Defense bringing in rugby specialist

[HuskerTimOmaha]

Coach Banker said they'll have a rugby specialist come in and work with the guys on tackling without the head.

Pete Carroll did this a few years ago with Seattle. Looking forward to seeing the results.

 

[TheBeav815]

Love the idea. Good step by them to recognize this is going to be a concern with parents, and get in front of it so they can say, "We're actively working to make it as safe as we can."

 

[timnsun]

Love the idea. Good step by them to recognize this is going to be a concern with parents, and get in front of it so they can say, "We're actively working to make it as safe as we can."

That and cutting down on the penalties/ejections a certain safety incurred, whether warranted or not, this coming season.

 

[bigboxes]

Take off the helmets for this exercise.

 

[nebcountry]

I have heard of teams doing this, and I really like it.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

Yeah...it is the wrap and roll...some places call it different things but it makes a lot of sense. I am guessing you will start seeing it at the high school level and middle school level very soon and it will spread.

 

[Yossarian23]

I know of a few local high schools that planned on teaching this technique starting this past year. Not sure how it worked for them.

 

[xrugger]

As a former rugger, I applaud this move. Do recognize, however, that there is not the premium on one yard in rugby that there is in football. Tackling in rugby is more about controlling the body position of the man you are taking down when possible. Yeah, first priority is still to get him down and I can say that tackling faceguard first doesn't work in rugby. Whoops, no faceguard. Guess that is why I woke up a couple minutes later then on to the ER to get my nose fixed.

 

[huskerdude88]

As I guy doing in medical school in Dublin the capital of rugby I cannot stress how much I love this move. The kids here are so well advanced in fundamental tackling that it's caught me by surprise the few times I've went out with the lads to play. Rugby is a sport that is highly fundamental in nature. When you don't have a helmet on you're a lot more likely to look up to see what you're hitting. This should do wonders for our tackling.

 

[newAD]

Hopefully it's not one of these guys? Especially the guy at the bottom. No pun intended. Laughing

 

[xrugger]

The one in the middle isn't rugby. That is Aussie rules football. I've played them both.

 

[schuele]

In my opinion, tackling fundamentals have taken a big hit over the years as teams held more practices in helmets and shoulder pads only. I only played high school football, and it was back when helmets-and-shoulder-pads-only practices were rare. But nevertheless - I hated them. You were still expected to close on the ball carrier and wrap him up, but obviously you didn't want to hit your teammates around the hips or thighs when they had no protection, So, you had to go high on them. I think now that full-pads practices are fewer and fewer, this becomes a bad habit that carries over to games.

I get the good intentions of moving away from full-pads practices, but it may have had unintended consequences. So I like this idea of no-pads-or-helmets tackling drills, because at least there's no natural inclination to go high on the ball carrier.

 

[bigboxes]

If you're not wearing a helmet then you probably aren't going to lead with your head.

 

[NikkiSixx_rivals269993]

I really like the idea that our players are going to get the best coaching and training possible.

I've always wondered if the additional protective gear worn in football actually encouraged more violent hits, created more injuries, and ends up having the net opposite effect of it's intended result.