With the Pittsburgh Steelers having now departed from Saint Vincent College, heading back from Latrobe to Pittsburgh to begin the next phase of their preseason, I think it would be an appropriate time to reflect upon a still somewhat recent development that has become a staple there over the past few years: live tackling drills.

For decades, live tackling had been absent in Latrobe, and in most training camps all around the league. Things began to change again with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that was put in place, which restricted in many different ways what coaches were able to ask of players on the practice field.

With the reduced access to their roster, one obvious way to increase the productivity of the time that they did have was to allow their players to tackle. Tomlin’s Steelers have been doing this for three or four years now.

The Steelers of the late 00s and early 10s were among the most efficient tacklers in the league, perennially. That trend began to shift in a hurry in the opposite direction as many of their key players grew old and retired, or were released, or simply became less effective.

Before long, they became among the least efficient tackling teams in the league, and that seemed to reach its zenith in 2013 and 2014. While there are still significant issues in that regard, it has been improving, and it should continue to improve as the young players on the defense continue to mature.



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