ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — Summers are a bit shorter, and the playoffs will be a bit longer for high school football fans, players and coaches this season in Illinois.
Early this year the IHSA's member schools voted to expand the playoff field. In the past, 32 teams in each of the eight classes qualified for the playoffs. Now 48 teams per class will get in, many of them with losing records.
There are pluses and minuses to this new format. Is the net result a positive or a negative, and what are some of the ways this new format impacts even the regular season?
Watch the media player above to hear what some of our coaches in the Rockford area are saying.