This is an opinion piece.

High school football coaches generally have a positive mindset.

They are called to the profession to invest in our youth.

However, there is growing frustration among many, and I certainly can’t blame them.

Thompson football coach Mark Freeman summed it up in two sentences this week.

“I’m about sick of the situation high school and college football is in. They’ve made a mess of it.”

“They” can refer to a number of people.

The mess? You name it. NIL. The transfer portal. National Signing Day(s).

It’s all made their jobs harder. Frankly, it’s all hurt the game most of us love on both the high school and college levels.

Remember when we had one National Signing Day in February? Remember when it was a BIG deal?

Now, we have two (an early signing in December and the late one in February, though that one is mostly an after thought now). Conference commissioners are even pondering a third signing day in the summer before commitments play their senior seasons.

The thought of that provoked the Alabama High School Football Coaches Association to release a strongly worded statement against a summer signing day this week. UMS-Wright coach Terry Curtis, one of the most well-known coaches in the state and the all-time wins leader, said he has talked to both Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer and Auburn coach Hugh Freeze. He said those two were against another signing period as are the rest of the SEC. He also said he’s been told, despite that, the motion is gaining traction across the nation.

On the surface, the idea might not move the needle for you either way. It’s possible signing in June would take pressure off these seniors and allow them to enjoy their final year of football and being with their friends even more. But it’s also possible – and this is the big worry for high school coaches – that the highly rated seniors could opt not even to play their senior seasons if their immdiate future is already secure. Some might even head to college a full year early if they are able to complete their classwork.

“Is a 17-year-old kid ready to go to college?” Freeman asked, rhetorically.

High school stars skipping their senior seasons would have been unthinkable once upon a time. Then again, who would have thought dozens of college football players would opt out of their team’s bowl games, some at the last minute? As we know, that is happening at an alarming rate.

Exactly who are we helping with all these signing days? The player? The high school? His future college?

Remember when high school football had the stage to itself on Friday nights? When college football filled our Saturdays? In recent years, we’ve started to see televised college games on Friday night. It looks like there might be more to come, including top matchups from some of the top conferences. According to a release from the National Federation of High Schools, Fox Sports plans to increase its coverage this fall, and the schedule could include top teams from the Big Ten and Big 12.

“On any given Friday night in the fall, there are about 7,000 high school football games being played in communities throughout our country,” Karissa L. Niehoff, chief executive officer of the National Federation of State High Schools, wrote this week. “But they are more than just ‘games’ – they are symbols of school and city pride and prime opportunities for people to stand together while cheering on their hometown squads. Simply put, FOX’s plans stand as a threat to these impactful community events.”

If you’ve been to Jackson or Fyffe or Plainview or any one of the many towns in our state, you know what she is talking about. High school football on Friday night is special. How long can we keep it that way?

Finally, remember when high school football represented the last pure level of the sport? I think it still does, but as NIL leaks down from colleges to the prep level – as it has already in many of our neighboring states – it will be hard to maintain that. Freeman told me this week that people from Tennessee and Georgia have approached some of his players in an attempt to lure them to one of those states to finish their high school careers for name, image, likeness compensation.

“They’ve hurt high school football with all of this,” Auburn High coach Keith Etheredge said.

Freeman called the possible summer signing day “an inspirational tool to get kids to forego their senior year in high school.” Frankly, I’m not sure the decision makers have put that much thought into it or any of these changes.

That, in itself, may be the saddest part.

A coach once told me this: “I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and say they wished they had played high school football, but I’ve never had anyone say they wish they HADN’T played.”

Maybe we should focus on the intrinsic value that high school sports gives to our young people instead of the value of money.

We may have lost sight of which one is more important.

Prayers

Phillip Murphy, McGill-Toolen boys basketball coach: Undergoing surgery March 20 to have sigmoid colon removed. Family is hoping procedure will be laparoscopic, but doctors won’t know for sure until the surgery. Coach is expected to be in the hospital 7-10 days.

Chris Lewis, Troy wide receiver: The former Pleasant Grove star is undergoing treatment for osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer. He is scheduled for surgery April 3 in hopes of removing the tumor that was found in his upper leg bone.

Jacy Todd, former assistant football coach at Daphne, Fairhope, Auburn, Baker: Todd has had a rough week while battling an apparent stomach ulcer. Most remember that the coach was paralyzed from the chest down in an automobile accident on Aug. 1, 2012.

Praise

Steve Mask, Theodore football coach: Finished 31 days of radiation treatments Thursday after a cancerous nodule was found – and then removed — on his vocal cords.

Thought for the week

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” – 1 Timothy 6:10

Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected]. He can be heard weekly on “Inside High School Sports” on SportsTalk 99.5 FM in Mobile or on the free IHeart Radio App at 2 p.m. Wednesdays.