JJ's no hitting in practice praised

[Rebel10]

Tackling didn't look to good in that video but it got a lot better as the season went on.

[mrydel]

It's easy to see the results of this policy in the Baylor and Aggie games over the past two years. Geez.

Are you saying you think the results would have been different if SMU tackled in practice before those games?

Big if disclaimer, but against Baylor last year had we been used to full speed hitting it is possible that we do not get the late hit penalty on the first 3rd down and the offsides penalty on the second 3rd down which totally spent the defense in the heat before the game really got started. You need to be ready for full speed play and you cannot do that if you are pulling up in practice when you get to a ball carrier.

If you do not want Shead hurt, you can hold him out. Skill positions do not need full speed hitting although I still like it. The defense needs to go full speed. That is why God made redshirts.

[PoconoPony]

When you have no depth because you cannot recruit then this no hitting approach is mandatory.

[GiddyUp]

Check JJ's first game record starting at Hawaii.......hopefully our guys aren't "shellshocked" the first time they have to tackle or get tackled on August 30!

June's teams have lost 10 times out of 14 games in the 1st game of the season in his head coaching career starting at Hawaii....not a good record to say the least. Are they ever ready?.....

Yes, Since he has been here we seem a step slow on tackles the first game. The first game is always tough for us - the tech game a few yrs ago was the most competitive.

[ponyboy]

Since we're kicking [deleted] in bowl games, maybe we've got fresher, less banged up players later in the season.

[JasonB]

They do have contact in practice, they just don't take players to the ground.

With the exception of the tackle at 1:23, the tackling issues in that video, it seems to me, are a result of bad angles taken because you are now playing against better athletes than you are playing against in practice.

[Rebel10]

Since we're kicking [deleted] in bowl games, maybe we've got fresher, less banged up players later in the season.

Or that we had about a month off before the game.

[Rebel10]

Funny how the hard core JJ supporters grind their minds to come up with stuff to defend JJ.

[ponyboy]

We're kicking [deleted] late in the season too. We ended the season 5-2.

[Digetydog]

Funny how the hard core JJ supporters grind their minds to come up with stuff to defend JJ.

I think that JJ should have been fired after the ASU fiasco. I never understood why a freshman BLM was a good option at QB. I hate the QB walk of shame method of sending in plays.

Nevertheless, everything JJ does is not "wrong."

[Rebel10]

We're kicking [deleted] late in the season too. We ended the season 5-2.

True even though we did have some questionable losses in that 5-2 run. Let's just hope it does not take the usual 4 or 5 games to get in sync THIS year.

[PonySnob]

Looked much like 1989 all over again......

[ponyboy]

We're kicking [deleted] late in the season too. We ended the season 5-2.

True even though we did have some questionable losses in that 5-2 run. Let's just hope it does not take the usual 4 or 5 games to get in sync THIS year.

I agree with everyone who says we need to come out of the gate more ready to play. And maybe the lack of strong contact in practice is a reason. But it does seem to me that less contact early means we avoid injury and play better later. Is it a positive tradeoff? I don't know. But if I had to choose I'd rather start slow and finish big.

[SMUer]

You'd take a Hawaii Bowl win over a Baylor/A&M/TCU/Texas Tech upset?

[Rebel10]

If you start strong and finish strong that is being consistent. And that is what wins championships. Go Stangs.