This was Bill Richardson’s farewell tour at Niles West after 18 seasons as head football coach.and 15 more as an assistant. Although his team wasn’t highly touted, his overachieving players came up with a 6-3 record and a shot at the playoffs for their retiring leader.
But the Indians failed to qualify under the Illinois High School Association’s playoff format that determines the final at-large berths with a point system based on strength of schedule.
That all changes in 2001 as the IHSA Board of Directors voted Wednesday to expand the state playoffs from six to eight classes. The move will allow 64 more teams to qualify, increasing the total number of playoff teams from 192 to 256.
Under the new format, every team with a 5-4 record or better will experience the postseason and a few 4-5 teams will also qualify.
“That’s wonderful news, but it came a little too late for us,” Richardson said. “There are a lot of good football teams from tough conferences who didn’t make the playoffs with the old system.”
According to the IHSA, more than 40 percent of football-playing schools indicated they were having problems scheduling games.
Critics of the new format will argue that expanding to eight classes will water down the accomplishment of winning a state title.
“A championship still means just as much to the players, and that’s what it’s all about anyway,” Richardson said.
