8 man??
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Old Bearkat
Six-man expert
In 1969, there were about 55 or do 6 man schools and 32 or so 8 man schools. In the 1960's a lot of 6 man schools had closed or dropprd football with a few moving to 11 man, mostly in South and east Texas. There was a steady stream of 8 man schools moving to 11 man, like Jayton and Forsan, with most of the 8 man schools north of the metromess planning on moving to 11 man. A few old 11 man schools like Estelline, Follett, and Lakeview went to 8 man. The 6 and 8 man coaches association voted to see who would survive and naturally the 6 man schools outvoted the 8 man ones, so the UIL decided to drop 8 man after the 1975 season. I think this was after the UIL let Class B (6, 8, and 11 man) play a state championship.
By 1975 there were only 28 8 man schools left.
Several of the 8 man schools went 11 man for at least 4 years - Goree, Garden City, Sterling City, Borden County, Dawson, Follett, Woodson, Leakey, Nueces Canyon, Medina, Harper, Center Point, Gunter, Cumby, Blue ridge, and Tom Bean. The rest went 6 man.
I do not see the D1 6 man schools voluntarily going 8 man.
By 1975 there were only 28 8 man schools left.
Several of the 8 man schools went 11 man for at least 4 years - Goree, Garden City, Sterling City, Borden County, Dawson, Follett, Woodson, Leakey, Nueces Canyon, Medina, Harper, Center Point, Gunter, Cumby, Blue ridge, and Tom Bean. The rest went 6 man.
I do not see the D1 6 man schools voluntarily going 8 man.
SixManPhotoGuy
Six-man fan
All adding 8-Man would do is cut the 6-man numbers in half. I just don't see it ever coming back to Texas.
Old Bearkat
Six-man expert
Not unless a LOT more small schools come back or are started. I do not see that happening either.
midcities 6-man fan
Six-man fan
Thanks for the history, being relatively new to 6-man this was very inter
Thanks for the history of small school Texas football. Having grown up in a large town with two 5A schools. I was unaware of the origins of 6man in Texas. Never know w played both 8 and 6 at one time.
The coaches association was the 6man and 8man coaches association and when the UIL decided they would be cutting one of the two they left it up to the association to decide and there were more 6man schools than 8man and the logic of if you are a small school and having trouble fielding a team 6man gives you two extra bodies that 8man would not...those two resulted in 6man being picked.
8man isnt coming back
8man isnt coming back
OutsideObserver
11-man fan
I think what would have to happen, is we would have to adjust the cutoff and the only time to do it would be when 7A is voted in. It would look something like this and 8 man could either be 1A-1 or 2A-2
1241 Schools= 91 per division (Rough Estimates
7A-1 2920 and Up
7A-2 2550 to 2919
6A-1 2150 to 2459
6A-2 1900 to 2149
5A-1 1450 to 1899
5A-2 950 to 1449
4A-1 600 to 949
4A-2 400 to 599
3A-1 300 to 399
3A-2 225 to 299
2A-1 170 to 224
2A-2 125 to 169
1A-1 70 to 125
1A-2 69 or less
1241 Schools= 91 per division (Rough Estimates
7A-1 2920 and Up
7A-2 2550 to 2919
6A-1 2150 to 2459
6A-2 1900 to 2149
5A-1 1450 to 1899
5A-2 950 to 1449
4A-1 600 to 949
4A-2 400 to 599
3A-1 300 to 399
3A-2 225 to 299
2A-1 170 to 224
2A-2 125 to 169
1A-1 70 to 125
1A-2 69 or less
SlaughterHouse6
Six-man fan
No.
another reason 8man went the way of the dinosaurs in Texas had to do with how spread out the districts had become in both 6man and 8man, if it came back that would be a problem again...it isnt coming back... at best 20-25 schools would want that and a good number of those would be 11man schools some of which should be playing 6man but refuse to
Old Bearkat
Six-man expert
And that was when there were well over 100 class B 11 man schools with enrollments over 100. When Garden City went 11 man in 1976, they rarely traveled more than 90 miles for a regular season game. Back when we played 8 man the average travel distance was well over 100 miles. The district we were in in 1973 consisted of: Garden City, Sterling City, Borden County, Klondike, Loop, Dawson, Wellman, Smyer, Cotton Center, Three Way, and Whitharral. There were some dang long bus rides to games. The other West Texas district was just as bad: Goree, Patton Springs, Follett, Estelline, Guthrie, and Miami. Guthrie did not even play in 1973 due to a lack of players. The other districts were : Harrold, Westminster, Gunter, Bryson, Northside, Cumby, and Woodson then the final one was :La Pryor, Leakey, Nueces Canyon, Knippa, Center Point, and Harper.
Football Fan21
Six-man fan
7A will be voted in very soon from what I’m hearing.
Football Fan21
Six-man fan
I just think there needs to be another option. That’s a drastic step from 6 man to 11 man for schools that are on the bubble…too big for 6 man but not enough to be competitive in 11 man.
Old Bearkat
Six-man expert
That was the original impetus for starting 8 man in 1958, as a bridge from 6 man to 11 man. There were quite a few schools that used it to bridge to 11 man, like Pflugerville, Allen, Jayton, and Forsan.
D
Deleted member 21909
Guest
Is/was there any differences in the 11-man vs. 8-man rules? 8-man seems more similar to 11-man than 6-man, but I honestly do not know.
Old Bearkat
Six-man expert
The only difference is one less back and two less linemen. Some states play 8 man on a 80X40 field, which makes it more of a power game, while other play on a 100X50 field which makes it more of a speed game.
Also the QB can run the ball in 8man
FootballFan21 - And it is only a drastic step from 11man to 6man if you make it drastic...honestly it really is not that drastic if you do it right...just people like to THINK it is and say things like that. You start 2 years before you are eligible with JRHS and JV games in 6man if possible then make the move to UIL 6man the first year you can and probably hire at least one coach with 6man experience to help....8man is not going to help the schools holding on to 11man for a decade and getting beat every week...it's culture and progress to winning and here's the thing.
FootballFan21 - And it is only a drastic step from 11man to 6man if you make it drastic...honestly it really is not that drastic if you do it right...just people like to THINK it is and say things like that. You start 2 years before you are eligible with JRHS and JV games in 6man if possible then make the move to UIL 6man the first year you can and probably hire at least one coach with 6man experience to help....8man is not going to help the schools holding on to 11man for a decade and getting beat every week...it's culture and progress to winning and here's the thing.
D
Deleted member 21909
Guest
Did teams in 8-man run a lot of bootlegs with the QB? I can imagine it would be tempting with less ineligible players, especially on the bigger field.
This probably is not the best site to generate support for the idea "the game [sixman] is too different from 11-man, so we need to bring 8-man back." I am sure many small 2A schools might agree with you, however.
Honestly, I went to my first 11-man high school game in years and found it kind of boring. I would much rather watch a competitive high school 6-man game than a competitive NFL or NCAA Game.
Granger or someone used to interview coaches via a podcast, and I remember Harley Ethridge said something to the effect of "sixman, it gets in your blood." That is a very poetic statement, and I think many would agree if they gave sixman a chance.
My mom told me one time she strongly preferred watching me play sixman over 11-man. 11-man is an extremely poor spectator sport because the linemen get in the way of the camera and/or view of the game. I could ramble on and on about this, but sixman is such an interesting game.
This probably is not the best site to generate support for the idea "the game [sixman] is too different from 11-man, so we need to bring 8-man back." I am sure many small 2A schools might agree with you, however.
Honestly, I went to my first 11-man high school game in years and found it kind of boring. I would much rather watch a competitive high school 6-man game than a competitive NFL or NCAA Game.
Granger or someone used to interview coaches via a podcast, and I remember Harley Ethridge said something to the effect of "sixman, it gets in your blood." That is a very poetic statement, and I think many would agree if they gave sixman a chance.
My mom told me one time she strongly preferred watching me play sixman over 11-man. 11-man is an extremely poor spectator sport because the linemen get in the way of the camera and/or view of the game. I could ramble on and on about this, but sixman is such an interesting game.
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Old Bearkat
Six-man expert
Yes, if you had a fast lineman or two, you could run a lot of bootlegs.
Tebo is pretty spot on there
Also here is possibly the last varsity 8man game in Texas...well at least half a game....1998 Gordon v Powers, OR
Also a playlist of some old Texas 8man games including 1962 Booker v Borden County and 1963 Jayton v Forsan and 1975 Leakey v Harrold
Also here is possibly the last varsity 8man game in Texas...well at least half a game....1998 Gordon v Powers, OR
Also a playlist of some old Texas 8man games including 1962 Booker v Borden County and 1963 Jayton v Forsan and 1975 Leakey v Harrold
justlookin'
Six-man fan
One thing that is overlooked I think is the political pull numbers give a particular classification. If sixman numbers were reduced by half there would be a move in Austin (again) to try and force the smaller schools to consolidate. It's not done out in the open, but in the back rooms through funding meetings. With the increased numbers of schools over the last ten years sixman has increased to roughly 11% of UIL participation. That is almost double what it was, and while I dislike the division split itself, I must admit that it has definitely impacted the number of schools choosing it in a positive manner. The more folks in your corner in Austin the better off you are. Just my .02.
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