If it’s All About Tackling, Let’s Do a Better Job of Teaching It…

When was the last time you saw a clinic presentation on tackling? Or when was the last time you viewed a DVD on just the fundamentals of a pure tackle? We thought so. It is without question the most important aspect of defensive football yet for some reason it gets neglected in favor of some innovative offensive scheme or some zone blitz package. I think Chuck Clemens, the co-defensive coordinator at the University of Central Missouri said it best when he said that he hears all these offensive line coaches speak about the techniques of the zone play down to every intricate piece of footwork, but when coaches instruct their kids on the proper form of tackling, our teaching method pales in comparison. Yet, when we play poor defensively, it’s all about “we didn’t tackle well.” Often it ends with that – we go back to the same boring drills and tackling circuits with nothing