Springing forward with football

Do you think high school football coaches would support spring practice in Ohio?
Let Columbiana coach Bob Spaite settle the issue.
"If I had my way, we'd have three sports," he laughed. "Football, weightlifting and spring football."
Chances that the Ohio High School Athletic Association would allow its football teams to practice in the spring may be a little farfetched.
"We're not in the entertainment business. We're in the education business," said Duane Warns, assistant commissioner of the OHSAA. "A lot of our football players play other sports, and that's good for them.
"This seems to be the day of specialization," Warns added. "Kids are only young once. If they have the ability to play other sports, they should do so."
Still, tossing the idea around to area coaches sounded like fun.
Welcoming spring practice
"It would be a tremendous advantage, not only from the standpoint of teaching kids, but also from a safety standpoint," Chaney coach Ron Berdis said. "You could acclimate kids to equipment and contact."
The Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania areas are known for their high school football talent. Ursuline coach Dan Murphy believes it could be even better.
"Thing is, we fall behind other states like Texas, Florida and California because they have spring football," Murphy said. "In essence, a high school football player gets another season under his belt."
In Florida, spring practice allows for 20 sessions in May, beginning with three days of acclimation. The month ends with a spring game.
"It would be a lot of fundamental skills and terminology," said Spaite, on how he would run a spring practice. "Pass offense and pass defense takes more time, so that's where we would spend our focus."
So what prevents spring football practice from being implemented in Ohio, aside from poor weather conditions?
"The downside would be that it would absolutely kill baseball. It would be a tremendous conflict," Berdis said.
At Columbiana, Spaite can relate.
"At least at smaller schools, [spring sports] programs would get hurt because we just don't have the kids," he said. "My football players not participating in track or baseball would be maybe 12 kids."
Finding the time
With an expanded playoff field lengthening the season, most football coaches feel as if their time with players has been cut short. They'd like more two-a-day practices, a third scrimmage and more time to prepare.
"Football has the most restrictive rules of all the sports in Ohio, and we're the ones that bring in the most money," Howland coach Dick Angle said.
The OHSAA's implementation of 10 summer camp days, in which coaches may work with players, has helped. But is it enough to satisfy football coaches?
"You're dealing with the largest amount of athletes in any sport; timing and execution are so important," Angle said. "Play in the early season is not as crisp as in the past because of a lack of practice time."
Seeking a solution
Is spring practice the answer?
Even if it isn't, consider this: Ohio high school football teams should feel secure in their standing. Take it from the dean of high school coaches, Don Bucci.
"Ohio football has proven to this day that it plays as good of football as any southern state," said Bucci, the former Cardinal Mooney coach, citing conversations with out-of-state coaches as proof.
"I don't think it [an absence of spring practice] has hurt Ohio at all."
Don't expect smacking shoulder pads and clacking helmets to become the sounds of spring any time soon at Ohio high schools.
With apologies to Spaite, one of his three favorite sports will have to wait.
XBrian Richesson covers high school sports for The Vindicator. Write to him at richesson@vindy.com.