Now that the CIAC decision is final and there will be no football season this year, head coaches Jeff Papazian of Bristol Central and A.J. Julius of Bristol Eastern were happy to discuss the season that never happened.
I asked them a series of five questions and their answers were very interesting. Neither Papazian nor Julius was critical of the final verdict, as they would not second-guess a medical decision. But they did convey their disappointment in being unable to get on the field and compete this year. Here are the questions and their answers.
1. How has this roller coaster ride with the CIAC been for your players? For you and your coaches?
Papazian- “It’s been difficult, at best. The back and forth has been frustrating. I’m far from a public health expert, so my opinion on the decision doesn’t really matter. But the process has been disappointing and handled poorly. DPH has been pretty consistent from the start and the constant flip flopping by the CIAC has been hard for players. As a coach the most frustrating part for me has been not being able to give my players answers. Social media has been all over this story all summer and the kids are seeing posts, coming to me with questions that I can’t answer. That’s been really hard. Usually, questions about our program, they come to me, I’ve got answers. But not this summer.”
Julius- “First off, my staff and I really feel bad for our seniors and hope that they get an opportunity to play at some point during the 2020-21 year. It hasn’t been easy for the players, they have been riding this roller coaster all summer, one day we are playing; the next day we aren’t. But the one thing I can say is that they have done their best to be positive even in a difficult situation.”
2. Did you lose any kids off your roster as this has dragged out through August and September?
Papazian- “Yeah, we’ve lost a few during all the back and forth. Some kids have held onto summer jobs, which I totally understand. So now with the practices that we are able to have, they’re coordinating with work schedules and missing some practice days. Which again, I’m totally on board with. If we’re not having a typical season, how do I tell a kid you’ve got to quit your job and be at practice? I won’t do it, so football is almost on the backburner for some kids.”
Julius- “I did lose a few to fall baseball and other activities, but overall not many.”
3. How did you feel about the proposal to maybe go seven on seven in place of regular scrimmage rules?
Papazian- “If you’ve watched us play over my time, it’s probably pretty easy to figure out that 7 on 7 really isn’t my thing. 7 on 7 for me is a tool that can be used in practice to get better. It’s good in some ways; it’s bad in others. Obviously it excludes linemen which for our guys was a big issue for all the kids when we met on it. They want our whole team to be involved in whatever we’re doing. What it kind of came down to was that if 7 on 7 was the absolute final last resort, we’d do it. But the kids weren’t really thrilled with that option.”
Julius- “In talking with the kids, 7 on 7 would be something that they would only want to do if it was our last option. They feel like it excludes the lineman and they don’t want to do that.”
4. What do you think about the possibility of moving football to the spring? How many of your kids participated in a spring sport in other years? Do you think spring football will negatively impact other sports?
Papazian- “I think the push is for a potential spring football season to not impact typical spring sports by shortening their season. So in my mind, maybe you could squeeze something in. Other states are doing it so there are plenty of models out there. Could you maybe delay the start of spring sports by a few weeks but give them the whole month of June on the back end to be able to have a complete season?”
Julius- “For our players, we hope there is a chance at a spring season no matter the length of the season. As of now, I do not believe it will be during the actual spring season, but there may be some players who decide not to play because of how close it is to their spring seasons. Especially after losing their spring season last spring.”
5. You are losing the chance to have a group of freshman take part in football for the first time. Do you think this will impact your roster for the next few seasons?
Papazian- “That’s maybe the biggest impact on programs that has kind of been under addressed, that freshman group and our kids that are current sophomores. For the freshmen, they miss that whole foundational season that’s so important. It’s also the time that you hope they can have a good experience and want to continue on. And for that sophomore group, if everything’s totally lost this school year, you’re talking close to two years from the last time they even wore a helmet. Reps on the scout team are still reps and football isn’t a game you can head down to Rockwell and play in it’s realest form.”
Julius- “I really hope it doesn’t effect us, but it will to an extent because there are a lot of meaningful reps the younger players aren’t getting. My hope is that with the CIAC allowing us to still practice, we can take advantage of that time with all of our players.”
Thank you to our two coaches for being gracious and open in answering our questions. Hopefully, next fall everything is back to normal, and the only questions they have to answer are whether they should have thrown on third down or gone for it on fourth.