Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens spoke to Congress on Friday describing his school’s decision to eliminate tackling from practices and the benefits of the decision.
In 2010, Dartmouth football made the unprecedented move to eliminate all tackling from its practices and instead practice maneuvers on pads and motorized tackling dummies. The result has been fewer concussions, fewer major injuries and more wins. Last season, the Big Green tied with Harvard for the Ivy League title.
"I love football," Teevens said, "but I love my players more."
The Ivy League took Dartmouth’s lead in February when the coaches voted to eliminate all full-contact hitting from practices during the regular season. The Ivy League is the first football conference to take such a strong stance on player safety. Other major conferences, including the Pac-12, have lessened live hitting in practice, but still allows live hitting two days a week during the season.
Teevens spoke to Congress to help spread a message of safety for a sport that is seeing its numbers dwindle thanks to injury concerns. Teevens told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that youth and high school programs need to adopt Dartmouth’s model in order to preserve the game.
"Unless we change the way we coach, we won't have a game to coach," Teevens said.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
