Why is Texas HS football the best HS football again?

[Farmer]

Have you or TexasBob ever checked out Yappi? Those guys in Ohio have anything we ever had on TexasHSFootball.com or the old site beat by a considerable margin. It's the off season and their football board only goes back to Sunday for active topics on their first page. I'm the first guy to post on this thread in four days and it's near the top.

http://yappi.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=9

I pretty much echo a lot. I think we have most beat on depth of teams, and atmosphere but get ourselves into trouble by portraying every stadium packed every Friday night. That is simply not the case. A lot are, but there are plenty out there with a good amount of legroom or practically empty outside the band/drill team.

that's kind of what I'm thinking too pied! For every Allen that is in Texas there are 50 Lewisvilles where attendance is terrible and not filling up an average 8 to 10,000 seat stadium. In fact in district 8 the only 2 teams who fill up a home stadium are Marcus and Allen but of those 2 only Allen fills up a visitor stadium as well and that is helped in large part of being a one town team.

[Comanche]

I agree with everything Slorch said. But I also think the age of the average high school football player from Texas is a factor as well. These kids seems to be a older than most kids in high school. It's not uncommon to have the a lot of athletes graduate at 19 or to even have some hit 20 before college ball begins.

19 - 20, no way!

[Eagle2]

Not sure I'm buying the 19 to 20yr old football players as common in Texas. Is this just a guess or your experience?

hmm..........same here. The majority upon graduation are 17-18 yrs old.

[BevoBo]

I agree with everything Slorch said. But I also think the age of the average high school football player from Texas is a factor as well. These kids seems to be a older than most kids in high school. It's not uncommon to have the a lot of athletes graduate at 19 or to even have some hit 20 before college ball begins.

Not sure I'm buying the 19 to 20yr old football players as common in Texas. Is this just a guess or your experience?

[MGoBlue]

I agree with everything Slorch said. But I also think the age of the average high school football player from Texas is a factor as well. These kids seems to be a older than most kids in high school. It's not uncommon to have the a lot of athletes graduate at 19 or to even have some hit 20 before college ball begins.

[dada]

Question.....I may be way off. But is it easier to transfer to an Allen of Chill because they are the only HS's in the district? I know the DEC/UIL will usually side with coaches. For instance, there has been more than one transfer to Katy where coaches from Taylor, or Cinco Ranch didnt like so the DEC ruled against the transfer, one of them TOTALLY legit. Is it easier to transfer when you don't have district mates to contest it?

[pied]

Good point on message boards Bob. Texas has 6A boards, 5A boards, 4A boards, 3A boards, 2A boards, 1A boards, regional boards. District boards and team boards. Not so much outside of the generic Rivals board in other states.

Have you or TexasBob ever checked out Yappi? Those guys in Ohio have anything we ever had on TexasHSFootball.com or the old site beat by a considerable margin. It's the off season and their football board only goes back to Sunday for active topics on their first page. I'm the first guy to post on this thread in four days and it's near the top.

http://yappi.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=9

I pretty much echo a lot. I think we have most beat on depth of teams, and atmosphere but get ourselves into trouble by portraying every stadium packed every Friday night. That is simply not the case. A lot are, but there are plenty out there with a good amount of legroom or practically empty outside the band/drill team.

[slorch]

participation, from top to bottom and the level of coaching/ player development at the high school level set our football apart from other states.

by participation, i am also including student trainers, pom squads, cheerleaders, dance team, marching band, some jrotc( where applicable) a nd then we can start talking crowd size.

wanna compare how we roll on friday versus any other state? They ain't even close.

[The King]

Culture and Passion is what separates Texas football from the rest of the country. Football to Texas is what Hockey is to Michigan and Minnesota, it's just in your DNA. I've brought several out of towners to Texas HS football games and they are expecting you show up 3 mins after kickoff, pay your $2 and sit amongst 2-300 people on a grass field in the back of the school......Here, we show up 2 hours early and sit amongst thousands. The Day's of the one HS towns are slowly going away, so enjoy them while you can.

When you go to a place like Crane for football there may only be 2 or 3 Thousand in the the Stands, but that is More people than Live in the Town. Case in point Last time I went to a McCamey Game (19 miles from Crane) McCamey had at least 4000 fans but only about 1800 live in McCamey

[svhorns]

it pains me to see this but it's tough to disagree with you. Programs like Cedar Hill and Allen and others are becoming a joke and ruining the game

I think what bothers me the most are the fans who use the DEC as a safety net when discussing these matters. "WELL IF THE DEC APPROVES IT THEN ITS A LEGIT TRANSFER." Yeah buddy, sure is. I passed calculus cheating on a couple tests but since my diploma is in hand that means it's legit.

[Farmer]

Just read something that really didn't sit well and made me think of this thread.



"I've really been wanting to win a state championship and I think Cedar Hill will win again this year because we have more good players that have transferred there." - Speedy Green

http://www.scout.com/college/texas-tech/story/1560335-texas-tech-taking-a-look-at-green

It really feels like this thing is going over the cliff.

it pains me to see this but it's tough to disagree with you. Programs like Cedar Hill and Allen and others are becoming a joke and ruining the game

[OakTreeOut-n-Up]

Just read something that really didn't sit well and made me think of this thread.

"I've really been wanting to win a state championship and I think Cedar Hill will win again this year because we have more good players that have transferred there." - Speedy Green

http://www.scout.com/college/texas-tech/story/1560335-texas-tech-taking-a-look-at-green

It really feels like this thing is going over the cliff.

[JagFan]

Very well stated Bob! It is definitely TXHSFB connection with their communities that makes it different from other states. It's about kids growing up in a community together and aspiring to play on the field on friday nights. It is not about kids moving in to apartments for 6 months to play for a certain team....Sorry Allen.

To bad that is going away when the good kids move around and it all becomes how much money Nike can give for the State Championship games and how much advertising they can slap on the kids over their teams names and colors.

[svhorns]

I'm sorry, you must not have lived in South Florida, or didn't pay attention if you were. St Aquinas annually, prime-era Miami NW, Miramar under Cogdell, IMG currently (not SoFla), Miami Killian in the mid-2000s under Billy Rolle, BTW/Central now, etc. 3-4 big name transfers like Cedar Hill has had this offseason is nothing at places like this. It's expected annually.



Now.... we're certainly heading the wrong direction. That's not up for debate. Very disturbing what's happened in Allen and Cedar Hill recently. There's a significant bump from having 1-2 big time kids transfer in every 3-4 years (which has been a staple at every HS "power" since long before I was born) to where you are seeing programs reload with mercenaries at need positions every spring like we're starting to see.

Florida kids seem to transfer on a yearly bases, so much so that kids have trouble getting qualified by the NCAA clearinghouse. Devonaire Clarington, a highly touted TE from Miami who committed to Texas attended Westminster Christian, Booker T Washington, Champagnat Catholic, and I believe Homestead High School. His transcript is a mess and the NCAA has to make sure he has all the proper credits. If he isn't cleared by the NCAA, he'll have to attend a prep academy or a JUCO to get his credits in order.

[Eagle2]

Michael Johnson Jr. @michaeljr_tka1

California high school football is cool, but I wish I could play high school football in Texas. It's more than just a game to them🏾🏾
8:34 PM - 6 Jul 2015
http://usatodayhss.com/2015/californ...tball-in-texas

[Comanche]

I'm sorry, you must not have lived in South Florida, or didn't pay attention if you were. St Aquinas annually, prime-era Miami NW, Miramar under Cogdell, IMG currently (not SoFla), Miami Killian in the mid-2000s under Billy Rolle, BTW/Central now, etc. 3-4 big name transfers like Cedar Hill has had this offseason is nothing at places like this. It's expected annually.

Now.... we're certainly heading the wrong direction. That's not up for debate. Very disturbing what's happened in Allen and Cedar Hill recently. There's a significant bump from having 1-2 big time kids transfer in every 3-4 years (which has been a staple at every HS "power" since long before I was born) to where you are seeing programs reload with mercenaries at need positions every spring like we're starting to see.

Good stuff right there!

[Super B]

Good point on message boards Bob. Texas has 6A boards, 5A boards, 4A boards, 3A boards, 2A boards, 1A boards, regional boards. District boards and team boards. Not so much outside of the generic Rivals board in other states.

[Eagle2]

Very well stated Bob! It is definitely TXHSFB connection with their communities that makes it different from other states. It's about kids growing up in a community together and aspiring to play on the field on friday nights. It is not about kids moving in to apartments for 6 months to play for a certain team....Sorry Allen.

+1. Kids first and foremost.

[SLCbacker]

I don't measure a states HS school football by pro players or D1 recruits but by the pure mass of community support. The number of participants and fans outnumber every other state on a per capita basis. The enthusiasm of the fans can't be match in the numbers we have in Texas. How do I know this? When I started gathering data for Texas Football stadiums in October of 2004 I had about 160 stadiums listed by the end of the season by the beginning the next season I had over 1000 stadiums listed. How did I do this? I didn't do it, the fans did it by sending me information and photos of their stadiums. I thought this is great. I'll start a national stadium database ( http://StadiumConnection.com ). First I found at least one stadium in each state. Then I joined and emailed booster clubs and joined discussion (when I could find them) all over the U.S. After 8 years many states still have one stadium listed. The Big football states like California and Florida have 13 and 12 stadiums respectively. Because some individual fans Ohio has 120 listed and Michigan has 49 listed. Kansas has a fair number. What i learned is the fan base in the other 49 states just don't have the enthusiasm to support discussion boards like this one and stadium databases.

There are big high school football fans in all 50 states but not nearly as many as in Texas. Texas has a large population but not the largest, however we do have 1188 stadiums listed in my database. (including college and pro.)

Very well stated Bob! It is definitely TXHSFB connection with their communities that makes it different from other states. It's about kids growing up in a community together and aspiring to play on the field on friday nights. It is not about kids moving in to apartments for 6 months to play for a certain team....Sorry Allen.

[Eagle2]

I don't measure a states HS school football by pro players or D1 recruits but by the pure mass of community support. The number of participants and fans outnumber every other state on a per capita basis. The enthusiasm of the fans can't be match in the numbers we have in Texas. How do I know this? When I started gathering data for Texas Football stadiums in October of 2004 I had about 160 stadiums listed by the end of the season by the beginning the next season I had over 1000 stadiums listed. How did I do this? I didn't do it, the fans did it by sending me information and photos of their stadiums. I thought this is great. I'll start a national stadium database ( http://StadiumConnection.com ). First I found at least one stadium in each state. Then I joined and emailed booster clubs and joined discussion (when I could find them) all over the U.S. After 8 years many states still have one stadium listed. The Big football states like California and Florida have 13 and 12 stadiums respectively. Because some individual fans Ohio has 120 listed and Michigan has 49 listed. Kansas has a fair number. What i learned is the fan base in the other 49 states just don't have the enthusiasm to support discussion boards like this one and stadium databases.

There are big high school football fans in all 50 states but not nearly as many as in Texas. Texas has a large population but not the largest, however we do have 1188 stadiums listed in my database. (including college and pro.)

Wow!!!!!Great info TB and thankful for your insight. Also feel its school and community support and nothing like Friday nights in Texas. As always keep up your outstanding work and keep em coming.

[mojotrain]

I don't measure a states HS school football by pro players or D1 recruits but by the pure mass of community support. The number of participants and fans outnumber every other state on a per capita basis. The enthusiasm of the fans can't be match in the numbers we have in Texas. How do I know this? When I started gathering data for Texas Football stadiums in October of 2004 I had about 160 stadiums listed by the end of the season by the beginning the next season I had over 1000 stadiums listed. How did I do this? I didn't do it, the fans did it by sending me information and photos of their stadiums. I thought this is great. I'll start a national stadium database ( http://StadiumConnection.com ). First I found at least one stadium in each state. Then I joined and emailed booster clubs and joined discussion (when I could find them) all over the U.S. After 8 years many states still have one stadium listed. The Big football states like California and Florida have 13 and 12 stadiums respectively. Because some individual fans Ohio has 120 listed and Michigan has 49 listed. Kansas has a fair number. What i learned is the fan base in the other 49 states just don't have the enthusiasm to support discussion boards like this one and stadium databases.

There are big high school football fans in all 50 states but not nearly as many as in Texas. Texas has a large population but not the largest, however we do have 1188 stadiums listed in my database. (including college and pro.)

This!

[TexasBob]

I don't measure a states HS school football by pro players or D1 recruits but by the pure mass of community support. The number of participants and fans outnumber every other state on a per capita basis. The enthusiasm of the fans can't be match in the numbers we have in Texas. How do I know this? When I started gathering data for Texas Football stadiums in October of 2004 I had about 160 stadiums listed by the end of the season by the beginning the next season I had over 1000 stadiums listed. How did I do this? I didn't do it, the fans did it by sending me information and photos of their stadiums. I thought this is great. I'll start a national stadium database ( http://StadiumConnection.com ). First I found at least one stadium in each state. Then I joined and emailed booster clubs and joined discussion (when I could find them) all over the U.S. After 8 years many states still have one stadium listed. The Big football states like California and Florida have 13 and 12 stadiums respectively. Because some individual fans Ohio has 120 listed and Michigan has 49 listed. Kansas has a fair number. What i learned is the fan base in the other 49 states just don't have the enthusiasm to support discussion boards like this one and stadium databases.

There are big high school football fans in all 50 states but not nearly as many as in Texas. Texas has a large population but not the largest, however we do have 1188 stadiums listed in my database. (including college and pro.)

[mojotrain]

Culture and Passion is what separates Texas football from the rest of the country. Football to Texas is what Hockey is to Michigan and Minnesota, it's just in your DNA. I've brought several out of towners to Texas HS football games and they are expecting you show up 3 mins after kickoff, pay your $2 and sit amongst 2-300 people on a grass field in the back of the school......Here, we show up 2 hours early and sit amongst thousands. The Day's of the one HS towns are slowly going away, so enjoy them while you can.

I think the Kermit's, Snyder's, Borger's and Crane's of Texas will be filling stadiums on Friday nights in the West long after the inner city teams games are played on weekday's at lunch time in front of dozens.

[SBBear]

I think for the most part Texas is the best or at least in the top 3 across the country, there can be arguments back and forth about college and NFL talent ect as a determining factor, but the biggest reason is the community and fan support of HS Football. A lot of this stems from many of the established schools at the 6A level were small towns to begin with Katy, Allen, Cy Fair, SLC, ect.... and Friday nights were a thing to look forward to all week, much like they are now in 2A, 3A, ect, there is already established tradition and built in rooting interest. When I watch other states football games on ESPN it doesn't appear to be nearly as much support as there is at a typical Texas game, a crowd may look big on TV but in reality they are playing at a 3K size stadium, some of the Miami area games especially. As far as actual play on the field I would venture that our best can compete with others best all day any day and the debate can continue!

[ktCarl]

It's the best because I am here and get to watch the games.

[sTp]

I would think from a spectacle, pomp and circumstance standpoint.. Texas wins hands down.. I may be off here but I think the crowds, bands, drill teams, cheer squads, and all the other hoopla are just bigger and more into it here. Not better than other areas, just more of it..

However, from the OP standpoint.. we are no different from many other states now that so many transfers are going on, which I think was the original intent of the thread..

[Bobcats17]

Texas is still far and away the most passionate state overall when it come to HS football. No other state comes close.

Passionate is a good word. I believe that is so true. My example.....

Major props to the G.A.T.A. nation. In our playoff game with them last year, they dang near filled up their side of Rice Stadium. As you drove in the parking lots, it was as if they were tailgating with the whole town. They are a major example of passion whereas other states cannot even come close.

Met a guy from NJ at an Ivy League football camp this summer. He talked about how their Varsity games were played in a grass field, with lawn chairs and about 100-150 people in attendance. I showed him a picture of the Berry Center and told him how our team plays in front of at least 5-7k per week. He was flabbergasted.

[dada]

Culture and Passion is what separates Texas football from the rest of the country. Football to Texas is what Hockey is to Michigan and Minnesota, it's just in your DNA. I've brought several out of towners to Texas HS football games and they are expecting you show up 3 mins after kickoff, pay your $2 and sit amongst 2-300 people on a grass field in the back of the school......Here, we show up 2 hours early and sit amongst thousands. The Day's of the one HS towns are slowly going away, so enjoy them while you can.

[Super B]

I like your use of the word passionate and I think that's an accurate way of describing things here but how can you say no other state comes close? There are a lot of towns in states like Louisiana and Mississippi that are very passionate about their teams as well

II agree. However it is much more widespread here. Whereas elsewhere you will find passion for their local teams, here it goes beyond Friday nights. Small towns here have radio broadcasts, coaches shows and much of the town will show up on Friday nights. Elsewhere it can be hit and miss as far as some towns are like that and some are not.

[OakTreeOut-n-Up]

You know it, very glad to be back.