HOUSTON - The UIL held its annual media briefing at the Texas High School Coaches Association and Convention in anticipation of the 2023-2024 academic and athletic year on Monday.

New UIL Athletic Director Ray Zepeda was introduced to the media gathering for his first THSCA press conference, and he along with deputy director of the UIL Dr. Jamey Harrison reiterated several talking points that have been topics of discussion in recent months. 

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The biggest news to come from the press briefing was the UIL confirmed that the football state title games for the next two years will be played at AT&T Stadium. 

With the upcoming UIL Reclassification and Realignment in February, Dr. Harrison and Zepeda confirmed Class 7A is not on the table for the 2024 realignment. Although discussions on possible options of a third division in Class 6A and Class 5A are ongoing, no major changes to the format of the UIL Realignment are on the table for the February realignment. 

The UIL staff also mentioned Class 4A and the rising ratio of the largest and smallest schools in that classification as being the most difficult part of realignment each and every year. 

With no movement in the state legislature on the current NIL laws, the UIL stated there was really no change on its stance on NIL and that adjustments will be made if legislation changing the current landscape in Texas changes. 

Other topics of interest:

- The UIL expressed concerns about the increased number of player and spectator ejections in the past five years and the impact that has on the current officiating shortage.

- Homefield advantage in the first round of the football playoffs for Class 4A and below has been discussed but there’s not a consensus in favor of it among the schools. The UIL did mention that there are some things that they are looking at in Class 5A and 6A regarding excessive travel in the bi-district playoffs. 

- Dr. Harrison was asked about a state semifinal rotation in football and he advised that although there have been discussions about going away from the current set up of Region I vs. Region II and Region III vs. Region IV, there’s not enough schools in favor of a change to consider an adjustment at this time.