The South Dakota High School Activities Association’s Football Advisory Committee will meet Monday, Dec. 1, at 10:30 a.m. via Zoom, where members will review statewide rule changes and consider a long list of new proposals that could reshape everything from playoff seeding to player safety and scheduling.
The committee — made up of coaches, administrators, an official representative and a Native American representative — will begin by reviewing changes already approved for 2025-26. Those include an increase in officials’ pay from $125 to $150 per game and a mandatory 18-cent-per-mile riding-time reimbursement.
The group will also take up several NFHS rule changes taking effect over the next two seasons, including restrictions on attachments to mouthguards, new arm-sleeve performance specifications set for 2027, expanded use of sideline electronic signals, a continued ban on in-helmet communication, and a new rule placing forward fumbles out of bounds back at the spot of the fumble.
Safety and sportsmanship appear poised to remain major talking points, with the NFHS emphasizing concerns about illegally worn equipment, treatment of defenseless players and targeting.
Much of the meeting will focus on proposals brought forward by coaches and administrators across the state. Among them: competing suggestions for the number of playoff qualifiers in 11B and nine-man football, a proposal to create a six-man class to replace 9B, and calls for officials to emphasize enforcement on drop tackles and cut blocks. There is also discussion of potential suspensions for players who intentionally injure opponents.
Scheduling could receive significant attention, including a regional-scheduling model for 11A designed to reduce travel and preserve rivalries, along with the standing practice of SDHSAA scheduling six regular-season games while schools choose two or three more on their own.
Several administrative proposals target how forfeits are handled after controversy this past season, when forfeiting teams inadvertently gained seed-point advantages. One proposal would award forfeiting teams the minimum possible seed-point total, another would allow the SDHSAA to pair non-forfeiting teams against each other when multiple forfeits occur in the same week, and a third would disqualify any team that forfeits more than once from playoff contention.
Other items up for discussion include aligning nine-man playoff dates to create more recovery time, a new football seed-point classification system, and a proposal to base football classification on total enrollment rather than male-only ADM. Officials’ representatives will also renew their push for seven-person crews for all playoff and championship games, expanded use of microphones and adjusted pay for alternate officials.
The committee will review the football handbook, consider tie-breaker clarification language and hear any final submissions for proposals before forwarding recommendations to the Athletic Directors and the SDHSAA Board of Directors. Any changes ultimately adopted would take effect in future seasons, making Monday’s meeting a significant early checkpoint for the shape of South Dakota high school football in the years ahead.