Countdown to prep football: One final thought on the private school debate

Hopes for a thaw in the clash over private school athletics hit an iceberg last week.

And the long-range forecast remains frosty.

The Daily Herald’s two-month countdown to high school football concludes this week. We’ve finally reached No. 1, just in time for opening night in the bulk of the state.

Since June we’ve listed 10 of the area’s top senior recruits, nine juniors to watch, eight quarterbacks on our radar, seven new coaches on the sideline, six stellar season openers, five of the toughest schedules, four area teams facing out-of-state competition, three bold predictions and two differing opinions on IHSA playoff expansion.

Now, to wrap up our journey, we offer one final thought: After years of trying, we’re no closer to solving the debate about private schools and their place in the IHSA landscape.

Until we reach some sort of resolution, we’ll continue to see the vicious back-and-forth between opposing sides. I suppose that’s just the reality, but the atmosphere is far from comfortable.

In case you missed last week’s news, Mount Carmel — the Chicago powerhouse that’s won four straight state titles, including the last two in Class 8A — was placed on probation for the remainder of the season after being pictured practicing in full pads earlier than IHSA rules allow.

Caravan head coach Jordan Lynch, who’s been at the helm since 2018, was suspended for two practices, a punishment he was scheduled to serve this week. Mount Carmel self-reported the violation, drawing the action taken by IHSA officials.

It’s a slap on the wrist for an infraction that I bet happens surprisingly often with both public and private schools. If not for a reporter snapping a picture of the practice in question, a picture shared by a local assistant football coach in a viral social media post, it would’ve passed without notice.

Regardless, it doesn’t change Mount Carmel’s status as the overwhelming favorite to win another state title this season behind a roster brimming with Power Four college talent.

And it absolutely doesn’t change the animosity built up against Mount Carmel, Brother Rice, Montini, St. Francis and all the other private schools plowing their way toward another bracket-busting postseason.

The vitriol over this latest incident is vast but not surprising. And the odd thing is the infraction has nothing to do with Mount Carmel’s status as a private school, other than private school opponents seeing it as one more way of flouting the rules.

Shady recruiting, payments to players, blurring the borders of a 30-mile radius from which to draw players … the list of allegations is endless. Now we can just add “illegal practicing” to the rap sheet.

This isn’t meant as an indictment of Mount Carmel, although it’s a bad look for a program that doesn’t need the boost of extra practicing with pads. It’s simply an update on the deteriorating state of relations between opposing sides.

Despite enrollment multipliers, success factors and whatever else has been thrown at the wall, we’re no closer to healing the thorn in the side of IHSA athletics. Not by a single step.

To quote one of my favorite bands, The Replacements, “We’re getting nowhere, quick as we know how” when it comes to the private school debate.

kschmit@dailyherald.com