Bernard Childress
MURFREESBORO — A rule that would have suspended high school football players for two games if they targeted an opponent was tabled for further discussion by the TSSAA’s Legislative Council on Wednesday.
The council asked for the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association to work with the Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association as well as the football coaches association to study all options on dealing with targeting.
“It’s an illegal act,” TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress said. “It’s something that doesn’t need to be in the game.”
Childress said the football rulebook defines targeting as “any time someone launches at another player and hits them about the shoulders.”
Childress said there were five players ejected for targeting in 2015 in the 3,200 games involving TSSAA varsity, junior varsity and middle school teams.
Childress said the question was raised during Wednesday’s meeting if the two-game suspension should be given to an athlete who targets a defenseless player.
Of the five ejected for targeting in 2015, Childress said two targeted defenseless players.
Siegel football coach Greg Wyant said he believes a two-game suspension is too much.
Currently, football players ejected must sit out one game. And that’s plenty, Wyant said.
“I think what we’ve got is good enough,” Wyant said. “Two games is too much, and here’s why: There is no recourse to go back and look at instant replay.”
Childress said if the new rule is adopted, coaches can appeal to the high school association. That appeal would be different than current ejection appeals when officials’ decisions are overturned only if there was a misapplication of a rule. The TSSAA would look at video and other evidence to rule if the right judgment call was made in the targeting ejection.
“You don’t want to put a kid out two games unless the official and the state office felt it was illegal,” Childress said. “It’s a subjective call.”
In fact, he’d prefer the high school ejection rule be similar to college football, which is a four-quarter ejection. If a player is ejected in the first half of a game, he can return after halftime of the next.
“Why are we looking at it?” Wyant asked. “What’s wrong with what we have right now? Is what we have a problem?”
Childress said the association is pleased with its current concussion policies, but said an emphasis on targeting has been an emphasis by the national federation over the last few years.
“Now, the focus has turned to the key phrase of ‘minimizing risks,’” Childress said.
Reach Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Kreager.