Concerns with football, headsets at Dome finals part of LHSAA convention agenda

It lurks on page 47 of 60 pages of agenda items at next week’s LHSAA convention in Baton Rouge.

The language is innocuous enough. It asks to amend rule 14.17.7 to the following:

“Teams participating in the Superdome Classic shall be allowed to use any NFHS authenticated football.”

If approved, the days of the Baden brand as the exclusive football of the state championship games in Louisiana will be over.

The sponsorship with Baden, who pays the LHSAA thousands of dollars, could go kaput as a result.

Archbishop Rummel head coach Jay Roth thinks it is about time for the Baden ball to be tossed to the sidelines for good.

“If I am ever lucky enough to coach again in the Dome, and I have to use a Baden ball, I will jump off the terrace,” said Roth.

“Jump off the terrace?” asked a reporter.

“Off the terrace,” said Roth.

Roth notes that his team uses the Wilson GST football all season long. Then, he says, for the biggest week of the season, his quarterback can’t use the football with which he has practiced and played all season long.

Roth said the Baden ball is “too round, too hard to throw.”

As a former quarterback now coaching at his alma mater, Roth knows the security blanket the correct football provides.

“Don’t ever mess with the quarterback’s football,” said Roth.

Hahnville High School football coach Nick Saltaformaggio, whose Tigers played in the 2017 Class 5A championship game against Zachary, says he too “is not a fan” of the Baden football.

Saltaformaggio adds that it makes no difference whether your offense is predominantly pass or run.

“For any offense, it is not productive,” said Saltaformaggio.

Like Roth and Rummel, Hahnville plays all season with the Wilson GST football. The Baden ball, Saltaformaggio also notes, is too round, while the dimples in the ball, he says, are not big enough for handling.

“(But) our kickers liked it,” said Saltaformaggio. “They loved the bigger, more round ball.”

Will the agenda item to remove Baden as the mandatory football of the state championship games pass?

“I don’t know,” said Saltaformaggio. “One of third of the principals who vote (referring to Class B and C schools) don’t play football.”

Principals overall may vote for revenue over any other concerns.

In the meantime, Saltaformaggio said there was one item he wishes was on the agenda. He believes proper headphones should be provided for coaches of both teams at the LHSAA Allstate Sugar Bowl Prep Championship at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

There are a few companies that sell sideline communication devices to football programs around the country. Saltaformaggio said the normal headphones for coaches work at a frequency of 4.6 megahertz.

In the ‘Dome, the headsets must operate at 900 megahertz.

Saltformaggio said a new set of phones for a coaching staff for use specifically for games inside the Superdome cost $36,000.

St. Charles Parish will purchase those devices for future dome visits, Saltaformaggio explained, but acquiring the money to buy them on short notice in December was not possible.

Zachary had headphones, said Saltaformaggio, and Hahnville did not.

Saltaformaggio said that disparity did not decide the championship game.

“Zachary has a very good football team,” said Saltaformaggio.

But, in the future, he said the cost of sideline communication in the Superdome could be a real dilemma, especially for schools in the smaller classes.

“How can you ask a school that has a gate of $60,000 all season long to pay for a $36,000 set of headphones?” asked Saltaformaggio.

He proposes the LHSAA purchases two sets, then charge each school $500 to $1,000 to use them in the finals, until the headphones are paid off.

St. Charles Parish schools will remedy the existing dilemma for Hahnville and Destrehan.

But for Jay Roth’s football complaint, we just can’t tell. If the agenda items fail next week, he may have a decision to make.

And a jump off the terrace seems like a very uncomfortable solution.