"My reaction is very negative," said Brooks, who led Camden Catholic to a 10-1 record and a berth in the Non-Public 2 state title game last season. "I don't see the benefit at all."
The NJSIAA's executive committee will vote on the proposal in April, said Steve Timko, the organization's executive director.
Timko said a simple majority vote of the executive committee is needed to pass the proposal. If approved, the change would go into effect for the 2012 football season.
NJSIAA associate director Jack Dubois, the chairman of the football committee, said state championships in non-public football have run "counter" to the organization's constitution.
"Our constitution calls for football to play to a sectional championship," Dubois said. "We were in violation of that."
Public school programs compete for sectional titles but not state titles. A proposal to change the NJSIAA's constitution to allow for state championships in public school football was defeated in a vote of the full membership in December.
DuBois said that after the December vote, his committee received a "lot of push-back" from public schools to align the non-public tournament with the public school tournament.
Dubois said the NJSIAA also will allow for teams with records below .500 to compete in the tournament in hopes of filling out an eight-team bracket in each section.
"I think these have a chance to be much better tournaments," Dubois said. "A team like St. Joseph of Hammonton, which has won a state title in the past by playing just one game, now will play three tournament games to win a title."
Dubois said he expected the executive committee to approve the change in April.
"I think it's going to move," Dubois said.
Non-public teams competed for sectional titles in football from 1975 to '92. In 1993, the NJSIAA instituted a system of statewide playoffs for non-public football.
