Jeff Fisher, High School Football America co-founder/editor
Today’s interviewee is Jeff Fisher, the co-founder and editor of High School Football America. He also produces two radio shows: High School Football America and the National High School Coaches Association (“NHSCA”) Sports Hour. Fisher has lived in Atlanta since 2018. This week, 33 Georgia teams are in his top 300. Five Class 7A teams are in the top 35.
1. What would Buford, or whoever wins Class 7A for that matter, need to do to win a national title? And what do you like about Buford’s chances and their team in particular that has them as high as No. 4 right now? “Buford’s high-quality win over preseason No. 3 St. Frances Academy has definitely put the Wolves in the national championship conversation. The three teams in front of them – No. 1 Mater Dei, No. 2 St. John Bosco and No. 3 Bishop Gorman – have brutal schedules, and Mater Dei and St. John Bosco play St. Frances, which gives Buford a legit shot at the national title, if they run the table and win the 7A championship. I’d say Colquitt County has an outside shot at getting in the conversation because of its solid win over Dutch Fork. However, the Packers, who won our 2015 national title, would need a 7A title and lot of teams in front of them to stumble.”
2. Georgia has about a dozen top-100 teams and 33 in the top 300. Is that normal for Georgia, or a banner year? Also, five 7A teams are in the top 35. Does any other state have so many teams competing for the same state championship as Georgia in 7A? “What Georgia football has now is consistency when it comes to our national rankings. Is this year better than those in the past? Maybe, but the quality in 7A and 6A means that the state is always going to have two to four teams in the Top 25 and 30-40 teams across our Top 300. Georgia’s 7A playoff bracket is a meat grinder, but nothing tops the six rounds needed to capture a Texas high school football championship.” [GHSF Daily might note that only four Texas teams are in his top 35.]
3. How is Georgia different than other states in terms of the top teams? “Having lived all over the country to build High School Football America, I get this question a lot. Since moving here, I can say this: Georgia high school football is as physical as it gets, at all levels – 7A to 1A. In other states, those lower-level classifications don’t come close to the talent level that I’ve witnessed here. It’s not unusual to see Power 5 studs in Georgia’s lower levels. If you compare Georgia’s best against a Mater Dei, Bosco and Gorman, I’d say all that’s missing is more games against quality out-of-state (OOS) opponents. With more OOS teams on Georgia schedules, more teams here will be in the running for a national championship.
“Another big distinction is Georgia’s top teams are public high schools, as opposed to other states that are led by private institutions. Ten of the top 15 teams in our rankings are private. What many may not know is that powers like Mater Dei and St. John Bosco play in the Trinity League in Southern California that has six total members, all private schools. The same is true of the powers in northern New Jersey and the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., area. It’s a level playing field inside the leagues. Almost all of those teams have trouble filling out the non-league part of their 10-game regular season because public schools don’t want to play them. That means they end up playing against each other, which gives them a big boost to their strength of schedule, a key component in our ranking algorithm. I believe many of these privates are located in urban areas where the local public school systems are economically strapped to field competitive programs. That leads to players looking elsewhere for their football opportunity. While we will always do a ‘true’ national ranking, we did start this season with a Public Schools 100 that was led by Buford. Sixteen Georgia teams were ranked in our Public 100.”
4. How has football changed in Georgia since you’ve been following things nationally? Are there trends? “Georgia has been trending upward in our proprietary algorithm since 2013. Right now, Georgia is ranked as the third-best high school football state in the nation behind Florida and Texas. When we started our algorithm rankings over 10 years ago, Georgia was No. 5. I don’t see anything turning back here because the coaching profession is getting better and better. Great coaching, awesome competition and a love of the sport statewide means that student-athletes will be attracted to the state. And it doesn’t hurt that the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs keep young Georgians dreaming of playing in Athens.”