"Heads Up" Football Program Hopes to Reduce the Number of Head Injuries

By Alyssa Purser

Twenty five. That’s the number of high school football players in the United States who have died since 2004 due to football injuries.

A new program called Heads Up is meant to keep that number where it is. As this approach is implemented in youth leagues and in high school conferences, the goal is to change the way players are taught to tackle.

But is this happening?

Cedar Shoals High School is one of only 34 secondary schools with the Heads Up pilot program already in place. There are approximately 26,000 high schools in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Education. It is unclear how many have football teams.

Heads Up football was created by USA Football, an Indianapolis-based non-profit that aims to standardize coaching and play at the youth league and amateur levels. The organization advocates taking the head out of tackling and avoiding helmet-to-helmet contact – all in the interest of preventing concussions that are sometimes fatal.

Instead of advocating that players charge with the head down, Heads Up emphasizes foot position, stance and generating explosive power with the lower body, said Chris Davis, head football coach at Cedar Shoals. This new method of tackling focuses on having the spine as erect as possible, with the head up so they can see their target.

“You can’t hit what you can’t see,” said Chris Hulse, Clarke Central High School’s football coach. Hulse says he was teaching this approach long before Heads Up began.

In a modern, Heads Up tackle, the defender comes straight at the ball carrier, springs at him from the hips, thrusts his arms under the offensive player’s arms, grabs his shoulders and brings him down, said Davis.

This is a big departure from what Davis calls “the old angle tackle drill that I think has been done forever by defensive backs.” The timeless goal for tacklers has been to come in at an angle, get your head across the ball carrier’s body, and try to leverage the guy out of bounds.

Coaches don’t preach to ‘get your head across’ anymore, Davis said. The problem is that the move can over-extend the neck and can really do some damage.

The goal of USA Football is to teach fundamentals in a uniform way, long before boys reach high school age, said Steve Alic, communications director for the organization.

 The top priority for USA Football right now is reaching young children and keeping them safe. While USA Football is pleased that several dozen high schools have adopted their approach to coaching, they’re putting most of their energy into reaching youth leagues. Alic says that 25 percent of all youth leagues in the nation have adopted the Heads Up program.

“The younger you can start building the positive habits the better, “ says Hulse. He knows from experience that bad habits established before a player reaches high school can be very hard to change.

 The NFL, the Big 10, the Big 12, the Pac 12 and the ACC, as well as the American Football Coach Association, have endorsed Heads Up. The NFL endorsement is likely motivated by the $765 million settlement the league made to players and their families in August. But when it comes to tackling in the heat of a pro game, this is a “do as I say, not as I do” situation.

 “A lot of times it’s frustrating as a high school coach when you see a lot of these NFL guys going for the big heads down, shoulder down tackle,” said Hulse. “That’s exactly counter to what we teach.”

Vicki Michaelis, a journalism sports professor at the University of Georgia, believes football culture will be slow to change.

 “What do we see celebrated on SportsCenter?” she asked. “We see those huge hits like the Clowney hit, when you’re basically rearranging someone’s spine. That’s when we all stand up and go ‘Whoa’.”

Jadeveon Clowney’s hit against Michigan’s Vincent Smith, which occurred during the Outback Bowl, received well over six million views on YouTube and won him Best Play at the ESPYs. It was the play heard around the world. This is what makes Heads Up football a hard sell where fans are concerned.

“Fans want to see the big hit,” said Davis, the Cedar Shoals coach.

 “Football is toughness,” said Michaelis, who was a former sports writer for USA Today before joining the UGA faculty. “One huge part of being a good football player is being tough and being able to play with injury,” she said “and that’s actually revered and worshipped.”

Davis says his players are just as physical as ever but now they are less likely to be injured. “We’re changing the way football is being played and taught,” said Alic. “The game never stands still. The sport was born out of innovation and creativity and it continually evolves.”