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Out in the Open - Live tackling drills can improve your team’s open field tackling.

by: Drew Christ
Former Defensive Coordinator, University at Albany
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As today’s game stretches laterally to encompass the entire width of the field, the ability to open-field tackle is at a premium. One of the most difficult skills to acquire as a defensive player is the art of open-field tackling. Even elite athletes need to improve and sharpen their skill sets.

How do you enhance those abilities and replicate them at game speed? The answer is simple – live tackling, offensive skill vs. defensive skill. At the University at Albany, Head Coach Bob Ford has a motto that is time-tested and repeated to his assistant coaches: “Make Cs into Bs, and Bs into As”. We recruit the best players we can and they must fit into our program, not vice versa. We are going to then coach them to become better players. Here is how we do it in regards to tackling.
   
Coaching points for our drills:

1. Do it in a 5-minute period – be organized and get reps. Teach in meetings.

2. Keep it safe and blow quick whistles if the tackler is sliding down toward the knees or ankles. Also, the offense has to “juke” the defender. No running over him.

3. The “fit” is more important than the “finish” - at least in this drill. Blow the whistle about a second after the fit and hit. Err on the side of not having them finish. The drill is about the first two-thirds of the tackle, not the last third.

4. Put them in realistic situations – with speed and space. This isn’t batting practice. We do practice “confined” tackling, but not in this drill.

5.  Make it competitive. If you believe in the drill’s importance, your players will follow suit. Change dimensions to make it fit your players’ ability levels. If there are not enough missed tackles, widen the tackling zone by a yard or two.

Emphasis for the tackler is to tackle with his chest. Don’t have him lead with his shoulder pads. This sets him off balance and puts him in an unathletic position.

Drill #1: Two-Tackler Drill:

This is our base drill that we start with every summer and spring. We work across the field so we can use the sidelines, top of the numbers, and hashes as guidelines. We have three groups: WR vs. DB, RB vs. Safeties, TE/H-Backs vs. LBs.  We often mix up the groups for a little more variety, but those are our base groups.

The ball carrier has seven yards width and approximately 10 yards separation to make the defender miss. After he makes him miss or gets tackled, the ball carrier will pop-up and go at the next defender. It is important to note that the first defender can never turn and get back into the drill and the second cannot approach until the ball carrier is back up and running (Diagram 1).

Drill #2: Perimeter DrillS:

This is our next phase of tackling. We have two groups: WRs vs. all DBs, and RBs and TEs vs. LBs. 

We run the Toss Drill (Diagram 2) with the LB vs. RB group and give them an initiation point five yards outside the ball and 10 extra yards until another cone. The ball carrier does his best to make the tackler miss while the tackler practices an inside-out bend to the inside hip of the ball carrier.



With the DB vs. WR group, we run a Bubble Drill (Diagram 3) and give them a cone inside the top of the numbers to the sideline (10 yards). The tackler must backpedal around a cone positioned two-three yards behind him to time up the tackling drill. The receiver does his best to make the tackler miss while the tackler practices an inside-out bend and potentially a sideline tackle.


If done well, the tacklers should execute inside-out pursuit tackles. The offensive players are getting work on catching the ball and the realistic tackle angles of a defender. 
Drill #3: Receiving DrillS:

This is our last phase of tackling. We have two groups: WRs vs. all DBs, and  RBs and TEs vs. LBs. 

We run a check-down side and a swing pass side (Diagram 4) with the LB vs. RB group. The check down side requires the defender to drop around a cone that is 10 yards away. Once he gets around  the cone, he can drive on the receiver. That should be enough time for the receiver to catch the ball and face up to the tackler so he can make a move. The swing pass is run almost identically to the bubble pass in Drill #2. Basically, the numbers to the sideline and the LB must drop around a cone to time it correctly.


With the DB vs. WR group (Diagram 5) we run an out-cutting drill and an in-cutting drill. For the out-cutting drill, we give them a cone on the numbers to the sideline (eight yards). The defender drops around a cone that is two-three yards behind him. Once he gets around the cone, he can drive on the receiver. The receiver is just executing the “top” of his route so he’s not wasting energy and time running up the field 10 yards.


As for the in-cutting drill, we start the WRs on the sidelines and they catch the ball on the numbers. We have cones on the top of the numbers and approximately on the hash – eight yards to make a move after the catch. Once again, the defender peddles around a cone that is two-three yards behind him. Once he gets around the cone, he can drive on the receiver.

We have placed three drills together that gives the offense and defense equal chances of success while doing our best to simulate game speed. We keep the time short and use a quick whistle to minimize the chance of injury. Most importantly, defenders tackle from all different angles on ball carriers coming from realistic and varying directions.
 
About the Author: Drew Christ recently completed his eighth season on the staff at the University at Albany and his first as defensive coordinator. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at the University of Rochester. Christ has also coached at the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College. He played at the University of Chicago and was a three-time All-University Athletic Association defensive back.






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