Back in early 2017, USA Football partnered with the NFL, USA Rugby and the Seattle Seahawks to release a new course for coaches dedicated to shoulder tackling drills. This week, that same material re-launched as the Shoulder Tackling System in the enhanced system training site on footballdevelopment.com.

The Shoulder Tackling System was the result of collaboration between the aforementioned organizations, which arrived at a consensus that, despite using different names for its tackling systems (e.g. Heads Up Tackling; Hawk Tackling), there was a unified principle at the heart of tackling across sports and levels to utilize consistent teaching terminology to coach a leverage Shoulder Tackling System.

"We've all come together to ensure that there's going to be consistent technique and terminology through the Shoulder Tackling System,” said Scott Hallenbeck, USA Football CEO. “It’s important we also recognize the feedback we’ve received from high school coaches in our continued effort to listen, learn and apply new ways to help coaches.”

The Shoulder Tackling System builds upon the foundational concepts and fundamentals in certification for youth, middle school and high school coaches and explores them in far greater detail. 

The free system utilizes 22 video segments to demonstrate the step-by-step approach to teaching and executing these tackles on the practice field and showcases real-life examples seen in game film from the Seahawks.

The continuity of terms and techniques is a key element to the Shoulder Tackling System. Athletes can learn proper shoulder tackling at a young age and take that knowledge with them from youth football to high school football and to the college and professional ranks.

“This is where the game is going, and we want to make sure we're working as best we can to solidify this game for the future,” said Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.

The Shoulder Tackling System is led by Rocky Seto, a former defensive coach for the Seattle Seahawks. You can hear Rocky Seto by listening to this episode of the USA Football Coach and Coordinator Podcast.

Watch the introductory video to the new USA Football Shoulder Tackling System below and click here to register for the system. While this system builds upon existing certification programs, it does not meet the certification requirements or provide a certificate.