With no game this weekend, the Hawaii football team used bye-week practices to address an ongoing challenge.
In a 2-4 start, the Rainbow Warriors are averaging 12.3 missed tackles per game. The misses are contributing factors in opponents averaging 5.9 post-catch yards.
“At the end of the day, tackling is the essence of defense,” co-defensive coordinator Eti Ena said. “It’s how you get the ball down. We’ve got to be determined. We’ve got to be correct in how we approach that, and how we work that every single day.”
Too often this season, a misread led to a poor angle and then an ineffective attempted arm tackle. “It’s the little things, like finishing and driving and getting the guy down,” safety Peter Manuma said. “It wrapping up and getting the guy to the ground.”
With congested schedules — the Warriors opened with six games in six weeks, including three road trips — and limited recovery time, more NCAA teams are adhering to NFL-styled practices involving limited bring-to-the-turf tackling.
To help in tackling, the Warriors have drills using a giant padded ring known as a “donut.” The donut can be set stationary or rolled as a moving target. The “hole” of the donut enables defenders to work on punch movements. The combination of visualization methods and attacking the donut, according to defensive end Jonah Kahahawai-Welch, is helpful in maintaining pad level and positioning.
“It comes down to how you practice from Monday through Friday,” Kahahawai-Welch said. “Everything you do — the intent you do it with — is something we’re going to keep working on as a unit and defense.”
Ena said a key to tackling is to not stray from fundamentals.
“The old saying is the approach to the tackle is as important as the tackle itself,” said Ena, stressing the importance of understanding the funnels of a defense and building two-on-one traps (vises ). “Sometimes guys try to do a little too much and go a little too far, and then the (ball carrier ) gets the cutback and the vises break. We’ve got to shore up those things.”
Linebackers coach Chris Brown also implores a defender to be a “methodical fighter.”
“It’s not getting over-consumed with your emotions, ” Brown said. “Like a heavyweight boxer, you have to be able to go 12 rounds. You can’t get everything done in the first round. You’ve got to stick to your technique. You’ve got to keep your chin down. And you always have to fall back on your technique. There’s nothing wrong with (emotion ). But you have to control it and use it for all 12 rounds, all four quarters. That’s what the methodical fighter is great in.”
Ena said: “When people talk smack or you talk smack, is that helping you or hurting you ? The methodical way about doing things is to always revert back to your training and staying the course as opposed to getting over-charged and trying to do a little too much or letting your emotions get the best of you.”
