Should public and private high schools have separate state football tournaments?

The public vs. private debate in high school football isn’t going away. 

It is only a matter of time before a proposal to split the playoffs into two separate tournaments is put before Illinois high schools for a vote. It’s anyone’s guess how soon that happens. 

I asked two coaches about the issue this weekend at the state tournament. Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch had a lot to say. Everyone has seen the public school viewpoint all over social media this season. Public school coaches are also much more likely to bring up the topic themselves after games. 

Lynch did not go out of his way to say this. I asked him specifically about it. Batavia fans had two signs at the Mount Carmel semifinal game that read “one town/one team.” That’s a reference to all of the Bulldogs’ players living in Batavia, while Mount Carmel can draw players from a 30-mile radius, according to Illinois High School Association Rules. 

“The one town one team whole thing they are saying, that seems pretty easy to me to be honest with you,” Lynch said. “Those are kids that grew up playing together … those guys have team chemistry. Those guys know, in my opinion, where their next meal is coming from. Catholic schools have no idea. You have to fight every single day. Kids come to Mount Carmel from different backgrounds and now you have to coach them to the same common goal of winning a state championship and getting on the right page. That’s hard. One team, one goal, what they have, that’s easy. They know where their next meal is coming from.”

Lynch is not talking about actually eating. It’s an analogy and it was widely misunderstood when I tweeted out his comments on Saturday. He means that public schools are guaranteed kids from their feeder schools, while private schools don’t have a guarantee that any students will show up to enroll.

The other coach I asked to address the issue was Rochester’s Derek Leonard. He has more insight than most. Rochester is a Springfield-area public school. But Leonard played at Sacred Heart-Griffin and his father coached at SHG for 43 years. Derek has won nine state titles at Rochester and his father Ken won six at SHG.

“I get both sides,” Leonard said. “We will play anybody. You have to coach them up. Dad taught me that. If we have to go up against the best we will go up against the best. St. Laurence, you can tell they were in a tough league. But there are a lot of Catholic schools that struggle. I understand both sides. I truly do. But at the same time, you have to strap it on and play and coach them up. 

“I think people think we are a Catholic school and recruit. You ask all these kids, every quarterback has a picture in kindergarten at Rochester Elementary. That’s something we are proud of. When you have success people are going to come after you. They come after us like a private school and they shouldn’t. I’m proud of this community and proud of the way we do things. That’s a hard, that’s a big question. But I do understand both sides.”

I understand both sides as well. I went to Joliet West, a football program that will always be overshadowed by Joliet Catholic. In my opinion, it comes down to money much more than private or public. Schools that have more money or choose to put more money into football win.

It will be fascinating to see where this all goes. Some states separate public and private school state tournaments. While I understand the attraction of that to public schools, I think it would be unfortunate if that happened in Illinois.