NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The TSSAA voting for the Option 2 Hybrid plan for high school football on Wednesday, which simply means teams will play eight regular season games with two teams advancing to the playoffs from each region, instead of four.
The hybrid part allows the earliest possible start and helps teams with their scheduling.
“Going to eliminate a lot of anxiety attacks for both the coaches and the athletes now that we have a concrete plan moving forward,” Kirby coach Chester Flowers said.
“I’m just excited that we have a chance to have a season because for the longest time, it seemed like we weren’t,” Ridgeway coach Duron Sutton said. “We just got started actually. I wasn’t in favor of either, or really I just wanted an opportunity to play.”
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the TSSAA discussed 12 regulations for safety protocol, including players and coaches having to get a temperature check every day, no scrimmages or jamborees, and there will be limited fans in stands, who have to remain socially distant.
“Well we are just living in different world now,” Flowers said. “It’s going to be a lot more tedious on all of us, but keeping the athletes, coaches, everyone involved safe is the number one priority.”
With the governor’s state of emergency order, the first Friday of the season is set for Sept. 18. If things get worse and a safer-at-home order goes into place, the season will be in jeopardy of happening.
The TSSAA also voted on a contingency plan for girls soccer, and that season will start Sept. 7.