Fullback Safety

This is a repost for the knowledge base:

I posted awhile back on how my FB is trained the same way Earl Campbell was trained. For those who read that post and are interested in adopting the technique, I want to review the safety factors involved. Sometimes things can get left out of a post or ignored and I don't want anyone to use my technique unsafely. In 16 years of coaching I've only had a FB not get up and return to the huddle once - And that was when he did what I told him not to do. He remained standing when his feet stopped moving and made a target of himself. Fortunately, he only had to learn that lesson once. I will begin with a review of his technique. My FB runs his first 3 yards up the middle with both hands over the ball. This protects the ball and gets him low enough to pass under a length of PVC pipe held neck at the LOS. He DOES NOT PUT HIS CHIN TO HIS CHEST TO GET UNDER THE PIPE. While one coach holds the pipe that he passes under, we have a second on his knees in the FB's path about 3 yards past the pipe. He checks to make sure the FB's eyes are up for the handoff and not looking down for the ball. He then signals which side he wants the FB to pass by him on. This keeps the FB's head up as he passes under the pipe in order to see the signal. NO BALLCARRIER SHOULD BE TAUGHT TO RUN WITH HIS HEAD DOWN. The FB's body is low but his head is up. The distance he stays this low is 3 yards - at which point he passes under a second PVC pipe held at the same height as the first. At this point he will be on his 7th or 8th step since the snap of the ball. He can now come up out of his low stance. We do that by having him take his QB or center side hand up off of the ball. For those first three yards the runner is low to 1) prevent arm tackles and 2) protect the ball. He presents knees and shoulderpads only to the tacklers. His head and eyes are up and he's ready to cut. We want him to cut away from any tackler in front of him. This is why he practices that cut. We don't want him taking on a tackler head on. Two bad things can happen when your FB meets a LBer head on. They are 1) Your FB gets stood up (Sometimes their Mike LBer is the meanest S.O.B. in the valley) or 2) Somebody gets hurt. We don't need either one. So he always veers away from the oncoming hit. This allows your FB at least the opportunity to drag his tackler another two yards and not get stood up (And when his feet stop moving, he FALLS FORWARD. He does NOT remain standing while the reinforcements arrive to finish him off. He goes to the ground and gets the extra foot.). Next, the FB never tries to get lower than his tackler if he isn't already. Going under the PVC pipe is as low as he has to ever get and he only has to do that for 3 yards. After three yards we let him come up. Why? Because he can run faster that way. At 5 yards downfield we want him running in sprint form like he's in the 100 meter dash. The low stance is gone. If a tackler is coming, the FB veers away to avoid the head on collision as mentioned before. If the tackler is coming in lower than he is,(thigh tackle) he stiffarms the top of the opponent's helmet, thumb down (Not the "Heissman" stance). If the tackler is coming in high (chest plate tackling) he delivers a blow. I previously stated "lowers his shouderpad and delivers a blow" but that's really just a figure of speech and not the actual technique. The FB should have his near arm free after he gains three yards (The same arm he would stiff arim with). He raises his elbow up towards the tackler with his hand in a fist about 6 inches from his own chin. Against a "chest plate" tackler this should create a forearm blow right under the tackler's near armpit. The FB is encouraged to take the free shot and hit him as hard as he can. We want him to turn in towards the tackler just before impact and drive. However, the shoulderpad really isn't delivering the blow. The forearm is (You can put a wristpad on your FB if you want). The third possibility is that the tackler is coming in with his helmet at the same hight as our FB's helmet. Again, the FB raises his near elbow to where his fist is level with his chin. The FB is now engaged in self protection. A helmet to helmet collision CANNOT BE ALLOWED. It does not matter that your FB has his head up and eyes up in a helmet to helmet collision. IT'S LIGHTS OUT FOR BOTH PLAYERS. So the arm comes up and intercepts the opponent's helmet to keep it away. This situation is very rare (I've only seen it happen once) because tackler's are not taught such a technique but I failed to mention this in my first post. Okay! Let's review. FB takes the handoff with eyes up. This allows him to see where he's going while his head is in a safe position. He hits the line with both hands over the ball, with head still up to look for his cut. This allows him to safely avoid the head on tackle while breaking arm tackles by the DT's. After 3 steps through the line one hand comes off the ball. This allows us to increase speed and obtain leverage on a tackler. Leverage is obtained through the free arm. A tackler coming in low will, at some point, leave his feet and possibly put his head down. By moving away from the low tackler who has left his feet you gain the advantage. By stiff arming the top of his helmet, if he has dropped his head in the least, he will eat grass and your FB will run free. If he comes in high with "chest plate", lowest man wins. The FB hits him so hard he deliberately falls, then catches himself with his free hand to the ground, regains his balance, and keeps going. Your FB can't get lower than that - but he did it after the initial impact - not before. In our FB drills, to simulate a thigh tackler we place a player on his knees who dives at the FB as the FB passes. FB stiffarms and turns outside. To simulate a chest plate tackler we have the defender hold a handshield, left arm hooked through the left strap and with the left hand gripping the right strap. The right arm is looped through the right strap and with right hand gripping the left strap. This forces the defender to use "chest plate" technique of coming in high if he is to knock the FB down. Avoid using small players holding the handshield. A small player using "chest plate" technique will just get absolutely flattened by a FB using my technique (The FB will not even have to put his hand on the ground). The defender holding the handshield must be big enough to force the FB to put a hand to the ground. About 80-90% of the time we have the chest plate tackler attack the FB from the side or an angle of some sort. Once in awhile though, we let him come straight at the FB to see if the FB will veer away (Most won't the first time). Correct him if he does not. For safety, we practice our FB against a live defender at about 3 yards separation. This keeps speed and impact down. When we run the FB through the entire drill, from intitial stance to handoff, to under the pipe, to completion, we don't use a live defender at all (We let him perform the handoff). Here we use a tackling dummy with a piece of tape on it level with the FB's thigh. The FB either forearms the tackling dummy or stiffarms the tape, whichever technique we are practicing. okay! If I have left anything out, safetywise, I would appreciate it if Malcolm, Carbon, or whoever, points out my ommission or their suggested improvement.