Chris Ash teaches Longhorn Tackling

• By Coach Grabowski

As Vince Lombardi once said, the game is pretty simple:

“Some people try to find things in this game that do not exist, but football is only two things - blocking and tackling” - Vince Lombardi

 “Texas Tackling Situations”

Teaching tackling has become a hot topic over the last several years.  The typical tackle drills and old technique  have been replaced with methods that better simulate game day situations. 

Of course what used to be simple can be made unnecessarily complex, and cause confusion for a coach learning what he should teach, and certainly a player learning what to apply.

Chris Ash, defensive coordinator at Texas believes in staying on the cutting edge of teaching and practice methods, but he still keeps it fairly simple by identifying a small set of tackling situations that every defense will face:

1. Frontal

2. Profile

3. Sideline

4. Phone Booth

5. One Arm Restricted

6. Last Man

He explains in this video

Ash also keeps the techniques that the Longhorns used to a limited set.

1. Eyes to the Thigh

2. Wrap & Roll

3. Track Tackle

4. Strike ZOne

5. Pec Tackle

6. Click the Heels

He gives an overview here:

Ash puts those situations together with the techniques.  He shares how he does that in drills with the frontal tackle and eyes to the thigh in this video:

1 Knee tackle drill on bags 

1 Knee tackle drill on bodies

Game clips illustrating the technique on defense on special teams

In a world where we can get inundated with information, it’s refreshing to have someone break it down and explain it in a simpler  way.

Ash’s methods are effective and his teaching progression from drill to game film is repeated for all of the techniques and situations in his clinic “Texas Tackling Situations.”