On Tuesday of last week, the Mississippi High School Activities Association released their plan for the scheduling of fall sports this semester in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, effectively pushing the start date for fall seasons, including football, back two weeks.
Instead of rescheduling the first two weeks of the football season, those games are canceled, and the season will begin with each school’s original week three matchup on Sept. 4 with scrimmages taking place on Aug. 28. This plan of rescheduling comes instead of other alternatives floated by the organization, including moving the football season and other fall sports to the spring.
Under this plan, football practice is also delayed until Aug. 17, giving about two weeks of time between the start of school in Calhoun County and the first official day of practice. The football coaches at Bruce, Calhoun City and Vardaman see pros and cons to the MHSAA’s decision, but ultimately are just rooting for the best interest of their teams and players.
“We’re excited that at one point they were talking about flipping the seasons, and I don’t think many people were excited about having football in the spring,” Calhoun City head coach M.D. Jennings said. “So being able to start practice a few weeks later, I think everyone is pleased with that.”
For Jennings, a positive to the MHSAA’s changed schedule is having his players on campus and being able to train his team as a unit as opposed to the regular environment of summer workouts.
“Probably the biggest advantage is having the kids here back in school: being able to condition the whole team as a group versus having kids coming during the summer and not showing up all the time,” Jennings said. “So, I think it will be an advantage having the kids here for two weeks.”
Vardaman head coach Brennan Pugh reiterated Jennings’ point about workout attendance once school starts back for his program as well.
“The only thing I can see is those first two weeks where we aren’t able to practice, but we’ll have a block where we’ll be working out,” Pugh said. “Some of the guys who haven’t been able to make it to summer workouts will have a little more time to get caught back up. I can see where it could benefit us in some ways, but obviously, I hate to lose those two games.”
Pugh’s feelings on the cancelation of the Rams’ first two games of the season boils down to wanting as much experience for his team before division play starts against Hamilton on Sept. 18. Vardaman is now scheduled to open its season against East Webster on Sept. 4 with an open date the following week, a date that Pugh is trying to fill with another game.
“I would have definitely loved to have as many games before district play as we could have,” Pugh said. “As of right now, we’ve got a BYE week Sept. 11 that we’re trying to fill, and hopefully I’m able to do that, but if not, you play East Webster, have a BYE week, and then start division play. I’ve been turned down by about four teams already, so I’m still trying to find somebody to fill that second week.”
This scheduling change is another variable for coaches who are entering their first year at the helm of their program, like Jennings at Calhoun City and Bruce’s Jamaal Jackson. Starting two weeks later gives Jackson more of an opportunity to get his team used to his new systems on offense and defense.
“It gives me a little more time,” Jackson said. “I don’t know that two weeks is enough time to do everything, but it’s all about repetition.”
Despite the MHSAA’s announcement last week, the COVID-19 pandemic is an evolving situation, and Jackson admits that playing a season is still not a certainty.
“I’m iffy about whether we’re going to play or not,” Jackson said. “COVID is getting worse, so I’m not even sure we’re going to start on time.”
As far as adjusting to a later practice start date, Jackson feels as if he is ready for that hurdle due to how teams have had to handle summer workouts due to the coronavirus.
“We’ve already changed how we do stuff,” Jackson said. “It’ll be a lot of individual work. It’ll be hard to do stuff as a team.”
In the end, coaches’ hands are still tied in regard to having a season and when it starts, and Vardaman’s Pugh reiterated that fact.
“I’m thankful that there wasn’t a bigger decision made to cancel the season or swap seasons,” Pugh said. “I think we were too late into the summer to make a decision like that and also too early to make a decision to cancel the season. At the end of the day, I don’t have any say in it. We’ve just got to roll with the punches.”
Under the current schedule, Vardaman and Calhoun City still plan to scrimmage each other on Aug. 28 with Bruce scrimmaging against Houston. On Sept. 4, Bruce is scheduled to host North Pontotoc, Calhoun City travels to Choctaw County and Vardaman hosts East Webster to open their respective seasons.