Over the past several years, the renewed focus on player safety (and concussions in particular), has led many programs to cut certain drills from their practice plans.
One of those drills is what many coaches call The Circle Drill. While many programs put their own spin on it, at its core it's man vs. man, fighting for ground and leverage, all in front of their peers. It really is football at its finest. it For those that require a refresher, here's a look at Ohio State's circle drill they started their spring game with last season.
New Rutgers head coach Chris Ash, who spent the past few seasons at Ohio State as the co-defensive coordinator, is a big believer in The Circle Drill, and feels strongly that it will always have a place at his practices. At Rutgers, they've named the drill "The Ring of Honor", and Ash often uses it to get practices started.
"It just reinforces all the things that we want: We want players that will compete. We want players that play with good football position. We want players that use their hands the right way. And we want players that when their number is called they can go out and be ready to go in front of their peers,'' Ash told NJ.com
"It's a competitive drill. It's a fundamental drill. And it's one that is a great tempo-setter for the start of practice. I love it. We're going to continue to do it. I think it's a great way to start the day.''
While some coaches are cutting the drill based on player safety concerns, Ash provided the following explanation on why he believes it's safe before adding that player safety is always his number one concern as a head coach.
"The distance between those contacts are very small. It's really like offensive and defensive linemen every snap. They go about that same distance and that same type of contact every snap.''
"If I thought that was a drill where we put our players potentially in a position to get a concussion, I would not do it. At all."
Ash added that if injuries started to become an issue in the drill, they would end it immediately.