The National Football League and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) have teamed up to produce a new, free “Football Tackling” course for the NFHS Learning Center. It is designed to help interscholastic coaches teach, assess and program proper tackle techniques.

“This course is packed with valuable tools and real-world drills that will help any interscholastic football coach, and it’s a welcome addition to the NFHS Learning Center,” said Dan Schuster, Director of NFHS Educational Services. “Not only is the content valuable, but it is available for free which will allow easy access to football coaches across the country.”

“We are thrilled to be working with NFHS to bring this free course to high school coaches and continue our efforts to grow the game of football and advocate for player protection,” said Roman Oben, vice president of football development for the NFL. “We believe this course will allow athletes to continue playing football at a high level while implementing proper playing techniques.”

“Football Tackling” begins by presenting that coaches must have a simple framework to effectively teach tackling while managing contact. Training “checkpoints” known as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are also covered in the opening chapter and range from striking accuracy and body positioning to the appropriate intensity of training.

The course also emphasizes the importance of managing contact as players acclimate to tackling drills and other physical training activities. Balancing a contact and non-contact training regimen is not only an effective way to monitor contact frequency and severity, it also offers players the ability to fine-tune tackle mechanics such as tracking and spin. lever before using them at full speed.

Another section takes an in-depth look at the different types of tackle drills and separates them into four distinct categories: teaching drills, tracking drills, sack drills, and “Small Space, Big Fight” drills. Each subgroup contains approximately five sample exercises that are detailed according to their skill development goals and can be used at different speeds and levels of contact for focused instruction.

The final chapter of “Football Tackling” discusses equipment fitting and outlines the information and measurements needed to ensure players are wearing appropriately sized helmets and shoulder pads.

The “Football Tackling” course is one of many projects resulting from the NFHS-NFL partnership announced in September 2020. This first-ever partnership aimed to promote the growth, understanding and support of football at the high school level. One of the primary goals of the NFHS-NFL partnership has been to survey state high school association administrators, high school student-athletes, parents, coaches and officials regarding their experiences in football and the benefits of participation.

Additionally, the partnership was launched to identify, inform and educate participants, partners, associations, government and the media on the benefits and values ​​of participating in high school football.

Ed Passino, the senior consultant for high school football promotion who was hired to lead the NFHS-NFL partnership, was involved in the production of “Football Tackling” as part of his work with external stakeholders and organizations. football to promote, develop and improve the overall perception of football at secondary level.

“Coach education and player protection are key pillars of the NFHS-NFL partnership, and this tackling course exemplifies that commitment,” said Ed Passino, senior consultant for high school football. “Built alongside football coaches and sports administrators across the country, this course provides coaches with perspective to not only teach and assess tackling, but it also provides concepts to best develop player confidence through appropriate contact load management, skill instruction, and progression guidelines.”