Expansion is coming for this year’s state football playoffs, adding 128 teams to the postseason, thanks to a statewide vote of member schools in December by a tally of 377-252.

But the schools who voted later found there was a little catch.

The IHSA Sports Medicine Committee has suggested to move up the start of football practices this fall from Aug. 10 to Aug. 5, reinstating that all football players in the state should participate in 12 official practices prior to being eligible to participate in an IHSA football contest.

The IHSA’s Legislative Commission will convene Tuesday to consider this recommendation. If approved, IHSA member schools will have the opportunity to vote on a new proposal beginning Thursday, Jan. 29 through Feb. 12. If the proposal receives majority support it will go into affect in time for the 2026 football season.

Unlike the district proposal in 2023, that initially passed but later rescinded by a second vote, the IHSA said expansion will be implemented this fall regardless of the outcome of its Legislative Commission’s actions and subsequent vote.

Two Bureau County football coaches, Pat Elder of Bureau Valley and Ryan Pearson of Princeton, say the possibility of moving up the first practice by five days should have been included in the initial proposal calling for expansion.

“I don’t agree with the way that this has played out. I’m a firm believer this would not have passed had you’d told us there were going to be moving up the season.”

—  Pat Elder, Bureau Valley coach

Elder doesn’t believe the proposal for expansion would have passed had schools known there could be an amendment to it.

“I don’t agree with the way that this has played out,” Elder said. “I’m a firm believer this would not have passed had you’d told us there were going to be moving up the season.”

“Wasn’t in favor of expansion to start with,” he added. “It was passed on the premise practice would not be moved up. That was a big component going into to it. That’s why this proposal was favored over the Roxanna proposal with the districts because it didn’t move practices. To turn around now and say there’s a possibility practice is going to get moved up I believe it circumvented the process of getting somebody what they wanted.

“I think at this point in time we oughta deal with what’s passed. You change it now you’ve got not just schools, but families with lot of planning, a lot of adjusting. Frankly, I hope the principals vote to keep it Aug. 10.”

Regardless of what comes out of the latest proposition, the Storm coach said it won’t impact his summer plans.

“We’ve taken the week of the 4th (July) off for 20 years. We’re still going to honor the first week of August, get our summer stuff done in July we felt that we needed for prep for the season,” Elder said. “It’s always nice to have a little freshness, right, going into August.”

Pearson said the latest proposition is frustrating for coaches across the state of Illinois.

“When you go to make a big decision like that to expand things, I think you really have to take into account all avenues,” he said. “And I don’t think they truly thought about all the factors that go into it. I think it was just a knee jerk reaction.”

The uncertainty and potential change of first practices creates chaos, Pearson said, causing coaches and families to rewrite their summer calendar, again.

“We put a calendar out as soon as the IHSA made their decision they’re going to move the season up a full week,” Pearson said. “We adjusted our entire summer calendar and our in-season calendar and got all that out to our players and families. I know my family is included in this. We had a vacation planned because we thought the dead week was going to be that first week in August. But now they’re talking about moving practices up to that Wednesday and now all of us who have scheduled family vacations at that time are trying to scramble to redo those things.

“It’s frustrating to me,” he added. “We always get the information out to our families very quick so they can plan their family time and we’ve had to change it three times now. I think this could have been all avoided had they truly thought about all avenues before making this decision.”

The Tigers coach points out that these are not a summer workout that a player could miss, but rather IHSA mandatory practices.

“If they don’t show, they’re not going to be eligible to play in the first game because you have to have a certain number of practices in before you play in a game,” he said.

Normally, Pearson gives his team a full two weeks off before the start of the first practice, because “I think it’s important to give families their time and for the kids and coaches to come in fresh.”

He’s not sure how that will play out now.

“I’m kind of in limbo until I know if they are going to move the season up,” he said. “I’m almost sitting on my hands waiting for them to finally tell us this is when practice is going to start and then we have to get the information out.”

As the result of moving their football schedule up week, schools have had to do remakes for homecoming and senior nights. Princeton’s Homecoming will not be until Week 8 now against Hall. Pearson said the only home date in the middle of the season was during the Homestead Festival and they wanted to avoid that.

“Really kind of stinks because Week 8 is going to be homecoming and Week 9 is going to be senior night,” Pearson said.

Bureau Valley’s original homecoming week was scheduled for Oct. 5–10, with the game on the 9th and the dance on the 10th. BV had already booked a DJ, but he was able to accommodate the change. Its new homecoming date will now be the week of Sept. 28 - Oct. 3, with the game on Oct. 2 and the dance on Oct. 3.

“We had originally tried to avoid the Oct. 3rd weekend because of Walnut’s Fall Fest, but the IHSA’s schedule adjustment left us with limited options,” BV Athletic Director Philip Przybyla.