No More Tackling in Ivy League Football Practices

[Redux]

This is like being a Philosophy major

 

[BigRedBuster]

If this were Div 1 at some huge program, it would mean more to me. Instead, this is Ivy League football that I don't even think is scholarship. These kids aren't dreaming of the NFL. They are going to school planning on having one hell of a career doing something else and playing a sport on the side while doing it. I have no problem with the league making rules to prevent unnecessary major injuries to these kids. Will their tackling skills suffer? Probably. Is it really that big of a deal? No.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Tackling is one of the most important fundamental aspects of football. I don't know how you can't practice that and then expect to execute once your live and actually expected to tackle someone.

I actually can't wait to see how their team does. This affects their offense too as those guys won't be getting tackled either.

Somewhat bizarre but with all of the talk about safety in football anymore I guess this is what we've come to.

I think Dartmouth (They don't tackle) went from 5th, 2nd, to first...over the last 3 years. I think that is what I heard.

 

[suh_fan93]

Tackling is one of the most important fundamental aspects of football. I don't know how you can't practice that and then expect to execute once your live and actually expected to tackle someone.

I actually can't wait to see how their team does. This affects their offense too as those guys won't be getting tackled either.

Somewhat bizarre but with all of the talk about safety in football anymore I guess this is what we've come to.

I think Dartmouth (They don't tackle) went from 5th, 2nd, to first...over the last 3 years. I think that is what I heard.

Really? If so that is amazing and mind boggling too.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Tackling is one of the most important fundamental aspects of football. I don't know how you can't practice that and then expect to execute once your live and actually expected to tackle someone.

I actually can't wait to see how their team does. This affects their offense too as those guys won't be getting tackled either.

Somewhat bizarre but with all of the talk about safety in football anymore I guess this is what we've come to.

I think Dartmouth (They don't tackle) went from 5th, 2nd, to first...over the last 3 years. I think that is what I heard.

Really? If so that is amazing and mind boggling too.

Yeah I just looked...

They went

5-5

6-4

8-2

9-1

and in conference

4-3

5-2

6-1

6-1

So they seem to have improved each year.

Shoot, last year they never let up more than 20 in a game.

 

[Enhance]

How do you get better at tackling if you're not practicing tackling and hitting live? This is a topic I'd like to hear more from players than from coaches and regulators. I think I'd have a hard time listening to a coach after a game go on to critique missed tackles or poor tackling if it's from a coach who also says they don't do much full contact in season.

+1 for the Harry Potter reference, had a lazy Sunday yesterday and watched that installment. My friend and I talked about how Umbridge was our least favorite character because of how much of a turd burglar she was.

She's so easy to hate. In terms of most despised characters in that universe, Voldemort would be #1, but Umbridge is my #2.

 

[Waterloohusker26]

How do you get better at tackling if you're not practicing tackling and hitting live? This is a topic I'd like to hear more from players than from coaches and regulators. I think I'd have a hard time listening to a coach after a game go on to critique missed tackles or poor tackling if it's from a coach who also says they don't do much full contact in season.

+1 for the Harry Potter reference, had a lazy Sunday yesterday and watched that installment. My friend and I talked about how Umbridge was our least favorite character because of how much of a turd burglar she was.

She's so easy to hate. In terms of most despised characters in that universe, Voldemort would be #1, but Umbridge is my #2.

Yes but it's easy to respect the power of Voldemort......Umbridge was just a fat toad

(Got in the Harry Potter reference for the year)

 

[swmohusker]

Leverage and fits are more important than a tackling drill. If you are in the right position then the tackling part should be easy. If you cant tackle and you are in the right fit with proper leverage you are a probably a sissy. Tackling drills dont fix that.

 

[Enhance]

Leverage and fits are more important than a tackling drill. If you are in the right position then the tackling part should be easy. If you cant tackle and you are in the right fit with proper leverage you are a probably a sissy. Tackling drills dont fix that.

There are probably some philosophical differences, but in my opinion, being in the right fit and having the proper leverage is half the battle. Tackling drills also help with speed and pursuit angles. There's a pretty significant difference between running up to somebody and playing grab fanny as opposed to running up to someone and fighting to take them down.

I also believe players that don't practice tackling often are also more susceptible to injuries. You learn how to fall and how to protect your body after repeated attempts tackling and being tackled. I also found that, when I played football, the physicality of our fall practices helped prepare us for the grind of the season.

I think, in some ways, the moves to protect players' heads (which is what this is really all about) just leads to the potential for more mistakes in games that could potentially lead to injuries. Some may argue that it is worth it in order to protect the head, and while I agree in theory, it doesn't really fit with the game. I think, in theory, police shouldn't have to carry guns; unfortunately, the dangers of their jobs necessitate them.

 

[StPaulHusker]

Someone should ask Riley at his next press conference how much in season tackling they do. Does it depend game to game? Or is it less as the season progresses? Because this is what the Ivy League coaches are doing away with. In season tackling. That means that right now during their spring practice, they are going 100% on tackling.

How much tackling is done in a regular season week? With team meetings, position meetings, drills, game plan, etc... ?

And perhaps it's the vote to eliminate it all together that has people up in arms.

 

[RedSavage]

Someone should ask Riley at his next press conference how much in season tackling they do. Does it depend game to game? Or is it less as the season progresses? Because this is what the Ivy League coaches are doing away with. In season tackling. That means that right now during their spring practice, they are going 100% on tackling.

How much tackling is done in a regular season week? With team meetings, position meetings, drills, game plan, etc... ?

And perhaps it's the vote to eliminate it all together that has people up in arms.

By NCAA rules, teams are only allowed to have 2 full contact practices/week during the season as is. Lessen that and you don't have football anymore:

 

[Hunter94]

football is a dangerous game, DPE gets hurt celebrating with his teams mates on the sideline......wow

 

[BigRedBuster]

I wonder what would happen if the NCAA would ban live tackling in practice only with pads on.

Meaning, hey...you can do all the live tackling you want as long as the players don't have pads.

This would force the players to learn how to tackle and attack the ball carrier with out using their heads. They still can get a lot of work in on live action technique.

 

[Enhance]

I wonder what would happen if the NCAA would ban live tackling in practice only with pads on.

Meaning, hey...you can do all the live tackling you want as long as the players don't have pads.

This would force the players to learn how to tackle and attack the ball carrier with out using their heads. They still can get a lot of work in on live action technique.

This is another suggestion that I think sounds great in theory, but in practice, isn't a very good idea. For example, the reason football players wear pads, as opposed to rugby players, is because one game is more about pursuit whereas the other is about collision. This pretty much demands the need for pads in football save a lot more injuries happening. Heck, you could potentially argue saving pads for game day would make players even more reckless with their bodies as they'd now believe 'OK, I can play harder and faster and do things I normally can't because now I'm better protected.'

I think we're asking for more injuries to occur if we allow live tackling without pads, and I also think you fundamentally change the game for reasons I mentioned in an above post. There's just a big difference between the how game is played with pads/live tackling versus without. Are we all OK with making that fundamental change? I go back to the police example I made earlier - I wish no police officer had to carry a gun; however, the dangers of their job necessitate them. The same idea applies to football and pads.

 

[Saunders]

This isn't really that big a deal, because they're specifically talking about regular season practices. They were talking about it on this week's ESPN CFB podcast, and they said that most teams don't do it. They had David Shaw on the show, and he said that even Stanford (who many see as a toughness first team) doesn't tackle during the season.