Lack of tackling?

[jsneb83]

Should we play flag football?

works for me

Yes, they made the team!

Much better recruiting under Riles, yes!

That dude on TV

 

[alexhortdog95]

You dont get to a Major Div 1 level as a football player by not already knowing how to tackle. Do those skills need freshed and refined? Sure. Just like anything else. But under the circumstances this spring with a new staff and pretty new systems and the extremely limited time, I'm of the opinion that we have far more important things to worry about. Not tackling guys to the ground creates efficiency. Like the radios in the helmets to call the plays. Any second you save here and there adds up in a two hour practice. And I agree with getting the x's and o'x down first. Let's perfect getting the guys there first. They can worry about getting them on the ground later. Cuz tackling skill does no good if youre not in the correct position.

I donno, Count...

Deion Sanders got to the NFL Hall of Fame and admittedly couldn't tackle worth a flip.

 

[cornographic]

You dont get to a Major Div 1 level as a football player by not already knowing how to tackle. Do those skills need freshed and refined? Sure. Just like anything else. But under the circumstances this spring with a new staff and pretty new systems and the extremely limited time, I'm of the opinion that we have far more important things to worry about. Not tackling guys to the ground creates efficiency. Like the radios in the helmets to call the plays. Any second you save here and there adds up in a two hour practice. And I agree with getting the x's and o'x down first. Let's perfect getting the guys there first. They can worry about getting them on the ground later. Cuz tackling skill does no good if youre not in the correct position.

I donno, Count...

Deion Sanders got to the NFL Hall of Fame and admittedly couldn't tackle worth a flip.

Er, could anyone tackle Bo Freaking Jackson?!

 

[alexhortdog95]

You dont get to a Major Div 1 level as a football player by not already knowing how to tackle. Do those skills need freshed and refined? Sure. Just like anything else. But under the circumstances this spring with a new staff and pretty new systems and the extremely limited time, I'm of the opinion that we have far more important things to worry about. Not tackling guys to the ground creates efficiency. Like the radios in the helmets to call the plays. Any second you save here and there adds up in a two hour practice. And I agree with getting the x's and o'x down first. Let's perfect getting the guys there first. They can worry about getting them on the ground later. Cuz tackling skill does no good if youre not in the correct position.

I donno, Count...

Deion Sanders got to the NFL Hall of Fame and admittedly couldn't tackle worth a flip.

Er, could anyone tackle Bo Freaking Jackson?!

I'll give ya that one, LOL...I got to thinking about that after I posted my last...

My point is, though, that the teaching of defensive schemes depends on the complexity of the scheme you are running. If you're running Quarters or a Tampa 2, then you'd better have some sure tackling in your back half.

If you're running a Cover 3 or a 4-3 over/under scheme, you may be able to get away with installing multiple fronts and packages....if your back half can tackle.

Unless I missed something, this is the same Husker Defense that missed tackles in the double digits in multiple games last year.

Again - these guys know what they're doing, but if this Husker D doesn't improve on the BASIC FUNDAMENTALS OF FOOTBALL FIRST (blocking and tackling), then they'll be looking for a new defensive coordinator very soon.

Football isn't that complicated of a game. You can have a team that is much less physically talented that sneaks up on guys if they take care of the fundamentals first:

1. Target the ball carrier.

2. Get a good base.

3. Square up.

4. Contact the ball carrier. Watch his hips, not his head.

5. Arms Wide. Head up and watch what you're hitting!

6. Wrap up and drive your feet.

7. Gang tackle. One sure tackle isn't enough.

8. Last guy there - punch for the ball.

It's not a coincidence that when the sure tacklers left Nebraska that the forced turnovers went down. Nebraska has finished at the end of the year in plus territory only TWO TIMES since 2000. From 1988 - 2000, they only finished negative in turnover margin two times.

Again - football isn't an overly complicated game. Scheme accounts for absolutely nothing if guys can't reflexively react on the field. The more you have to think out there, the worse off you will be.

So, I'm sure Banker (hoping the best for that guy, he's got a tougher job than Riley) is thinking that he can simplify his scheme, and work on fundamentals going into spring ball.

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=209925594

On his initial impression going into spring ball

“My first impression is that I’m really excited for it. It’s a lot simpler than it was. What Coach (Mark) Banker wants us to emphasize over the spring is to be able to fly around. That’s the thing he wants us all to do, to be able to get to the ball faster and to stay loose. Last year we had a lot of people overthinking. Mentally we weren’t as sharp as we were maybe supposed to be. But Banker is just letting us loose. As a defense, I think we’re really excited.”

- Nate Gerry, Safety

Just play football, folks. Blocking and tackling, that's it. That's the fun of the game, and when guys are loose, they're having fun. Put in a much simpler scheme, let the guys flow naturally to the ball and make plays. That won't take all spring. But to fly around, that means fly there with a purpose.

 

[alexhortdog95]

Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

Patrick Willis is one of the best textbook tacklers I've seen in a long, long time.

Here's a textbook tackle by Willis:




They obviously don't do as much hitting in the pros, cause the union complained about it.

 

[Count 'Bility]

But are those so many missed tackles in the past due to playing with tentativeness and being slowed down by a scheme that sucks out all your aggression and puts you in just a bad enough position if not executed perfectly? Or is it due to simple lack of want to or ability?

I dont know the answer. Good points are raised on both sides, and I think this is an honest question.

 

[Landlord]

But are those so many missed tackles in the past due to playing with tentativeness and being slowed down by a scheme that sucks out all your aggression and puts you in just a bad enough position if not executed perfectly? Or is it due to simple lack of want to or ability?

I dont know the answer. Good points are raised on both sides, and I think this is an honest question.

Don't know the answer to this, but keep in mind that almost all of these kids got by in high school on sheer athletic ability that was heads and shoulders above their competition, and its also not uncommon for them to buy into their own hype which leads to lack of discipline and coachability, at least at that level. I bet the number of guys that come into D1 ball that haven't devoted themselves to proper tackling fundamentals is higher than you'd think.

 

[Count 'Bility]

But are those so many missed tackles in the past due to playing with tentativeness and being slowed down by a scheme that sucks out all your aggression and puts you in just a bad enough position if not executed perfectly? Or is it due to simple lack of want to or ability?

I dont know the answer. Good points are raised on both sides, and I think this is an honest question.

Don't know the answer to this, but keep in mind that almost all of these kids got by in high school on sheer athletic ability that was heads and shoulders above their competition, and its also not uncommon for them to buy into their own hype which leads to lack of discipline and coachability, at least at that level. I bet the number of guys that come into D1 ball that haven't devoted themselves to proper tackling fundamentals is higher than you'd think.

Agreed. Good point as well.

 

[admo]

Football isn't that complicated of a game. You can have a team that is much less physically talented that sneaks up on guys if they take care of the fundamentals first:

1. Target the ball carrier.

2. Get a good base.

3. Square up.

4. Contact the ball carrier. Watch his hips, not his head.

5. Arms Wide. Head up and watch what you're hitting!

6. Wrap up and drive your feet.

7. Gang tackle. One sure tackle isn't enough.

8. Last guy there - punch for the ball.

Great list. I don't think you want to watch this clip Alex. You might see targeting and some contact, but that's about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhonx1xby00

If Bo was like a whiz on defense, then I hope Hughes isn't as clever and get's his lineman closer to the LOS.




The UCLA clip is all running plays. Between the lineman and linebackers, I'm not sure what that strategy is.

I still have no understanding why the lineman were so far off the ball. Watching this over and over, I get tired of DBs & Safeties lunging a shoulder, dive at ankles, throw an arm out, and whiff. I get it, they are pass coverage players weighing 200 pounds expected to be run stoppers. And it wears them down throughout a game. They even shy away from contact or look the other way at times. I know they are not hard-wired like lineman and linebackers when it comes to tackling and wrapping up. But so much is expected from them in run support for success in this defense. It sucks. I mean, they really need the help and strength from the DL and LBs. But what are the LBS out there doing besides missing tackles and diving? And I see nothing from the DL. Didn't even need them. The rest of the next few seasons, the strategy pretty much stayed the course. Just inserted a few better players in different spots is all.

 

[The Dude]

That Weisman clip . . . ugh.

I didn't care for Bo's finesse defense.

 

[jsneb83]

To me, the missed tackles didn't bother as much as the lack of gang tackles. It's much easier to miss tackles going one-on-one than if there is a group going after the ball carrier

 

[JJ Husker]

I'll be concerned when the tackling in games hasn't improved immensely over the last 5 years. Positioning and fundamental tackling skill are equally important in my book. If you're out of position, you can't make the play, and if you're in position but can't tackle, you won't make the play. They're both important. But I sure don't think the first dozen spring practices is the time to start freaking out about lack of contact. I'll trust those years of coaching experience until they give us legitimate reason not to. Logic tells me it can't/won't be any worse so imo it's already better.

 

[jmfb]

Last staff was dogged for not tackling enough so I guess my concerns would still be there for this staff too until proven otherwise. I think it would be hard to evaluate our RB's as they have only probably done about a handful of live plays apiece. THis should not effect our Line play on either side bc they are live even when we dont tackle. Maybe they are scared at our poor depth at LB and dont want to get anyone hurt.

Exactly...we were all "mad" about the lack of tackling and now we are going to pretend like its all good.

Personally...I don't like a lot of live tackling in practice. I am a firm believer that, especially by college, you are either good at tackling or you are not.

But isn't tackling a fundamental skill? Something that can be improved with coaching?

That said, it's been refreshing to make it through spring camp with fewer injuries than we've seen in the past.

Up to a point...I think like FT shooting...you kind of "are who you are" at a certain point...if not...we could all be hitting 100% of our shots.

Lets face it...tackling is one of two things...wrapping up or taking out the legs.

I don't know if you need 100 reps of tackling 3 times a week at the college level to figure that out.

I have done it both ways...seasons with tons of tackling and seasons with almost no tackling...both have worked great and both have been horrible.

Agree on this. Some kids are just not good tacklers and some are. Just how it is.

I thought that I heard somewhere about how the Seahawks have completely changed the way they teach tackling. I want to say that they basically teach guys to aim their head behind the ball carriers hip and then wrap and fall or something like that. Would be interesting to see that stats on this technique.

2 years ago (2013) IIRC, they had the D staff actually work with some Australian rules footballers to "learn" to tackle without pads. Carroll said this resulted in more sure tackling, less injuries and less penalties for targeting and personal fouls..... Worked/works for them.

That's what I was thinking of. Thanks for providing the details I couldn't remember.

Seems to work pretty well for those guys. Might be something that other coaches should take a look into.

This has been around for YEARS and well known to most football coaches

Hudl included this clip in their monthly e-mail blast to High School coaches last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn_N9rvce-g

 

[jmfb]

Not concerned at all. Our coaches with 20+ years of experience know better than every single person posting in this forum...

Yep. Cause Tackling hasn't been a problem the last few years...

It isn't just tackling

Most of these tackles aren't made because of poor pursuit angles or giving up inside leverage

 

[The Dude]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn_N9rvce-g

This is a great video. Thanks.