Interesting story about The Oklahoma Drill, featuring Blake Bell, Switzer, and Stoops

[Landthief 1972]

With practice looming the next morning, Bell sits up in bed and grabs his phone. He knows exactly whom to call. In the late 1970s, his father, Mark Bell, was a fast, snarling, contact-craving tight end and defensive end at Colorado State and for five seasons in the NFL with the Seahawks and Colts. Coaches at Colorado State used the Oklahoma as a kind of human cockfight, pitting Mark against his hard-charging twin brother, Mike, a defensive end, to pump everyone up for the true beginning of the season, the first day of hitting in practice. The brothers didn't mind. They loved that the drill was less about technique or talent and more about measuring the willingness to fight.

Thirty years after Mark last stepped into the fire, he knew immediately what the call from his son was about. No two words evoke more pain and pride in former players than Oklahoma and drill. Even before saying hello, Mark, with a twinge of nostalgia in his voice, summed up the drill the best way he knew how.

"Time to get your mean on, son."

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13348894/is-oklahoma-drill-just-rite-passage-everything-fear-football

[BoulderSooner79]

I'm always happy when the drill is over and we don't hear about any significant injuries. I get that it's just a part of football, I'm just too old to get worked up about it anymore.

[Landthief 1972]

I'm always happy when the drill is over and we don't hear about any significant injuries. I get that it's just a part of football, I'm just too old to get worked up about it anymore.

I don't really have an issue with the traditional version where they're only 4 yards apart, but reading about revised drills where they're 10 yards or more apart just sounds like, to paraphrase the Joker, "dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight," to me.

The section about Pee Wee leagues and how unprotected a kid's head and neck are was a bit terrifying. I'd also agree that it's not an appropriate drill for kids under 14. It might be time to do away with pads and helmets until junior high. Frankly, the majority of kids under that age aren't going to have great tackling mechanics/technique anyway...let them concentrate on learning the fundamentals of lining up, passing, catching, kicking, etc. Just my two cents.

[badger]

Players need to know how to make and how to take a hit in football. Where should they learn? A controlled environment where you know where the hit is coming from, versus in an actual game when you can be blocked in the back without warning by some moron that wasn't taught that leading with your helmet hurts you more than the other guy.

I choose Oklahoma Drill.

While I enjoyed the story, ESPN's tired double standard act of football-so-dangerous-but-watch-football-on-ESPN is getting old. Does concussion danger talk help you sleep better at night while you pay billions to the NFL and college conferences to televise games?

[Tear Down This Wall]

Players need to know how to make and how to take a hit in football. Where should they learn? A controlled environment where you know where the hit is coming from, versus in an actual game when you can be blocked in the back without warning by some moron that wasn't taught that leading with your helmet hurts you more than the other guy.

I choose Oklahoma Drill.

While I enjoyed the story, ESPN's tired double standard act of football-so-dangerous-but-watch-football-on-ESPN is getting old. Does concussion danger talk help you sleep better at night while you pay billions to the NFL and college conferences to televise games?

Agree 157%. The day ESPN stops glorifying hard hits during their plays of the day, replays, etc. is the day I'll take them seriously on this thing.

Now...that being said, I've got a nine-year old son who weighs 117 pounds already and has the shape of a very short linebacker/fullback. We have kept him out of tackle football, so far, and specifically because of the concussion issue.

I think having the little kids do it is crazy. But, once you get into high school, I think the majority of coaches these days are capable of running a safe Oklahoma drill for their players.

As far as our son, because he asks us every other day when he can play tackle football, we always tell him he can do it in high school. Secretly, though, we hope he sticks with baseball. That little linebacker/fullback body of his does well at catcher and first base, so far. Hope he continues to love baseball and forgets about football...but, that is very tough here in the northern suburbs of Dallas.

[Landthief 1972]

Players need to know how to make and how to take a hit in football. Where should they learn? A controlled environment where you know where the hit is coming from, versus in an actual game when you can be blocked in the back without warning by some moron that wasn't taught that leading with your helmet hurts you more than the other guy.

I choose Oklahoma Drill.

While I enjoyed the story, ESPN's tired double standard act of football-so-dangerous-but-watch-football-on-ESPN is getting old. Does concussion danger talk help you sleep better at night while you pay billions to the NFL and college conferences to televise games?

I have no problem with the traditional drill. My concern is when they give them a 10-yard+ running start, or when they have 8-year-olds running it.

I'm not going to lie, I've been struggling a bit with my love of football in light of the recent studies on concussions, including the studies done of the brains of former NFL players. However, if football ever changed to more of a finesse game, I frankly would stop watching. There's nothing like watching a defender pop a RB flat on his back, or seeing Peterson run down a safety. Anything less than that would be...soccer, I guess. Yuck. The flipside of that would be, that for a majority of us, football is only played until we're about 18 or so; which means the odds of doing any major, permanent damage is minimized. Anybody playing beyond that point is an adult and can decide for themselves if it's worth the risk.

[KantoSooner]

LT, I couldn't agree more on the 10 yard thing. Line up a yard or so apart with the RB a further 3 yards back and you get every bit the test without high G collisions.
I further think a change to 'ugly' helmets (I'd suggest polypropylene for flex with padding on the outside as well as the inside) not shiny, but better to distribute impact should be investigated.
You can alter the game in the direction of rugby and still have a fully satisfying sport ("Rugby players eat their dead") while cutting back on the head injuries.