The rugby-inspired tackling method that has transformed the way the Seattle Seahawks and some major college teams play football is now being offered as a comprehensive online training program by Seattle-based Atavus Football.
The company announced the launch of its Atavus Tackle System on Tuesday, promoting it as a way to change how tackling is taught, practiced and executed. The hope is to teach more effective and much safer tackling at all levels of the game as football is increasingly scrutinized over safety concerns.
The system is a mobile friendly, cloud-based learning portal that includes:
- Atavus Online Training Program: online curriculum that teaches coaches, parents, athletes and administrators about, and how to execute, a proper shoulder-led tackle.
- Atavus Practice Film Assessment: online program that converts defensive-tackle drill film into performance-enhancing reports for coaches and players.
- Atavus Game Film Analysis: online program that analyzes game film of every tackle made to provide player- and position-specific analytics, scoring and recommendations for improvement.
“For the betterment of the sport we love, we believe every coach, parent, player and administrator at every level of the game should be asking themselves whether their coaches are adequately trained to teach rugby-inspired tackling,” Ron Lloyd, president of Atavus, said in a news release. “Currently, that’s an unequivocal ‘no’. We’ve built a robust system to change that and foresee the day soon when parents, athletes and athletic directors will mandate their coaches be Atavus Tackle Trained.”
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has been celebrated around the NFL for the introduction and encouragement of the rugby-inspired “Hawk Tackle,” and the University of Washington football program is an early adopter of the Atavus method.
“We are tackling better because of the things we’ve learned from the team at Atavus,” reads a quote attributed to Carroll on the Atavus website.
