CHEBOYGAN — Following three days at Lake Louise in Boyne Falls, the Cheboygan Chiefs were looking forward to their first home practice of the new campaign. However, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, the Cheboygan players received some unfortunate, devastating news. INLAND LAKES SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN: Inland Lakes football faces a new 2026 challenge in Bridge Alliance INLAND LAKES FOOTBALL PRACTICE: Inland Lakes football wants to 'make them believe,' have big 2026 Brought in for a team meeting, Cheboygan’s players were informed by head coach Bill Nesbitt and his staff that the program had to cancel the 2026 campaign because of low numbers and concerns for student safety. Because of injuries, Cheboygan’s varsity team saw its number of players shrink to 13, which made it a huge health risk to play an entire 11-player football season. But while players and coaches knew cancellation was possible, they opted to go to team camp in Lake Louise, where they had three productive, team-bonding days, according to Nesbitt. “We knew we had low numbers, but we thought we had enough numbers to still have a season,” Nesbitt said. “We had a plan of what we were going to do schematically with low numbers, but we had a really good camp, football-wise and team building. I really felt for the seniors. I love them and I love all the kids.” But once Thursday hit, and with numbers not improving, the program pulled the plug on 2026 just weeks before their season opener at Sault Ste. Marie at the end of August. “It was very difficult (to tell the players),” Nesbitt said. “Our theme this year was growth requires challenge, and it’s amazing to me the challenges we were faced with before the season even started, and we already talked about them. Talking to (the players) was one more example to us of how we have options through this challenge that we can either grow or not, but that’s a challenge we’re faced with, and we talked about the characteristics and the things that we call our Big Ten principles of life and of football are put the test, and that’s what you can refer back to when you’re facing with these obstacles, and that was kind of the message.”
For Nesbitt, he said he and his staff did everything in their power to keep the season alive. “For me, I’ve always put the kids’ health and safety and well-being and their personal development and their collective football family development first,” Nesbitt said. “Even in this worse situation we’re faced with, up until the last minute we still did what we could. We went to camp, and we worked on things that we thought were important.” One of the reasons why Cheboygan’s numbers were low stems from other levels such as the junior varsity program, which forfeited four or five games a year ago. “We knew for the last couple of years that the group of current junior and sophomore numbers have been low since elementary school, in participation,” Nesbitt said. "As a coach, you prepare for the worst scenario, and that’s why you go through all those game situations, but that’s also why you hope and expect the best, so we prepared to have low numbers but to have a season. It’s totally unchartered." Instead of having an opportunity to play under the Friday night lights, Cheboygan’s players and coaches will have to consider other options, which include perhaps helping the junior varsity team, which will play this fall, or volunteering for the Junior Chiefs. Of course, there’s the option of playing another sport. It’ll be a strange time this fall, but for Nesbitt, he’s going to do his best to stay connected with his varsity players as well as doing his part at other levels of Cheboygan football. “One of the things we posed to the varsity kids – and these were things we threw as options for them – was maybe let’s get together and pick a date and we’ll go down and watch Luke Munger at Northwood once or twice,” Nesbitt said. “If they want to, this is our chance, and we’ll look at dates, and whatever Fridays they want, let’s go watch another local team or another team they’ve wanted to see, as a fan. If we can’t play and fight together, maybe we can just enjoy games together. That’s one of the options we have.” Check back with the Daily Tribune for updates on this developing story. Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan High School varsity football program cancels 2026 season