Back to Back Undefeated State Titles And Never Tackled at Practice w/ Coach Drew Gibbs
Coach Drew Gibbs has been the Head Football Coach at Ramapo High School since 2001 and has won 7 state titles during that time. He was inducted into the New Jersey Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014. Most recently, his team has won back to back undefeated state titles in 2018 and 2019 (26 wins in a row) all while placing a high emphasis on player safety. A 2019 Washington Post Article featured coach Gibbs and his strategy of excluding live tackling drills from practice in an attempt to minimize the risk of injury to his players. In this episode, we learn how Coach Gibbs achieved this while ensuring his players are prepared to tackle safely and effectively on Friday nights.
Below are some of the other topics we touch on throughout this article:
What influenced his decision to remove tackling from practice.
How much of his recent and past successes can be credited to the health and safety of his players.
How his tackling drills have evolved.
Why Coach emphasizes “Staying off the ground."
Rugby style tackling.
Personality types and who coach worries about the most.
How coach toes the line between safety and aggression and how he communicates that with his players.
How the culture of safety evolved since he began coaching.
Why football is safer than it’s ever been.
Coach’s definition of toughness.
