When head coach David Cutcliffe was asked about the recent hitting controversy in the NFL, he had a variety of thoughts on the topic, some from a historical perspective and others looking into the future. (In case you missed it, the NFL fined Pittsburgh Steelers James Harrison $75,000 for this concussion-causing hit last week on Cleveland Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, in addition to leveling $50,000 fines on New England's Brandon Meriweather and Atlanta's Dunta Robinson for "flagrant violations of players safety rules.)
"The field is the same size it was in 1950. And I promise you, no insult to the players of the era of mine or anyone else’s, they're bigger, they're faster, the field is smaller. Guess what, there’s going to be train wrecks because these guys are unbelievably big and fast."
Additionally, Cutcliffe said that young quarterbacks must learn to not lead their receivers into a vulnerable position.
"The guys that do set people up won’t last very long," he said.
As for a solution to the player safety issue, Cutcliffe had two ideas. One was to continue researching headgear until someone events the safest helmet possible. His other solution is a bit more unconventional.
"I had an old ball coach tell me, and he may be right, he said take the facemask off, they won’t stick their face in there. He’s probably right. I don’t want a leather helmet, you know, but if you took the facemask off, you’re probably back doing shoulder blocks and a lot of things differently, but I don’t think we will ever get to that point."
So far this season, cornerback Johnny Williams is the only Blue Devil to miss time due to a head injury.
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