Free clinic on tackling and safety comes to Newport Harbor
In the interest of safety and teaching proper football fundamentals, the Ronnie Lott IMPACT Trophy foundation is presenting the Helmet IMPACT Safety Clinic for high school and Pop Warner coaches free of charge Saturday at Newport Harbor High School.
The clinic from 10 a.m. to noon will focus on teaching tackling fundamentals with a premium on player safety. The seminar will feature former UCLA head coach Terry Donahue, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, and former Raiders, Cal and Illinois head coach Mike White, both residents of Newport Beach.
“As a coach, I think it’s just critical that you isolate the most important techniques where safety is so important,” White said. “There’s all sorts of philosophies about tackling and we’re going to share some of our experience and insights. Technique is so important.”
“We all believe the game can be played at a much safer level. That’s obviously a concern in today’s culture,” added Pete Donovan, a Lott IMPACT board member and organizer of the clinic. “We thought that making an impact locally with young football players is something we should take up because we’re a community-based program in Newport Beach.”
The acronym for the foundation headed by Hall of Famer and USC great Ronnie Lott stands for Integrity Maturity Performance Academics Community and Tenacity.
The two-hour session will include intensive tackling instruction from Bobby Hosea, a former UCLA defensive back who specializes in teaching defensive techniques, and USC equipment manager Todd Hewitt with the latest insight on helmet and equipment issues related to player safety. Newport Harbor football coach Jeff Brinkley, who has guided the Sailors for 30 seasons, will host the event.
“We’re all just trying to show everybody how you can be safe and still play the great game of football,” said Brinkley, a three-time CIF champion head coach. “It’s under attack a little bit right now. I think we need to show people safe ways to still keep these young men involved in what we all feel is a great game.”
Brinkley points out his own coaching philosophy has evolved over the years to reduce the risk of injuries by curtailing the amount of contact during practice. He said his 1999 Harbor CIF championship team never worked out in full gear beyond the second week of the season.
The veteran high school coach believes this type of seminar can have an especially important impact for youth league coaches who may lack training.
“What we would like to see is the Pop Warner coaches making this game so that the young men continue playing,” Brinkley said. “Sometimes kids bail out by the seventh grade if they’re coached by someone who maybe didn’t take the right approach with them.”
“I think it can be done with the proper teaching techniques,” Brinkley added. “You just have to educate coaches and I think it helps educate the parents.”