Tackling The Teaching Of Tackling

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t is very humbling and an honor to be selected by the AFCA as the 2000 Division II Assistant Coach of the Year. I would like to thank the AFCAfor the opportunity to speak at the 2002 national convention. I would also like to thank Dale Lennon, our head coach, for all his support throughout the years. It is equally important to thank our outstanding staff; Chris Mussman, Tom Dosch, Tim Tibesar, Curt Sienkiewicz, Tim Belmore, Cooper Harris, Greg Lotysz, Mike Mannausau, and Jon Young for their continued support. It is a special privilege to represent the University of North Dakota and the Fighting Sioux football staff at this year ’s convention. At the University of North Dakota we have one major goal for our defense to attain each season. That goal is to lead the North Central Conference in fewest points allowed. This is not an easy task in one of the most balanced and powerful Division II conferences in the country. Yet, we have reached our goal by allowing the fewest points in our league in seven of the last 10 seasons. During seven of the last eight seasons we have also been first or second in our conference in total defense. While we are proud of the fact that we have not allowed many yards when compared to other teams in our league, we are most proud to be the team that has allowed the fewest points in league play during seven of the last 10 seasons. Our defensive staff, like all coaching staffs, feels that we must be great at the fundamentals to be able to reach our seasonal goal. There are four basic defensive fundamentals that we stress to our defense throughout spring ball, fall camp, and the regular season. The four fundamentals that we stress to our team are: • Pursuit • Tackling • Creating Turnovers • Defeating Blocks We constantly talk to our defense about executing these fundamentals at a high level to help us attain our defensive goal. But talk alone does not emphasize these fundamentals enough. We must constantly practice these fundamentals to stress their importance. Similar to most staffs, we are faced with the challenge of planning practices to get players the maximum number of repetitions on fundamentals in the least amount of time. With the exception of pursuit drills, we practice our defensive fun-

damentals by using a circuit drill (station to station) concept. Circuit drills are used to practice tackling, shedding blocks, and creating turnovers. We believe that circuit drills stress the importance of these fundamentals to our defense and they are the most efficient way to practice these fundamentals. Circuit Drills Our defensive practice will start with a five-minute block of pursuit drills following team warm-up and stretch. Immediately following the pursuit drills, we devote 10 minutes of practice time to a tackling circuit, take-away circuit, or shed-a-block circuit. We want this 10-minute block of practice time to be high energy with very little transition time between drills so each player gets a high number of practice repetitions. Therefore, it is important to take the time to organize the circuit drills to use the practice time efficiently. It is also important to take enough time to design drills so they properly prepare the defense for game-like situations. Four stations are used for our fundamental circuit training, with one coach per station. The coach stays and teaches at his station during the entire circuit. The players are divided into four groups and the groups will rotate from station to station. Defensive linemen, outside linebackers, inside linebackers, and defensive backs make up the four groups. Ideally, we want 12-14 players in each group, so it may be necessary to move some players to even the numbers in each group. For example, we may put some of the safeties with the outside linebackers or inside linebackers to get the numbers we want at each station. Players are at each station for two minutes and 15 seconds and are expected to rotate to the next station and be ready for the next drill within 15 seconds. Each group of players starts with their position coach to begin the circuit, except for those players that need to join another group to balance out the numbers. After a short yet precise explanation of the drill, players rotate in and out of the drill as quickly as possible. It is important to remember not to be in too big of a hurry that fundamentals are sacrificed. We need to coach technique and give feedback on the run so repetitions are maximized at each station. A coach or assigned timekeeper will blow a whistle to indicate to the groups to rotate to the next station. At the

Tackling the Teaching of Tackling

Kyle Schweigert Defensive Coordinator/ Assistant Head Coach University of North Dakota

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •

Grand Forks, N.D.

whistle, all players will sprint to the next station, receive instruction for the next drill, and begin to execute the drill at the next station. This process is repeated until each group goes through the four stations. Although we feel that all the circuit drills are important to our defense, the focus of this talk will be the four station tackling circuit. Members of our staff were introduced to the Air Force Academy’s tackling circuit by the late Bill Johnson when he spoke at the North Dakota State High School Coaches Convention in the mid 1980’s. We began to use a four station tackling circuit as a part of our practice in the spring of 1990, when Dale Lennon, our current head coach, was named defensive coordinator. The tackle circuit is the first circuit we implement into practice plans each spring and each fall. These tackle circuit drills have been an essential part of our spring ball, fall camp, and regular season practices for the last 12 seasons. Tackle Circuit Before we ever do a tackle circuit, all our players are taught the proper, safe way to tackle during a 10-minute tackle progression teaching session. The proper placement of the head, use of the hands, and hip rotation is emphasized during each teaching progression station. This 10-minute session is held during our first practice in the spring and during practice No. 1 in fall camp. During this teaching progression, players are put into their circuit groups and rotate to each station to learn the fundamentals of tackling. The big difference between our circuit drills and our tackle progression teaching is that all coaches are teaching the same thing, at the same time, at each station. Therefore, it is not necessary to rotate groups from coach to coach, but we feel it serves as a practice run for the circuit drill rotation.

The general philosophy for the tackling circuit is to have one station a sideline tackling drill, one station escaping from a block to make a tackle, another station to practice a running game open-field tackle, and a station to practice a passing game open field tackle. We use about 15 different drills throughout the year to practice all different types of game-like tackles. The concept of the drill at each station remains the same yet the actual drill could change when a different group gets to the station. For example, the defensive backs, outside linebackers and inside linebackers may practice an open field passing game tackle by pass dropping and breaking up to a receiver, while the defensive lineman will practice tackling a scrambling quarterback at the open-field passing-game station. There are certain points of emphasis that are common at each tackle station. All coaches will emphasize the proper placement of the head to promote safety and so the tackler is able to see his target. Each player is also encouraged to lower his hips into the hitting position before contact so he can roll his hips through the ball carrier to make a powerful tackle. The use of the hands to rake through the ball and grab the ball carrier is also stressed at each station. It is important to note, the ball carriers are not taken to the ground during the tackle circuit. We believe tackling can be practiced at a high tempo without taking the ball carrier to the ground and putting the players at a higher risk for injury. Summary The circuit drill concept has been a part of our defensive practice philosophy for over 10 seasons. We began using this concept in 1990 by implementing a tackle circuit into our practice plans. The tackle circuit is always the first circuit drill that we

use in the spring and fall workouts. It is also the most frequently used circuit drill. During the 2001 spring practices, we used the tackle circuit in seven of the 14 practices. During two-a-day practices in the fall, the tackle circuit will be implemented into every other practice. During game week, preparation circuit drills remain a part of our practices to stress the fundamentals. The tackle circuit will always be used during our first practice each week. As practice time shortens late in the year we may decrease the length of the tackle circuit from ten minutes to five minutes. Each position group will, at times, practice tackling during their individual time, but our staff believes using circuit drills is the best way to stress tackling fundamentals. There are several reasons we like the tackle circuit to be a part of our philosophy. We believe the circuit stresses the importance of tackling because the entire defense practices tackling at the same time. Doing tackling circuits early in practice further emphasizes its importance. The rotation from station to station helps to break the monotony of practice and creates a high energy, exciting tempo during practice. Finally, we feel tackling circuits build team unity because every defensive player will have contact with all the defensive coaches during the tackle circuit. At the University of North Dakota we believe that tackling circuits have played a major role in the success of our defense. By designing drills to be position specific and creating drills to be as game-like as possible, we feel the tackle circuits are the best and most efficient way to practice tackling. The strengthening of tackling fundamentals has allowed us to attain our number one defensive goal seven of the last 10 years, which is to lead the league in fewest points allowed.

Adopt Safety-First Coaching Techniques According to legal experts, “failure to warn” usually is one of the primary accusations made against those in the coaching profession in litigation which involves catastrophic injury to a player. To help prevent what could result in the destruction of a coaching career, as well as massive financial loss, adopt “safety first” coaching techniques: 1. Have a clear and complete understanding of the intent and correct application of safety rules. 2. Make graphically clear to players the risk of violating these rules and use the available printed material as a constant authoritative reminder to them of the importance of correct techniques. 3. Point out in exact terms the risk of accidental catastrophic injury in athletics before the first practice begins.

• Proceedings • 79th AFCA Convention • 2002 •