The Texas High Schools Coaches Association held its annual coaching school in San Antonio this past weekend, where thousands of coaches and administrators at the high school and college level hosted seminars, networked and met with reporters to discus the state of their games.
Here are five takeaways from the weekend.
NIL talk, NIL talk, and more NIL talk
Between individual press conferences with the UIL, each of the state’s college coaches, a Sunday night panel with the state’s 12 Division I coaches and a handful of seminars spread across three days, you’d be hard pressed to find three letters said more often in San Antonio than N-I-L.
The NCAA’s 2021 decision to allow college athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness sent shockwaves through the sports landscape. One year later, coaches and players at the high school and college level are still learning to navigate it.
Without getting lost in the weeds on a topic where that’s easy to do, a quick rundown of the hottest NIL discussions at coaching school:
- Does there need to be overarching laws and rules for NIL which apply to each state? Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher thinks so: “The rules have to be the same across the board for everybody across the board,” he said Sunday. “That’s where you’re getting so much misinformation. Every state has its own laws, and states are making laws, and they weren’t made by anyone in athletics.”
- Hypothetically speaking, what if an incoming freshman were to be making more via NIL than an established starter in that locker room? Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire shut that down quick: “Not at Texas Tech, because I don’t believe in that. I don’t believe you can have somebody come in that’s never taken a snap, and he already ... I don’t understand it. That’s not going to be us.”
- Will Texas high school athletes be able to profit off of their NIL anytime soon? The UIL isn’t sure if it’s widely desired: “Given what we’ve seen across the country at the NCAA level, given what we’ve seen in some of those states that have allowed it at the high school level, I’m not sure there’s going to be much of an appetite for it there,” UIL deputy director Jamey Harrison said.
- As NIL misinformation spreads, how can the truth be delivered to athletes? UNT coach Seth Litrell thinks high school and college coaches can step up: “Our job, we’re teachers, we’re mentors. It’s our job to educate. We have to be. I think it’s crucial on all of us to be as well-informed on the issue as we can be, so we understand it and then we can educate our players on what this looks like.”
- Shawn McFarland
Networking for college and high school coaches alike
Speaking of the bridge between high school and college football, coaching school was as big of a networking opportunity as you’ll find for coaches in the state of Texas.
An estimated 15,000 high school coaches attended this year’s coaching school. All 12 of the state’s Division I football coaches — and their assistant coaches — did, too, and presented seminars. So did Houston men’s basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson, softball legend Cat Osterman and others. Kirby Smart, head coach of reigning national champion Georgia, even held a question-and-answer session.
“I’ve made so many friends through these events,” McGuire said. “Where, in any other state, can you come to a place where you’re going to have the type of speakers you have this week? But also the comradery, and being able to hang out with 12,000 coaches.”
- Shawn McFarland
The UIL state championship will return to AT&T Stadium
The UIL confirmed that the 2022 state football championships would take place at AT&T Stadium once again, as they have for the last six years. Harrison could not confirm whether the game would continue to take place in Arlington beyond 2022 but said he thinks they are covered beyond that.
While AT&T hosted the championships from 2011-2014, the 2015 games were held at Houston’s NRG Stadium, as the UIL had to move its event due to a conflict with the Cowboys’ schedule. In addition to spending over $300,000 more to rent the venue, nearly 9,500 fewer fans per game attended than the year before. An average of 15,614 were in the crowd at each game in 2015, while over 45,000 attended last year’s state championship game between South Oak Cliff and Liberty Hill.
Since AT&T Stadium, NRG Stadium and the Alamodome are the only three venues that meet the league’s requirements to host the three-day event, due to its reasonable price and centralized location, Arlington remains the most attractive destination for the UIL moving forward.
- Lia Assimakopoulos
The inflation situation
Asked if the UIL had been impacted by inflation and rising gas prices, Harrison paused to give an accurate answer.
“I’m trying to think of an all-encompassing word, and I can’t come up with it,” Harrison said with a laugh. “But absolutely. It’s impacting everything.”
Harrison noted that it’s been difficult to hire bus drivers and coaches (”some sports have been a lot harder,” Harrison said).
“The competition for work force is tremendous,” Harrison said. “It is absolutely impacting schools and athletics. It is impacting their travel budgets, it’s impacting their ability to travel because of a shortage of bus drivers, and because of a shortage of busses and the increased price of busses. All of that — the knee bone is connected to the hip bone is connected to the fill in the blank, and it just keeps going.”
- Shawn McFarland
Coaches unify against sports specialization
With the growth of club sports and position-specific training, the youth sports industry has boomed, causing a dilemma for high school athletes — whether to specialize in one sport to have a better chance at earning a scholarship or play multiple throughout their four years.
At coaching school, coaches and administrators strongly discouraged the narrative that athletes who specialize have the best chance of playing in college. The convention hosted a session focused on encouraging athletes to play multiple sports, not only to benefit athletic programs but the athlete’s development and recruitment. With the youth sports industry projected to be worth $77.6 billion by 2026, according to a study by WinterGreen Research, combatting these outside pressures is a challenge for coaches and athletes alike.
However, according to Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire, as much as players believe specializing helps them improve in their sport, it only hurts them down the line.
“We’re looking for guys that play basketball, we’re looking for guys that run track,” McGuire said. “If you want to get exposed, get your kids playing multiple sports. Get your kids doing everything they can do to where we can truly evaluate them.”
- Lia Assimakopoulos
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