Seattle was already an epicenter for rugby-inspired tackling methods. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll champions the cause with his “Hawk Tackle” video, and Washington coaches, after experimenting with some rugby drills in the past, adopted them wholly last year, too.
For Rex Norris, the art of tackling goes beyond the act of burying a ballcarrier to the ground. As the new director of football for the Seattle-based rugby consulting firm Atavus, Norris is using data-driven results to turn the tackle into what he believes is a more efficient — and safer — method of playing defense.
With the proliferation of hurry-up spread offenses at all levels of football, defenses are stretched to cover more of the field and strained to do so more often.