The 10 Commandments of Covering High School Sports | Top 25 Public HSFB
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The 10 Commandments of Covering High School Sports
Top 25 Public HSFB6/18/20268 min read
As we get closer to the official start of the 2026 high school football season, I want to start laying out how I view the sport, how I evaluate teams, and how I approach the rankings behind the #PublicSchoolsTop25.
Before getting into the details of rankings, resumes, schedules, classifications, state strength, and everything else that goes into the process, I think it is important to be clear about the standard I am trying to hold myself to.
High school football coverage comes with responsibility. These are still student-athletes, coaches, families, schools, and communities. If I am going to rank teams, analyze results, give opinions, and cover programs from across the country, then I also need to be upfront about what you can expect from me throughout the year.
This is my attempt to make that standard public and transparent.
Not because I expect to be perfect, but because I want to be accountable.
If I get something wrong, I want to correct it. If I miss context, I want to learn it. If I make a ranking decision, I want people to understand the reasoning behind it.
So before I explain how I build the #PublicSchoolsTop25, these are the principles I believe should guide anyone covering high school football.
High school football coverage is different.
This is not the NFL. It is not college football. It is not a space where everyone being covered is a paid professional, protected by agents, NIL collectives, PR staffs, and media departments.At its core, high school football coverage is about kids, coaches, families, schools, and communities.That does not mean the coverage should be soft. It does not mean rankings should be meaningless. It does not mean criticism should disappear completely. But it does mean there should be a standard.If you are going to cover high school football, especially on a public platform, there are certain lines you should not cross.
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These are the 10 commandments of covering high school football.
1. Thou shall not take money from a player for any reason.
This should be the easiest rule on the list. If you cover high school football, do not take money from players for rankings, write-ups, offers lists, exposure posts, “scouting reports,” or anything that creates the appearance that coverage can be bought. A high school athlete should never feel like they need to pay a media account to be seen. There is nothing wrong with running a business. There is nothing wrong with selling ads, subscriptions, merchandise, or team-based media services when it is clearly disclosed and handled professionally. But taking money directly from a player in exchange for coverage is a line that should not be crossed. The moment players believe attention can be purchased, the credibility of the entire space takes a hit.
2. Thou shall not use fear as a sales tactic.
This one matters. There are too many families who are new to the recruiting world and do not fully understand how the process works yet. They want to help their kid. They want to do everything right. They do not want to miss an opportunity. That makes them easy targets for people who sell panic. Do not tell families their son will be overlooked unless they pay you. Do not make players feel like their future depends on buying a graphic, a post, a subscription, a camp spot, a database entry, or an “exposure package.” There is nothing wrong with offering a real service. There is nothing wrong with charging for legitimate work. But the pitch should be honest. High school athletes and their families should never be manipulated into spending money because someone made them afraid of being invisible. If your product is valuable, explain the value. Do not sell fear.
3. Thou shall not blame players for a loss.
Players can make mistakes. Quarterbacks throw interceptions. Kickers miss field goals. Defensive backs get beat. Linemen miss blocks. That is football. But publicly putting a loss on the back of a high school kid is lazy coverage. There is a major difference between analysis and blame. You can say a team struggled to protect the football. You can say a defense gave up explosive plays. You can say special teams changed the game. But turning one player into the face of a loss is not necessary, especially when that player is still a teenager. High school football should be covered with context. Not cruelty.
4. Thou shall admit when they are wrong.
If you cover enough games, rankings, players, teams, and states, you are going to be wrong. You will overrank a team. You will underrank a team. You will miss on a preseason opinion. You will get a score, stat, classification, or playoff detail wrong at some point. The standard should not be perfection. The standard should be transparency. When you are wrong, own it. Correct it. Do not hide the mistake. Do not quietly delete without explanation. Do not double down just because your original take got attention. Credibility is not built by pretending you are never wrong. Credibility is built by showing people they can trust you when you are.
5. Thou shall not make it personal with coaches.
Coaches are fair to discuss. Their decisions can be analyzed. Their programs can be evaluated. Their schedules, playoff results, and big-game performances can all be part of the conversation. But the coverage should stay football-based. There is no need to attack a coach’s character, family, appearance, job status, or personal life. There is no need to turn a bad fourth-down decision into a public pile-on. Most high school coaches are doing far more than people realize. They are managing players, parents, fundraising, staff, film, strength programs, academics, community pressure, and year-round expectations, often for nowhere near the pay people assume. Critique the football. Do not make it personal.
6. Thou shall remember the players are still kids.
This should be obvious, but too often it gets forgotten. A 16-year-old having a bad game is not content for adults to mock. A teenager decommitting, transferring, struggling, or getting emotional after a loss is not an invitation for public humiliation. The spotlight around high school football has grown. Recruiting coverage is bigger. Social media is bigger. Rankings are bigger. Video content is bigger. But the people being covered are still young. That does not mean they should never be evaluated. It means the coverage should be responsible. You can cover high school football seriously without forgetting who you are covering.
7. Thou shall separate facts from opinions.
There is nothing wrong with strong opinions. Rankings are opinions. Player evaluations are opinions. Program debates are opinions. But facts and opinions should not be presented as the same thing. A team’s record is a fact. A state championship is a fact. A classification is a fact. A head-to-head result is a fact. A player’s listed offers, if verified, are facts. Saying one team is better than another is an opinion. Good coverage makes the difference clear. The stronger the opinion, the more important the facts behind it become.
8. Thou shall not chase clicks at the expense of kids.
Controversy gets engagement. Negativity travels fast. Calling a team overrated, mocking a player, or stirring up drama can get impressions. That does not mean it is good coverage. The goal should be to grow the sport, highlight programs, inform fans, and create meaningful conversation, not embarrass kids or manufacture drama for attention. There is a way to be entertaining without being reckless. There is a way to be bold without being unfair. And there is a way to grow a platform without turning high school athletes into content props.
9. Thou shall give proper credit.
If you use someone’s photo, graphic, stat, report, quote, clip, ranking, or original information, credit them. High school football coverage is built by a lot of people who are doing the work at the local level: beat writers, photographers, broadcasters, team accounts, coaches, parents, school pages, recruiting reporters, and independent creators. Do not rip their work and pretend it is yours. Giving credit does not make you look smaller. It makes you look more professional.
10. Thou shall leave the sport better than they found it.
This should be the ultimate standard. Good high school football coverage should help the sport. It should highlight great programs. It should tell stories that deserve more attention. It should give public schools, small towns, underrated players, great coaches, and overlooked communities a bigger platform. It should create debate without making the space toxic. It should hold standards without pretending to be above mistakes. It should make players, coaches, and fans feel like the game is being covered by people who actually respect it.
At the end of the day, high school football is one of the last true community sports in America. If you are lucky enough to cover it, treat it that way.
Final Thought
Covering high school football comes with responsibility. Not because it is too fragile to criticize. Not because every team needs praise. Not because rankings, debates, and hard conversations should disappear. But because the people at the center of it are still students, families, coaches, schools, and communities. The best coverage does not just chase attention. It earns trust. And in high school football, trust matters more than impressions. If you love high school football, like I do, please consider hitting the follow button and tagging a friend or colleague that you think would be interested in our coverage. Thank you all for reading,
