How do you get better at something that you can’t practice as much as you want to?
That’s the dilemma the Arizona Wildcats — and every team at every level of football — faces nowadays when it comes to tackling.
With an ever-increasing emphasis on player safety, teams don’t tackle as much during practice as they used to. That has led to more missed tackles during games. Arizona’s defensive effort against Grambling State, especially in the first half, epitomized the problem.
The Wildcats missed countless tackles, especially when Tigers quarterback Devante Kincade and tailback Martez Carter had the ball in their hands. The UA spent extra time this week working on tackling and expects to see improvement against Hawaii. The main point of emphasis from defensive coordinator Marcel Yates: move your feet.
“A lot of guys are stopping their feet, and they’re lunging,” Yates said. “They’re doing what I call the two-foot takeoff. Their feet are parallel, and they’re lunging off their two feet, which causes you to drop your eyes. Then if guys are moving and you’re not moving, they’re running away from you.
“You’ve got to go. You’ve got to go take your shots, run through people, grab them. Don’t reach for them; actually go grab them. Go wrap them up. We should be better this week, I would hope.”
The challenge during the week is finding what Yates calls the “happy medium” between hitting and staying healthy. He believes his playing career could have been longer had he not gotten banged up so much during practice. Yates played at Boise State in the late 1990s.
“You still need to work their technique as far as tackling,” Yates said. “But I think you need to be smart with them as well.”
