MORGANTOWN, W.Va — West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson calls the state’s limitations on offseason practices “the biggest disadvantage” facing high school football players and hurts their college recruiting opportunities.
A proposal nixed in 2014 would have allowed high school coaches to stage summer-long practices, more in line with what’s found in other states. West Virginia’s current rules restrict offseason practices to a three-week stretch in June.
Now the proposal is back (this time proposing coaching availability for the entire year, except for two dead-week periods) and goes before the state Board of Education on Wednesday, which is expected to cue a 30-day public comment period.
“West Virginia needs to allow coaches to be hands-on every day of the year that they can be,” Gibson said. “I don’t understand why we won’t do that and why we won’t open it up and let our coaches coach these kids and help them develop.”
When college recruiters travel the country for spring evaluation periods, Gibson said they skip West Virginia.
“What can I see in the weightroom?” he said. “If we‘re not doing anything on the field with our high school kids, (recruiters) are not coming down. They’re only going to watch film. How many kids get passed over because of that? I think a lot.”
Because the currently sanctioned June practices overlap with a dead period for NCAA recruiting, Gibson said the state’s athletes only fall further behind.
“We need to change the rules to let these kids get as much exposure as they can,” he said. “Then you’re going to recruiting take off.”
The latest year-round proposal isn’t just about football, but extends to other sports such as basketball, baseball, softball and cheerleading. It would allow coaches to hold voluntary practices—limited tot hours or less—any day except weekends, the week of July 4 and the week before a certain sport begins its preseason practice.
Detractors doubt that practices actually are considered voluntary and argue the move could find multi-sport athletes pigeonholed into choosing one sport. Others see it as robbing teenagers, and even some coaches, of summer vacation time with their families.
Within the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, which is pitching the year-round plan, there remains a deep divide. The proposal passed by only 54-53 in April.
Retiring SSAC executive director Gary Ray believes coaches will use the expanded practice days judiciously, working to share multi-sport athletes and being cognizant of their voluntary nature. He said it’s up to principals who compose the SSAC voting body to make sure their coaches operate within the spirit of the new rule.
From a pure football perspective, Gibson wonders if the lack of offseason practices contributes to injuries.
“The biggest thing we’re fighting in our game is injury. Well, how do you get a kid ready when you can’t work with them, and then you expect them to show up Aug. 1 and start hitting? That’s going to create injuries, I think.”
Gibson played his high school ball in Van and later coached a year at Gilmer County High before joining the college ranks, where he has worked 15 of the past 20 years in his home state. He contends offseason practices would raise the level of individual and team play across all classes.
“Can you imagine us not having spring ball or not being able to work with our kids in the offseason (at WVU)?” he said. “Well, that’s what our kids are going through in this state and I think we need to change that.”