USC is officially not practicing Monday and Tuesday but you never know exactly what that means because there might be walk-throughs, etc.
This week, practices are scheduled at 6 a.m. for Wednesday and Thursday and 6:30 a.m. on Friday. Nice and early!
One thing I talked to a USC coach about over the weekend was the decline (in my opinion) of the art of tackling in college football.
“Less hitting equals worse tackling,” the coach said.
The rules have changed with concerns over player safety: Two-a-days have been eliminated, practice days slashed and mandatory off days added. The number of contact practices and full-contact practices have also decreased.
While it is better for the players, it seems as though tackling is woeful at times in college football games. I could show some USC lowlights from last season that prove this point.
“It is what it is,” the coach said. “You can try to work on it. But the rules have changed things. And that’s fine.”
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
Pete Carroll brought in some rugby guys to give his Seahawk players tips on how to tackle with less risk of injury. I remember hearing that this method was revolutionary. Why not, as a USC coach – look into this ?
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At Seattle it’s all about “rolling guys to the ground.” And it works….
#Grinch:”ISpitOnRolling”….
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Spaticus couldn’t have said it better.
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Alex Grinch Thought Balloon: “These rule changes are playing right into my hands…”
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As he washes them like Pontius Pilate.
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Ha!
… I’d say he’s more like Pilot’s wife…but…that would get tebow turned on all over again….
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Yes, but this has re-opened up the run game. SC should devise game plans to win some games with their running attack instead of the Air Raid. Run all four backs. An active running game brings about toughness and gobbles up time that denies the opposing offense from more time on the field. The achilles heel of the Air Raid is that it results in sort of a flag football game.
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That argument falls short when you look at the number of teams using that type of offense now, even in nfl. Are we going back to 3 yards and a cloud of dust?
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steve – I don’t know. Ask Tulane how that worked out?
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You want real football with real tackling then watch the NFL
where they practice tackling all day long and consequently
the scores are often lower than at the college level
The college rules were changed to protect the players
where 98% are not good enough for the NFL anyway
And yes the game has “evolved” into something like intramural football
where the quarterback is seldom over the center
and the watch-word is “Everybody go long!”
producing cheap touchdowns
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My favorite play throughout my CYO career , John! Never knew any others….
#ItWould’veBeenNice,Though,ToGetSomeBlocking…
#…WhileIWasWaitingFor”Everybody”ToGetOutThere
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Yeah, Michael, as a quarterback I used to throw it high and as far as I could which was 60-yards (40 yards today) and see if my guy could run under it
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I’d be happy to throw it 40 yards back in the day, John….
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Hate to break it to you but the NFL has restrictions on tackling as well. The scores are lower due to a running clock and narrow hash marks. College has a much larger wide side of the field and creates for a more open play style. Plus, college has no intention of parity like the NFL with draft picks based on poor seasons, salary caps, etc. There’s lots of reasons why college games have more points.
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Points well taken, Mrs. ‘Ton-o-Hel’
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John —what a refreshing, civilized way of reacting to a counterpoint.
#HopeOthersDrop”YouAreNowMyEnemy&IWantToKillYou”Reply..
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With the transfer portal and NIL coming into play it is obvious that a great deal of parity has come to college football.
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i hate it when we score 49 points of cheap touchdowns.
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It would be SO horrible if we did that for 15 straight games this season….
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It was the realization by colleges that the quickest and easiest way
to the end zone is via the ‘Air Force’ and not the grounded ‘Army’ way
That and rules changes such as overly protecting the quarterbacks
created what we have today– intramural-like football, 45-40 stuff
–And none of that “use the run” stuff such as in the 1967 SC over sucla National Championship game
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Rugby players are typically better athletes. And only wear a cup and a mouthpiece.
You tackle the ball. If you tackled like you are playing FB then there would be 22 dead soldiers on the field by the end of the first half. If you tackle with no consideration to injury(like FB), the other team will make sure you leave the field on a stretcher.
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I agree 75. When players became more well padded they used that padding as an excuse to hit harder. Not that many tackles are finished with just a hit, the arms and hands have a lot to do with it. That is why they started calling the intentional targeting, the use of the helmet. Too bad they don’t get rid of the helmet, then the collisions would not be to the heads, but down lower.
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Smart remarks about the virtues of Cal 75’s First Love, Rugby, bring Cal75 back to the blog!
#GoodToSeeYou!
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Don’t have a lot to add MG.
Saddened by the weakness of the PAC(choose a #).
The derelict that tried to EFF up this blog for his $.65-$1.00 a post from some left wing political org made me realize I have better things to do.
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Saint Thomas More: “Some elect to gain the world by losing their immortal souls….
#…ButFor65Cents?”
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The derelict that tried to EFF up this blog for his $.65-$1.00 a post from some left wing political org is back!
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–And the face-guard of the football helmet, bring back single bars
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Hey, if it was good enough for Jon Arnett….
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It doesn’t matter if they have 3-5 contact days or two. To many times last year players tried to arm tackle RB, TE, (Kincaid ,and back up TE running over, through Bullock. It’s the mindset and tackling want to. 1) Use your leverage or legs to create power and force to wrap up the ball carrier. 2) Don’t look the heat sinking missle tackle, too many times those plays turned into 50-60 yd plays when they had 3rd n 2 n A BIG PLAY N A CLOUD OF MUSH TACKLE. 🔎🕙 ⚖️🕶️🚪🖥️🖨️ Discovery Time Done Out of Legal Dark Room Editing Ready For Print. Love Cut N Paste and Replace n Find option on menu bar. Thank u Gabby for being rightous on the blog.#48HoursNKnowMoreDiscovery2DraftOrSeekThankYouNexusLexus
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7112,
100%! We’d all be happy if Grinch found a way to stop 9 yard completions turning into 40 yard gains.
#SawEnoughOfThoseInLast2GamesToLastALifetime
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Last year we had a linebacker corp that was wounded and just plain bad, no production at nickelback, a defensive line that was poor outside of Tuli and very little edge production.
the USC defense this year might have only 1-3 starters from last year starting. bullock is guaranteed. gentry is a maybe (although he was never the same after injury), Shaw might only be a rotational player this year if someone else steps up. i dont think wright starts this year (covington/jackson as starters).
a completely different defense on the field. good or bad, the defense isnt limited by last year’s performance.
the coaching is the one consistent factor that might screw it up.
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…yeah…coaching COULD screw it up…….it would be sad if Grinch singlehandedly kept us from this year’s NC…
#BumperSticker:”Don’tWasteCaleb!”
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You had me running like a trainload full of optimism for a moment there gametv, and then you had to ruin it all by mentioning’coaching’
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Excuse me while I roll my lip over my upper teeth, so I look like an old toothless man when I say this.
When I was a youth, they used these canvas bags called tackling dummies, and we wore wider shoulder pads. Our helmets had ear protection molded into them. The coaching staff would spend time during Hell week teaching tackling techniques. At the end of that week we’d be fully padded and attempting to tackle the varsity players, while being yelled at by the coaches.
No sir (whistles saying sir) They just don’t know how to teach tackling anymore.
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The latest on teams leaving the WAC 8, Washington, OR are in talks with the Big 12? According to an unamed website. . Let’s dive into this Arizona Colorado SC SUCCLA are gone in 2024. Utah, Washington Oregon are the only schools left that have TV ratings against the top power 5 schools. So my prediction is that WAC leftovers will merge with Big 12 and become a super conference with 24 also ran teams? That would be 3 division of 8 and the best 4 top teams will play a in season tournament to determine the top 4 teams. For a championship game. Now maybe that might induce a major network streaming partner to televise those games with the WAC division games? #ExpansionFeverIsHere#LetTheDominosFallExpansionArmegedonInCollegeFootballIsHere.
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It doesn’t figure Oregon and Washington, two heavy-weights,
are going to remain in a conference where there are no meaningful
big-games to impress the pollsters
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Nothing to tackling, right!?
In my late 20s I played in a football pick-up game at the park
and I tackled a 200-pounder at the knees
cracked a tooth and ended my tackling days
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Same deal — pick up game at park — playing what amounts to safety on a kick off return —the returner was my fucked up 225 pound brother in law — decided to headlock him as he went by & get a leg between his legs —- we both did two summersaults & were fucked up for at least a week…
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Teaching 4 and 5 star and high end 3 star players to tackle should not be a problem. Even if they are not the greatest tacklers in the world when they come into the program, these kids are mostly great athletes. Learning to master tackling should not be a problem. The problem last year was that they lacked depth on defense and with a quick score, high score offense like we had last year, the defense doesn’t get rest and with the lack of depth, the defensive players are highly fatigued while on the field. You miss tackles when you are fatigued.
That problem has been corrected this year. We have much more quality depth on defense. The tackling should improve.
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