‘Current system is broken’: CCSD principals explain football defection from NIAA

When Nevada’s high school football season ended in November, few imagined the real action was just about to start.

Though a mutiny had clearly begun by late November, few were willing to speak publicly about the public schools’ eventual efforts to distance themselves from national powerhouse Bishop Gorman.

That changed Monday as Cimarron-Memorial principal Colin McNaught, Centennial principal Keith Wipperman and Eldorado principal Christina Brockett were authorized to meet online with the Review-Journal about the administrative and scheduling changes.

At the heart of the controversy has been the intention of 30 public Open Division, Class 5A and Class 4A football schools to declare themselves as independent, thereby breaking free of the Nevada Interscholastic Athletic Association’s plans for the 2026 season. And more importantly, no one has to play Gorman for the next two seasons.

“The decision was made by individual principals who believed the current system is broken,” said McNaught, clearly referring to the fact that Gorman has won 16 of the past 17 large-school state titles. “Everyone must play by the same rules, both on and off the field.”

The Clark County School District released a statement backing the decision.

“The Clark County School District supports the decision made by all of our 4A and 5A high school principals to transition their football programs to independent status for the 2026 and 2027 seasons,” said Kevin McPartlin, CCSD’s education services division associate superintendent. “Principals made this decision to stand up for their student-athletes who were playing at a disadvantage.”

Transfer rules a factor

Private schools Gorman and Faith Lutheran, and a handful of charter schools are able to bring in players from all corners of Southern Nevada, an advantage public schools do not have because of zoning eligibility rules. There is widespread agreement among the public school principals that such a privilege has allowed Gorman to build an unbeatable program.

McNaught said that the principals’ rebellion was triggered primarily by problems with the NIAA’s HRM points ranking system, which has been riddled with problems since being introduced last season.

“With that HRM system, you needed calculus to figure out who was playing who,” he said.

And then there was the matter of Gorman’s dominance.

“It’s been pretty frustrating,” Wipperman said. “We feel like this has been a problem for a long time. We wanted fairness and equity in the rules, and that was just falling on deaf ears.”

The principals confirmed that they had worked closely with coaches, parents and players in making the decision to play independently of the NIAA for the next two seasons. None of their teams will be eligible for postseason play as a result.

Brockett said Gorman’s threat to sue the NIAA over one format proposal played no role in the jockeying made by school district principals.

“That was not even a talking point amongst the principals,” she said.

Revised schedules coming

The NIAA has ditched several format ideas, but did release a final format last week for the seven remaining private and charter schools. Schedules are expected to be released in coming weeks.

Gorman, ranked No. 6 nationally, has nearly finalized its schedule for the 2026 season, and it is anticipated the Gaels will primarily be playing elite out-of-state programs.

Public school principals plan to release their schools’ schedules within the next two days.

“Right now we are working out some last-second tweeks,” Wipperman said.

McNaught added that he does not anticipate further trouble.

“We’ve had great support from the community,” he said. “It seems like the public is behind us and I feel that support for sure.”

Will the public schools return to the NIAA in 2028 during the next realignment?

“Within the next couple of years, I hope to see a competitive balance when schedules are created,” Brockett said.