I think that we have to go back and review how we teach tackling today. You just don’t get an angle tackle anymore. Not that you need to banish the Angle Tackle from football, but stop and think. Surely, if you saw any of the same football I did, you realize that “3 Yards and a Cloud of Dust” doesn’t exist anymore for MOST of the football world. We’re playing in space. We’re having to break down a guy who runs a 4.4 40 yard dash, grab hold of anything we can, and wait for help.
The progression for teaching tackling for us begins with a proper fit position. I like the face mask in the numbers. We really stress the eyes being up. We roll the hips, shoot the arms, and climb the body, looking to grab cloth. Now, we spend no less than several hours on teaching tackling this way, in total, during camp at the beginning of the season. We do it for liability purposes I guess, because I’ve seen maybe 1 tackle per season actually happen that way.
Where I think we need to be headed is towards teaching a ton of open field tackling. Even on an inside or off-tackle running play, you are likely to get a 1-on-1 between a Linebacker who either block destructs or is neglected by the Offensive Line. The field isn’t completely open, but the concept is the same. Players have got to get the “Big Hit” mentality out of their heads – at least when there is some open space. Offensive players are too athletic to expect to get a crazy hit on a guy in the open field. If you’re the second or third guy to the party, and someone else has already executed that sloppy-looking “Grab jersey, wait for help” move in hte open field, then by all means. Light him up, and get excited to do it. But remember the guy who did the real work, the one who held him up for you.
We need to focus our tackling teaching on open field, starting with a 5-7 yard space between the ball carrier and the tackler, and giving him room to work. Then start backing them off, up to 15 yards or so. The difficult thing about this is that early on, the success rate is terrible. Tacklers have to learn to get to a position of control, roughly 3 yards away from the ball carrier, and then move laterally to him. It goes against all we teach about closing down that space, delivering a blow, etc. If you’ve ever taught an offensive lineman to run block, then tried to teach a receiver to stalk block – you know the difference between the old form tackle, and the open field tackle.
We have to keep working to adapt our practices and philosophy as the Offense continues to adapt theirs.
