Is Football really different below the Mason-Dixon

Well from the games that are televised nationwide most of then are from the southern states. They try to keep it even with a northern game occasionally, but as a whole the south seems to put their sports above everything. The big time schools play out of state non-conference games which is amazing. The #2 ranked CT school from up here (very very wealthy town) flew down to FLA to play Naples this year. Great experience for the team but not many schools can afford to do that.

I coached college ball both down south (LA) and up North (NY)...and the college environment was DEFINITELY different...but that is more a NY thing vs a LA thing as far as in season. Hey, Saturdays in Ann Arbor is probably just as frenetic as Saturday's in Baton Rouge (well, except down here, they play at night, meaning 8 hours of tailgaiting first...) I definitely think that the south is different when it comes to recruiting season and spring seasons. Not sure how many guys follow that up north, but that stuff is just as followed down here as in season activities.

High School wise, I dont know. YOu hear about it being different, but I think that is more due to human development issues (warm weather meaning better athletes because they are outside more playing when they are younger... etc) meaning more athletically gifted teams..not necessarily having a higher degree of ability, just more teams with that high level. Also, there is a great deal of importance on it down here, so that probably leads to some good things. I remember when I was coaching in NY, you could look at a film and instantly tell it was from Long Island vs New Jersey..based on the quality of play.

Having coached in Texas and now in the mid-west it is totally different. Texas is live and die high school football, simply put if you coach a loosing program you will be fired in short order. If you win everything is great. Coaching money is totally different too, they pay everyone more down there from the middle school all the way up to the head coach.

In Texas you are hired as a Coach/Teacher in the Mid-West or north of the line you are hired as a Teacher/Coach.

Man I miss Texas high school football

So you have people apply/hired for a coaching job even if they do not work in the building or offered a teaching job in the building? Here it is offered in one. The coaching job and here is a list of teaching spots we have open. If they do not have the teaching job then they find something else like Homebound.

At places where they offer both how do they just create a teaching job opening?

We (KY) are the same as tog. 2 different contracts but most schools find a job for you. that is one reason coaches here teach high demand positions (Science/Math/Spec Ed.) and positions tend to open when I coach gets fired. KY is still a very rural state so it is not to easy to work for one district and coach in another. We also have few para-pro HCs. HC are the only coaching jobs that are advertised. All others are placed on a list serves, word of mouth and such.

is the level of play really different? probably not, at least not at the elite level among each of the state's top teams. where i see it being "different" in this respect is the number of teams that could be considered "elite" or top tier.

is the level of coaching different? probably not. however, some states do have a stronger coaching association than others and do a better job of preparing coaches and offering development opportunities for their members. while this may not make them "better" it does seem to bond them and lead to a greater chance of idea sharing. some of the southern states also have other stipulations or requirements for individuals to be coaches within a public school. while this may not make for "better" coaches, it can lend itself to people furthering their development on a professional level to "move up", so to speak

no doubt, the interest level of both the public and the student-athlete may be higher... probably due to weather and the "history" of football in the south. i.e. boys grow up wanting to play football like their dad, etc. this increase in numbers can tend to create a stronger pool from which a team can be chosen. also, leads to competition which can drive a student-athlete's motivation and ultimately a communities desire to booster their athletic programs.

in GA you must be a certified teacher to be a HC.

It's culture. Brophy is 100% right. I'm a northerner by birth, but I've recruited in both the south and the north and the quality of coaching is much better in the Texas and in the Deep South. The level of athletic talent is not such a big deal; Jersey kids are athletes; however, southern kids when you get them to campus know a lot more football than northern kids for the most part. The football skills of southern kids are clearly superior. Also, the schemes that southern teams run generally are closer to those at the college level. As a rule, it is evident that their staffs put much more time into the game year round, which reflects the values of their respective communities. For the most part, when I recruited a kid from the north, I knew that I was getting an athlete, when I recruited a kid from the south I knew that I was getting both an athlete and a football player.

Texas doesn't use the weenie FED rules

our kids get to cut and learn how to play the cut

Our school has made a habit of playing schools from out of state for the past couple of years. We have played twice in Ohio, twice teams out of Fla, and one out of La. I would say that the game is a little different, but not better.

I think the main differnce is that weather plays a factor tremendously. The warmer weather allows for year around outside work. Also, the fact that the weather gets worse quicker up north, makes more teams focus on the run game.

Another major difference is the other sports that are played. There are only a handful of lacrosse teams in SC, and none prior to 10 years ago. No high school hockey. Swim teams are mostly at the big or country club schools. And another big one, kick ball is played as a spring sport down here, so it is no problem to get a couple of kickers out for the team. There just aren't as many sports offered. I have a buddy who works at a school that still doesn't offer girls volleyball, the only fall girls sport is cross country.

The teams we have played had great coaching and offered us some the best competition we have faced, in state or out. It has been a tremendous help to us to help us keep our edge. It think the major difference is that if you only play teams in your state/area, then you will tend to develop your team around stopping the schemes and talent you face. Facing those OH big boys really showed us how lacking we were the trenches.