The MIAA Football Committee voted on Wednesday in a 6-5 margin to submit a new proposal to the Tournament Management Committee for final approval.

Under the proposal, schools would play a 10-game regular season. The regular season would end on Thanksgiving Day. Eight teams per division would qualify for the playoffs, 64 total. The quarterfinal games would be played the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, the semifinals would be played the next weekend and the state title games would be played five days later.

The revised plan is similar to the previous recommendation but the season would start on the second Thursday before Labor Day, (August 21st in 2025) This would keep the length of the regular season the same and it allows only 10 games including Thanksgiving.

The biggest selling point of the plan according to Milton Coach Steve Dembowski is that it makes Thanksgiving day games relevant again and it removes the burden of consolation games, thus providing athletes a similar experience to that of other MIAA sports.

The committee’s format is required to be submitted to the TMC before March 1, 2025.  If this revamped plan is rejected by the TMC, then the current format will remain in place for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

Two plans were actually discussed at the meeting. Football Committee Chairperson, Jay Costa, discussed a  10-game regular season (weeks 1-10) with 8-team playoffs beginning in week 11 (week before Thanksgiving), Thanksgiving week (12)  would require teams still in the playoff to opt out their traditional Thanksgiving Day game and play the semi-finals.  Teams left without a Thanksgiving day game would be matched up or could opt out.  The final or Super Bowl would be played in week 13, as it is currently. By all accounts, this plan did not receive much support from the committee. 

The original proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by the TMC last year and the revamped plan faces an uphill climb as well. 

Cutting into the winter season will still be an issue with this plan and playing three games in a span of two weeks will also be an issue. 

The other issue that came up was the imbalance in the eight divisions. Division Two currently has 22 teams. Coaches and administrators alike expressed concern. Costa was going to discuss with the TMC what can be done to create more balance in the divisions.