During his 20 years coaching at Darmouth College, head coach Buddy Teevens has accomplished a lot on the field. Coaching at his alma mater, Coach Teevens led the Big Green to Ivy League titles in both 1990 and 1991. After becoming the head coach at Stanford University from 2002 to 2004, Coach Teevens then returned to help Dartmouth win titles in 2015 and 2019. However, regardless of all the titles and a 9-1 record last season, Coach Teevens’ biggest accomplishment might be the efforts he took to create a better and safer game. With the help of engineering students on campus, Coach Teevens helped patent a mobile tackle dummy called the Mobile Virtual Player or “MVP.” This invention provided players with a mobile target to tackle, and it drastically lessened the chances of brutal injuries due to collisions. Host Keith Grabowski spoke with Coach Teevens about his philosophy on tackling and about how the MVPs can benefit the game of football.

0:20 2020 USA Football National Conference

1:40 Intro

2:22 Inspiration for helping improve football

2:59 Obstacles in changing the game

5:03 Developing players tackling skillset

6:28 A better, safer way to practice

8:50 Tackle memory

10:22 Toughness vs. technique

13:08 Coaching saves the game

14:28 Creation of the “MVP”

15:45 Expanded usage of MVP

17:09 Assessing collisions in football

21:55 Teaching proper techniques

24:15 The future of football

26:10 Dartmouth practice schedule

31:19 Closing

Mobile Virtual Player is USA Football’s preferred tackling equipment partner.

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