Is Full Contact Practice a Thing of the Past in FBS?

[RSTuthill]

I know that the late Dartmouth coach was the first to eliminate it from Dartmouth practices and that philosophy has spread.

I assume it is still done during preseason camps, perhaps not every day. Maybe no more than once or twice a week. And certainly with the extra helmet protection.

But let's talk about game weeks in FBS. Is full contact ever used during a game week? If not, how is it possible to improve tackling during the season?

 

[noeynox]

I know that the late Dartmouth coach was the first to eliminate it from Dartmouth practices and that philosophy has spread.

I assume it is still done during preseason camps, perhaps not every day. Maybe no more than once or twice a week. And certainly with the extra helmet protection.

But let's talk about game weeks in FBS. Is full contact ever used during a game week? If not, how is it possible to improve tackling during the season?

Football is very very different than what it was. I mean the tackling wheel? You were tackling wheel for a teammate and vice versa. Definitely good in terms of health but the tackling overall has become abysmal.

I'd like to know the answer to your question as well.

 

[HurricaneDave]

I’m not at practice so I don’t know if they are ever tackling fully to the ground during the season. My guess is probably not and that goes for most teams.

How do you improve tackling in season without tackling? They should be scaling the drills to teach and practice skills. Instead of 100% effort (intensity) you reduce the intensity greatly and reduce the injury risk while improving the skill. Andy Ryland of USA Football has a lot of good info regarding specific drills. He takes a lot from rugby. How many teams are doing this? Probably not many.

On Saturday there were 2 missed tackles including by a DT on a QB run. It looked just like the tackle the foam wheel drill where a coach rolls the donut and players tackle it by rolling. Problem is the donut has no weight to it so there is minimal skill transfer to an actual tackle, as was very evident by the 2 players executing the practice technique and failing to complete the tackle. I’ve seen plenty of this drill in the practice hype videos.

Miami went through very similar issues recently. Idk how much detail you want to see but the link below goes in depth, specifically tackling issues from Miami, but also has a lot of good info on tackling itself and practicing/drills, if you go toward the end of the post.

The art of tacklin’ (pt. 2)

Miami was one of the worst tackling programs in the country the past two seasons, will that change under a new leadership?

www.stateoftheu.com

 

[ConnMan74]

Most programs no longer tackle fully once fall camp begins and continue that throughout the season. Injury prevention is a major concern nowadays. I do not know how many teams buck that trend but have been told that USC goes live every Tuesday (at least during Lincoln's first year they did) in order to keep the starters sharp and allow the bench players an opportunity to earn playing time.

 

[ZooCougar]

I would go the other direction.

Have as much full contact as the rules allow.

No stupid Oklahoma Drills but a good focus on the lost art of tackling and be smart about it.

 

[Uconnalliance]