St. Mary’s Springs head football coach Bob Hyland says great strides have been made to improve safety in youth football and says pushing the sport away from schools may make it less safe. Two University of Minnesota doctors say going to non school leagues would end the coercive pressure many kids face in high school. Fresh off another state championship last month, the Fond du lac coaching legend says he thinks that could make the sport less safe. “I don’t think it would be beneficial to pull it out. I know there’s risks but what would you do if you had all these football players going out for soccer? They’re aggressive kids, they’re not going to back away and they’re getting bigger and stronger all the time.” Hyland says you would lose control if the game is taken out of the high school. “…with having a set amount of contact during a week, pre-season. What you can and can’t do.” Football has been a large part of Hyland’s life for the last half century going back to when he played in high school, college and today as a coach.
