2015 was an important year for football.

Teams from the NFL to the youth level are changing the way they teach the sport. With increased awareness of concussions and the proper way to recognize and react to the injury, coaches are reassessing how they approach practice planning, game planning, strategy and technique like never before.

Well, like a few times before.

Change really is nothing new to football. The sport’s history has been one of adaptation and new rules that alter the way coaches and players compete.

In 1892, flying wedge and mass momentum plays were as popular as the run-pass option is right now. At the time, mass momentum as developed by Walter Camp among others was forward-thinking and cutting edge.

But the rise in injuries resulting from this type of play led to rule changes to promote more end runs and open up the offenses.

At the turn of the 20^th century, President Theodore Roosevelt saw a sport that needed fixing. Football as it was known at the time had to change. And it did.

This is a good thing. Football is dynamic, more so than most other sports. Some games have gone relatively unchanged in their rules, and that leads to stagnation. Football displays true American spirit in every way, including how it constantly evolves – whether it be equipment, strategy, technology, treatment or more.

From Woody to Chip

Where for decades the game was played between the tackles – “3 yards and a cloud of dust” – now the field is stretched horizontally and vertically by offenses, resulting in an exciting style of play that requires player intellect more than brute force.

The term “defenseless receiver” has become commonplace in football-speak, but that concept has its roots in a 1978 NFL rule change that set a 5-yard contact zone. Receivers were constantly getting hit downfield, often with their heads turned. 

In 2013, the NCAA adopted targeting rules to include ejection of an illegal hit on a defenseless player. These changes also are making their way into high school football and the NFL.

There will always be those who believe any player on the field is open game, but that is outdated and closed-minded. Why should any player have to risk his health by being fair game when he is in a vulnerable position? That kind of contact no longer has a place in football.

The sport remains strong and tough even without these hits.

And as the scientific community continues to make strides in determining and caring for concussions, the game will continue to improve. Hope abounds as innovations pour in.

Whether it is better helmets, better identification of injury or better coaching, the sport is in a renaissance. It is an exciting time to be playing and coaching football.

Coaches embrace the challenge of change

The men and women who coach football are committed to teaching the game the right way and see its inherent value in teaching important life lessons, providing structure and learning how to work with and take care of others in life. Because of the value they place on it, they look to be part of the solution.

Two notable open letters about the importance of football were written in 2015. In April, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh published “Why football matters.” He points out that the game is under attack, that it has faced challenges before and that “the value of football is the values in football.”

Eastern Michigan University head coach Chris Creighton also wrote a letter this past season to moms whose sons play football. Creighton’s letter is poignant in conveying the importance of football. This kind of passion behind the game is what fuels it to adapt and remain strong. In his letter Creighton wrote:

“The game of football has so much to teach and so much to give.

Football taught me what it means to be a part of something bigger than myself. Success in football requires selflessness and true teamwork. It is impossible to have any kind of personal success without your teammates – impossible. No matter how talented an individual might be, he will never win one versus eleven. In a powerful way, the game of football is very humbling as it demands that players put the team over the individual.

Football teams break down race barriers better than anything else I have ever been a part of in my life. When you are in a huddle holding hands you don’t see brown, black, white, red, yellow, or green. You see your brothers, your teammates who are depending on you, and who you are depending on to do their job. The best teams that I have been a part of truly love each other. When a young man gets the opportunity to be a part of that, he will never be the same. It is a powerful reality and one that the rest of society certainly could stand to emulate.

I submit to you that no other game develops toughness that translates to success in life quite like the game of football.”

Seeing the game in high definition

These coaches reflect the feelings about football throughout the course of its history.

Today's game needs a high definition coach, one who is not just a tech savvy but begins his coaching philosophy with an idea of fully reaching the mind, body and spirit of his players so they can find excellence.

These coaches will be in tune with not only the best and safest techniques but have the technical expertise and tools that best help them accomplish their mission.

Technology is simply a means to an end. The foundation is a safer and better executed football play.

Today’s technological revolution does not remove the humanity of the game, the player-coach relationship. Instead, it enables the coach to reach the minds and hearts of his athletes in order to help them and, collectively, the team to reach its full potential.

2016 is going to be a great year.

Keith Grabowski has been a football coach for 26 years, currently serving as an offensive assistant and technology coordinator at Oberlin College in Ohio. He previously was a head coach at the high school level for eight years and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Baldwin Wallace University. Grabowski serves as an advisor for several sports technology companies. He is a columnist for American Football Monthly and writes his own blog at thecoachesedge.com/blog. He’s the author of “101+ Pro Style Pistol Offense Plays” and five other books available on thecoachesedge.com and operates Coaches Edge Technologies. Follow him on Twitter @CoachKGrabowski.