the district tournament.
You work your tail off, only to suffer an early playoff exit with nothing to show for it. Meanwhile, the private school is off to Ford Field, collecting yet another championship trophy.
How many state championships would Northville or Canton have right now if they didn’t have to face Novi Detroit Catholic Central so often? How far would Farmington or North Farmington make it if they didn’t have to open against Orchard Lake St. Mary’s every year?
Some would argue that iron sharpens iron. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.
That’s what teams like Detroit Cass Tech and Detroit King have done over the past two decades. They went from irrelevance to state powers by proving they could beat the Catholic League’s best.
Others believe life would be a whole lot easier if they only had to battle like-minded schools, especially in the smaller-school divisions.
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It’s not hard to find coaches on social media shouting that something needs to change.
For this week’s Coaches Confidential, the Detroit Free Press asked head coaches of teams directly next door to private-school state powers: What should the MHSAA do about the public-vs.-private playoff debate?
We granted them anonymity for their responses.
Here’s what they had to say:
Smaller public schools need the most help
“Certainly something needs to be done. At times, I think it impacts teams in smaller divisions the most. It’s really hard for some of the smaller public schools, especially when they’re all homegrown kids, playing against a smaller private school from a bigger area that can pull from all over a metro area.
“Something needs to be done there first. There are too many issues when it comes to private vs. public. There are a lot of opportunities for smaller private schools to be successful. But when you get your once-in-a-lifetime shot to have a great year at a smaller public school, it sucks when you run into that wagon of a private school. I’d love to have these proud communities finish with a championship.”
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Michigan needs an open division like other states
“I’m a firm believer that Michigan should implement an open division. A lot of states do open divisions where they take the top eight teams in the whole state and those teams play a three-week tournament to crown the open division. It doesn’t matter what division you’re in or whatever formula you use. If you’re one of the top eight teams, you’re put into that open division playoff. That levels the playing field a little bit and allows some of the top teams to play each other.
“I would’ve loved to see DeWitt against some of the great teams last year. Or Orchard Lake St. Mary’s against Detroit Catholic Central in an open division championship would’ve been awesome.”
The current system is fine, but maybe it could use minor tweaks
“I think there are suggestions for solutions, but I definitely don’t have it all figured out. I’m OK with mixing private with public schools. I’m fine going against them in the playoffs as well. Just beat who is on your schedule, which is easier said than done.”
Implement what works in California
“I don’t necessarily think we need two different playoffs. However, I would like to see a different format for our playoff system. When I was coaching in [California], I liked their system. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked very well. They use a competitive equity power-ranking system rather than fixed enrollment, where individual sections evaluate teams using regular-season performance formulas to assign divisions and the playoff brackets right after the season ends.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Follow him on X at @folsomwrites .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Should MHSAA football split private, public schools in playoffs?
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