The select/non-select playoff controversy recently reared its ugly head again. It caused a huge division between Louisiana’s high school principals, athletic directors and head coaches. And it has public and private coaches in Southwest Louisiana on different sides of the proverbial fence.
The divide separating those with the differing opinions and eventual votes on the state’s high school football playoff system is worthy of comparison to the Berlin Wall and Great Wall of China combined.
This complex issue has sparked a myriad of heated arguments since 2013. Those fever-pitch debates continued at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s convention meeting in Baton Rouge.
When the dust cleared and the rhetoric ended, the state’s principals did what I thought they would do, and that was to remain with the split playoff system for football, which essentially separates the public schools from the private programs once the post-season begins and state champions are crowned.
The vote to retain the select/non-select format wasn’t overwhelming; the final tally was 182 for and 120 against.
Many High School principal Norman Booker was the leading proponent of the split playoffs. His proposal went even further than the standing arrangement, extending to the state’s other major sports — basketball, baseball and girls softball.
I hope new Gov. John Bel Edwards has the cost of all these new trophies worked into his already depleted state budget.
I’m not a fan of the select/non-select system. I didn’t see the need for the change three years ago to begin with. If the public and private schools can compete in the regular season, that competition should continue in the playoffs.
But many principals and head football coaches grew tired of beating their heads and helmets against the wall, trying to dethrone powerhouse private schools such as Evangel Christian and John Curtis. They screamed, complained and alleged these privileged “select” schools recruited top talent and had roster sizes that resembled those of small college teams.
This, they claimed, tilted the balance of power, and put “non-select” public schools at a distinct disadvantage.
It was unfair for little Johnny from Zwolle, who was barely a starter by his senior season, to compete head to head against a Division 1 FBS recruit headed to LSU or Alabama in a few months.
But how often did those lopsided mismatches really occur?
When they did, I for one wouldn’t discount the power of the underdog playing the ultimate team sport armed with a game plan built for an upset.
Two-time Class 2-A state football champion head coach Bret Fuselier of Kinder falls squarely on the side in support of the split playoff system. Since becoming Kinder’s head coach in 2013, he’s only known the select/non-select process. Without pause, and with strong conviction, Fuselier says this is the fairest system, and the best way to level the field of competition.
He cautions against the notion that this is strictly aimed at Evangel and John Curtis. “There is more to it than that. Who is the next John Curtis or Evangel? It’s not just them in football. It’s in other sports as well. It’s more than just John Curtis and Evangel. I’ll be honest — it’s more than just private schools … that need to be fixed.”
The lingering and troubling question is how do you fix everything that ails specific classes of schools or every perceived or real imbalance? I don’t believe you can, and the back-and-forth Hatfields-and-McCoys debate that’s been ongoing in Louisiana on this issue for decades proves that point.
The 37-year-old Fuselier, with two 2-A state titles during his first three seasons in Kinder, is an up-and-comer. He’s had the same numbers of kids on his roster and they’ve all been born and bred in this tiny community where they live.
As hard-nosed as any, Fuselier doesn’t believe in awarding trophies simply for participation. What he does want, though, is a system by means of which everyone is playing by the same rules of engagement.
“This is not about winning championships. I want to be clear of that. To be the best, you beat the best against teams that are doing it the same way you are.
“It would be like telling the New York Yankees, ‘You get the top five draft picks, and we will let everyone else pick after that. Now go play.’ ”
This leads us to the 800-pound gorilla that’s been in the room for years now: the allegation that plush, private schools flush with success and money, like Evangel, John Curtis and — new on the select block: Calvary Baptist (Bossier City) and Parkview Baptist (Baton Rouge) — can and do recruit top talent out of their districts, and sometimes out of state. Such recruiting unequivocally elevates their programs beyond the level of your standard Class 2 or 3 A school.
I can’t say without a doubt that this practice doesn’t take place, or if it does, how often. I would be naïve to think Evangel or John Curtis have won their numerous state championships with solely home grown players plucked from their respective backyards.
But don’t be naïve enough to think public schools have never sought out or cleared the way for Billy Rocketarm to find his way to a roster.
Have conspiracy nuts with too much time on their hands actually thought such a thing of Fuselier in Kinder? Over his brief tenure, he’s taken the Yellow Jackets to the Class 2-A state title game in the SuperDome three straight years, winning the championship twice over Many in 2013 and beating Mangum in 2015.
“If anybody with a clear conscience can put Kinder on the same level of an Evangel or John Curtis, I’d be honest with you, that’s laughable. We’ve had some success recently. We’ve been fortunate. These things go up and down in public schools. We play with the kids that come through. We’re not signing 20 guys that go play Division 1 football,” says Fuselier.
Before the LHSAA convention, Fuselier and Kinder principal Charlie Lemons met and discussed their position to support and vote for the split playoff system. Fuselier feels that type of advance study and communication was lacking on the part of LHSAA executive director Eddie Bonine, who oversaw and steered the recent convention, executive committee action and playoff vote.
According to Fuselier, the LHSAA gave Bonine a year to find a solution or a different system to bring to the table. Fuselier said Bonine brought no new ideas, nor did he meet with key principals like Booker in Many, before the convention convened.
Fuselier’s harsh criticism for the association’s leader was anchored in recent dealings by Bonine with the media. “That press conference on Jan. 15 put people over the top — public and private school people. Things were not done in a professional way. He put some propaganda in the media, making it look like we were together Class 1-A thru 5-A, which … wasn’t [the case]. That was an opinion of [Bonine].”
There are prominent private head coaches in Southwest Louisiana who have a differing view of the decision to stay split. St. Louis Catholic’s Charlie Cryer is adamantly opposed to splitting the ranks between private and public. Hamilton Christian head coach and assistant principal Tim Sensley is in the same camp, and says the recent vote will “forever change the landscape and dynamics” of high school football in the state.
“I want everyone to play together. However, I understand why some people want the split to give every kid an opportunity to win a state championship. But it’s watered down. Do you truly have a 1-A (Hamilton Christian plays in Class 1-A) state champion?”
Sensley, a former standout defensive back at USL (now UL-Lafayette) during his collegiate playing career, points to schools that blatantly violate LHSAA rules as the culprits and driving force behind having this split format. He feels if LHSAA can get the guilty schools towing the line, then there’s no need for two sets of playoff brackets.
“It’s a travesty to me when [there are] a handful of schools that are really violating the rules and we have to shotgun spray everybody and still not address the real issue, which are the schools that are violators,” says Sensley.
The outspoken Sensley says the problem of Evangel and John Curtis has been simmering for a long time, and now the LHSAA “is trying to contain a wildfire.” He says there’s a lot of bitterness between the public and private sectors; egos are running amok; principals and coaches are only worried about the here and now, their schools, and not the bigger picture and the future of the LHSAA.
“If the private schools are, for lack of a better word, segregated from the public schools when it comes to the playoffs, then this may force the private schools to form their own association. If that happens, what will that do to the LHSAA as a whole?” asks Sensley.
Without a full complement of public and private schools in a state the size of Louisiana, the LHSAA would be smaller in numbers, scaled back in its influence, and weakened as a whole — and would not be as attractive to corporate sponsors.
Bonine is in a difficult spot when it comes to keeping the peace. Maybe that’s why he expressed his displeasure over staying with the select/non-select playoff system. If he’s that upset over the vote, then why didn’t he and his executive committee work overtime and canvas the state seeking ideas, some middle ground and a more viable solution?
Sensley admits this is a complicated situation that’s made more complex because the different classes of competition have different problems and challenges. He says the key is hard work and a willingness to compromise.
“How can we level the playing field as evenly as possible? We are looking for an ideal situation, but we don’t live in an ideal world. It can begin with everyone willing to give a little to get a little.”
The veteran high school coach is entering his fourth year as head coach at Hamilton Christian, a school with an enrollment of 240 students from pre-K to the 12th grade.
Sensley dresses out an average of 23 to 25 players. That’s it. He has more than nine team members who play both offense and defense the entire game. He needs guys with that Warrior mentality to simply survive a 10-game regular season. But he says he doesn’t whine or complain. “It’s what I signed up for.”
There’s a double standard when it comes to youths who move in and out of public or private programs. Sensley agreed that when a private school kid joins a public school “it’s acceptable.” But the speculation and finger-pointing runs rampant when a player from a non-select team jumps ship and enters a select school. “Then it’s called recruiting” Sensley says.
He understands that Fuselier in Kinder may not want to play an Evangel or John Curtis after winning two state titles in a separated system. “[Fuselier] has every right to feel that way and say it. Who am I to say he is wrong? But we should all look at the broader picture — what are these schools doing that created this unlevel playing field?
“It’s not about LHSAA kids. Right now it’s about my kids (coaches worried about their individual players). And I think that’s the problem. But as a coach, though, who do you fight for? You fight for your kids first.” Sensley continued to try to describe what seems like a muddled picture.
Both coaches are passionate about their programs and players and the coaching profession. Both Fuselier and Sensley are well-spoken. They used strong cases to support their beliefs.
These are two young coaches seasoned beyond their years and not apt to rush to judgment. It was clear to me they’ve studied the issues to form their polar opposite positions.
“It’s never going to be 100 percent fair. But you have to come up with the fairest way, and we just feel this is it,” says Fuselier.
“Let’s go to the schools that everyone is aware of and say, ‘look you have to start playing by the rules,’” Sensley counters. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with the rules in our association. I think the issue of our association is the enforcement of the rules consistently and fairly, regardless [of] whether it is a public or private school.”
One thing is clear: the divide over a split or combined playoff system in football — and soon the other major sports — runs as deep and wide as the Mississippi River from the rural hills of north Louisiana to the coast down south.
Louisiana is rarely ranked first in the country in anything positive. When it’s all said and done, the state will surely be atop the list in crowned state champions. Whether that’s good or bad will depend on what side of the divide you’re standing on.
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