OSUK
Sometimes lucid, mostly confused
The Oklahoma Drill, full live/hitting scrimmages, drills with tackling to the ground, goal line situations with masses of bodies hurling at each other, and more, have been staples of football at every level. Coaches have felt those kinds of things instill toughness in players, make for better tackling, and are good for overall team development.
The downside has been injuries of all kinds, and since we are in this age of concussion awareness, head injuries in particular.
The Dartmouth coach hasn't had live tackling in his practices for 5 years. They emphasize technique, avoid injuries, and the coach says there is no downside. His critics point out his less than stellar winning pct. as a head coach, but the entire league is adopting this policy.
My HS coach believed in full contact practices. We killed each other twice a day during pre-season, and 2 times a week during the season. He would back it off toward the end of the year. My college coach did about the same. I gotta admit, there were many times I was watching guys get carried off the field and thought that it was insane.
In HS (late 70s, early 80s) we played a team that never hit during the week, and those guys were the hardest hitting fellas we played. So, this idea has been around for a long time. It is just now hitting college football, albeit a minor league in CFB. It will be interesting to see if major programs and leagues will move in that direction.
Thoughts?
The downside has been injuries of all kinds, and since we are in this age of concussion awareness, head injuries in particular.
The Dartmouth coach hasn't had live tackling in his practices for 5 years. They emphasize technique, avoid injuries, and the coach says there is no downside. His critics point out his less than stellar winning pct. as a head coach, but the entire league is adopting this policy.
My HS coach believed in full contact practices. We killed each other twice a day during pre-season, and 2 times a week during the season. He would back it off toward the end of the year. My college coach did about the same. I gotta admit, there were many times I was watching guys get carried off the field and thought that it was insane.
In HS (late 70s, early 80s) we played a team that never hit during the week, and those guys were the hardest hitting fellas we played. So, this idea has been around for a long time. It is just now hitting college football, albeit a minor league in CFB. It will be interesting to see if major programs and leagues will move in that direction.
Thoughts?
