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Should Arkansas adopt 8-man football?
Posted on 10/15/16 at 1:43 pm
Posted on 10/15/16 at 1:43 pm
With the state of HS football being what it is in the state and many small schools having problems fielding teams or having rosters above 20-25 players I think turning the smallest 2 classifications to 8 man football is a good move.
This also allows small schools that do not have football such as Alpena, Bergman, Valley Springs, etc. and those that barely have football like Decatur or those that haven't been able to field a team in years because of numbers like Hughes to actually have football in their communities.
Often when a player shows he has skills and abilities far above the competition level found in 2A/3A those players are recruited to Shiloh or another faith based private school or transfer to a larger school like Fayetteville. It's a cycle that keeps small schools from gaining a culture of football, a culture of winning and a culture of togetherness within the community.
8 man football could give these smaller schools some depth so players dont have to go both ways all the time and the level of play will increase as players are fresher and more mentally alert. When fatigue sets in is when mental mistakes happen bigtime and the level of play falls off.
8 man football also requires better coaching on both sides of the ball as you have to be a bit more creative in play calling while the plays are stripped down and options are limited which require greater attention to detail and discipline as it's more straight up football than decoy and disguise.
We need more kids to play the game and more importantly better understand the game and have the fundamentals down pat.
This also allows small schools that do not have football such as Alpena, Bergman, Valley Springs, etc. and those that barely have football like Decatur or those that haven't been able to field a team in years because of numbers like Hughes to actually have football in their communities.
Often when a player shows he has skills and abilities far above the competition level found in 2A/3A those players are recruited to Shiloh or another faith based private school or transfer to a larger school like Fayetteville. It's a cycle that keeps small schools from gaining a culture of football, a culture of winning and a culture of togetherness within the community.
8 man football could give these smaller schools some depth so players dont have to go both ways all the time and the level of play will increase as players are fresher and more mentally alert. When fatigue sets in is when mental mistakes happen bigtime and the level of play falls off.
8 man football also requires better coaching on both sides of the ball as you have to be a bit more creative in play calling while the plays are stripped down and options are limited which require greater attention to detail and discipline as it's more straight up football than decoy and disguise.
We need more kids to play the game and more importantly better understand the game and have the fundamentals down pat.
3
Posted on 10/23/16 at 10:28 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
quote:
We need more kids to play the game and more importantly better understand the game and have the fundamentals down pat.
Anyone want to take this seriously yet?
Posted on 10/23/16 at 10:34 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
Interesting idea, but I'm just not anywhere close enough to Arkansas high school football to have an opinion.
Posted on 10/24/16 at 5:41 am to CtotheVrzrbck
quote:
Decatur
I grew up in Decatur until 9th grade. I did not come off the field for one play my 8th and 9th grade years. Think we had 19 guys on our Jr. high team.
Posted on 10/24/16 at 6:40 am to CtotheVrzrbck
It's an interesting concept. Arkansas high school football is truly a mess right now, and it isn't getting any better anytime soon. We're simply not churning out even a decent number of recruits to sustain a P5 program, especially on the defensive side of the football.
Hell, look at the state of Alabama. Their population isn't terribly larger than ours (4.8 million compared to 3 million), yet their recruiting production is staggering compared to ours. And they're sustaining two P5 programs while simultaneously getting spot recruited by surrounding SEC and ACC schools. This is from Rivals, and keep in mind that these are by state, not team.
2016
Arkansas - 0 five stars, 3 four stars
Alabama - 3 five stars*, 10 four stars
*including #1 ILB, #3 SSDE, #4 OLB
2015
Arkansas - 0 five stars, 5 four stars
Alabama - 1 five star*, 12 four stars
*including #3 DT
2014
Arkansas - 0 five stars, 2 four stars
Alabama - 5 five stars*, 5 four stars
*including #2 CB, #2 RB, #1 OLB, #2 ATH, #2 ILB
Hell, look at the state of Alabama. Their population isn't terribly larger than ours (4.8 million compared to 3 million), yet their recruiting production is staggering compared to ours. And they're sustaining two P5 programs while simultaneously getting spot recruited by surrounding SEC and ACC schools. This is from Rivals, and keep in mind that these are by state, not team.
2016
Arkansas - 0 five stars, 3 four stars
Alabama - 3 five stars*, 10 four stars
*including #1 ILB, #3 SSDE, #4 OLB
2015
Arkansas - 0 five stars, 5 four stars
Alabama - 1 five star*, 12 four stars
*including #3 DT
2014
Arkansas - 0 five stars, 2 four stars
Alabama - 5 five stars*, 5 four stars
*including #2 CB, #2 RB, #1 OLB, #2 ATH, #2 ILB
This post was edited on 10/24/16 at 6:42 am
Posted on 10/24/16 at 9:46 am to Feral
Or Louisiana
Population 4.6 Million
2016: 2 Five Stars, 19 Four Stars
2015: 1 Five Star, 12 Four stars
2014: 4 Five Stars, 12 Four Stars
Population 4.6 Million
2016: 2 Five Stars, 19 Four Stars
2015: 1 Five Star, 12 Four stars
2014: 4 Five Stars, 12 Four Stars
Posted on 10/24/16 at 10:52 am to Feral
Having a 60% larger population isn't terribly larger than ours?
Also, Alabama doesn't "sustain" two P5 programs. Both Bama and Auburn recruit highly ranked players nationally. We don't really do that on a consistent basis.
Also, Alabama doesn't "sustain" two P5 programs. Both Bama and Auburn recruit highly ranked players nationally. We don't really do that on a consistent basis.
Posted on 10/24/16 at 10:54 am to Porcine Human
Like I said in another thread, if tcu and fricking baylor can do it so can we.
Posted on 10/24/16 at 12:39 pm to UnderCoverHog
Let's be honest in this thread. All of the athletes are in eastern AR but I'd say only 20% play sports. If money was put towards development of that area we would have ample more D1 athletes come out of the state.
However this will never happen because all of the money is in Central to NWA.
However this will never happen because all of the money is in Central to NWA.
Posted on 10/24/16 at 1:01 pm to Feral
quote:
Hell, look at the state of Alabama. Their population isn't terribly larger than ours (4.8 million compared to 3 million), yet their recruiting production is staggering compared to ours. And they're sustaining two P5 programs while simultaneously getting spot recruited by surrounding SEC and ACC schools. This is from Rivals, and keep in mind that these are by state, not team.
1.8 million more people is actually a very large difference. You're thinking logarithmically when you need to be thinking exponentially or at the very least linearly.
4.8M compared to 3.0M is an increase of 60%. That's huge. Especially when as you increase the competition gets better and better, breeding even more players.
But let's just assume that there's 1 5* per every 500,000 people or so, that alone would equate to 3 more 5*'s on the playing field. But in reality talent breeds talent so would probably be 5 or 6 more.
But just raw numbers aren't the full story, you have to look at demographics as well.
93% of the top 100 Rivals recruits were Black. 7 were white (5 linemen, 1 TE, 1 QB).
Even though African Americans are approximately 17% of the national population, year in and year out they are 90-95% of the top 100 recruits in the nation. So I think it's fair to say that a larger demographic could lead to a larger percentage of top football recruits. It has been consistent for the past decade at least.
Alabama has a black population of 27%. With a 4.8M population that's ~1.3M black population versus Arkansas which has a 16% black population or approximately 400,000 total black population.
Just objectively looking at it, when you compare total population and then demographic trends in the top football recruits, Arkansas trails Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana by extreme margins when you're trying to find an exceptional 10-12 student athletes a year.
When Arkansas produces an outlier year like the Warren kids in the 2008 recruiting class alongside Tyler Wilson and the Mallett transfer, we happen to have closer to equal talent. But to pretend that our recruiting turf is anywhere near as fertile as our rivals' is disingenuous at best.
Posted on 10/24/16 at 3:55 pm to Kilgore Snout
8 man football is still football. It just requires less resources and 2 less lineman and nearly removes the FB from the game which most offenses have done anyway.
You have to play in space more and be more creative in the actual football aspect of the game once it's snapped. Less bells and whistles and pre-snap disguise.
It's more basic while at the same time requiring more advance knowledge of the game in some aspects.
Most importantly, schools that have a hard time supporting football because of numbers have a better shot at fielding a team, reducing injuries, and keeping players interested in the sport and becoming dedicated to it which can only increase the level of play.
You have to play in space more and be more creative in the actual football aspect of the game once it's snapped. Less bells and whistles and pre-snap disguise.
It's more basic while at the same time requiring more advance knowledge of the game in some aspects.
Most importantly, schools that have a hard time supporting football because of numbers have a better shot at fielding a team, reducing injuries, and keeping players interested in the sport and becoming dedicated to it which can only increase the level of play.
Posted on 10/24/16 at 5:03 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
I'm for it if it means more HS players to choose from. And I bet defensive players from 8-man football are more prepared for spread offenses.
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