“We would like to express our disappointment with the Big Ten Conference’s decision to play football games on Friday nights,” said Dennison, who is coach at New Philadelphia High School. “Our association is vehemently opposed to this action as it infringes on a great American tradition of high school football, is not in the best interest of student athletes, cripples the small budgets of high school athletic departments, disrupts the relationships between high school coaches and Big Ten coaches, and hinders the recruiting process.”
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Per the announcement, high school coaches’ associations from Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin join the OHSFCA in opposing the move, which was announced earlier this month.
Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin issued statements indicating they will not host Friday night games (at least after Labor Day), but Ohio State director of athletics Gene Smith told the Columbus Dispatch his department would be willing to go along with the plan to be a good television partner and preserve its revenue streams.
“The Big Ten’s quest for money is greater than the great game of football,” Dennison continued in the published statement. “We would hope that they would reconsider this decision and that Ohio State would follow the lead of Michigan and Penn State in not participating in this endeavor.”
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