The famed -- and in some cases beloved -- Oklahoma drill has been in the news of late, with the safety-conscious NFL making headlines earlier this month by banning the old-school practice in an attempt to eliminate unnecessary shots to the head and, in theory, reducing the risk of concussions. In banning the drill, The Shield is hopeful “the message it sends downstream to youth football, to high school football, to college football” will trigger those levels of football to do the same.
At least one Power Five coach, though, wants nothing to do with the NFL’s intended trickle-down effect.
Under Will Muschamp, South Carolina utilizes what the head coach calls the Cock drill (don’t even start in the comments section, dear readers), which is essentially the Oklahoma drill with different labeling and slightly different packaging. Despite the NFL’s stance, Muschamp says he has no intention of eliminating the Cock drill (don’t do it, beloved readers) because, in his opinion, it benefits his team on both sides of the ball.
“It’s a drill that teaches offensively to finish a block, to get your hands inside, to play with pad level, to do all the basic fundamentals you do on every single snap in a football game,” Muschamp said this week according to The State. “Defensively, same thing, great pad level, great explosion, teaches you to get off a block and make a tackle. It teaches a running back to finish a run, to run through contact. The basic fundamentals of what you would say happens on every single football play goes into that drill.
“It’s man-on-man and lining up and whipping somebody’s ass. That’s what it all comes down to.”
Muschamp added that his program “will continue to work with our medical staff and do what is the safest way for us to have a very physical football team.”
The Oklahoma drill was the brainchild of legendary Sooners head coach Bud Wilkinson back in the forties and originally consisted of two players facing each other in a three-point stance and, when the whistle was blown, they attempted to drive their opposition backward/to the ground. In the Cock drill (stop it before you start it, please), a runner is added behind a blocker.
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