With the Pittsburgh Steelers having now departed from Saint Vincent College, heading back from Latrobe to Pittsburgh to begin the next phase of their preseason, I think it would be an appropriate time to reflect upon a still somewhat recent development that has become a staple there over the past few years: live tackling drills.
For decades, live tackling had been absent in Latrobe, and in most training camps all around the league. Things began to change again with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that was put in place, which restricted in many different ways what coaches were able to ask of players on the practice field.