Coaches Divided as Robot Tackling Becomes Part of Offseason Training

The Western Montana War Goats have fully embraced full tackling robots in practice this offseason.

This offseason, college football teams have taken “iron sharpens iron” to a whole new level—by letting robots do the sharpening. The NCAiA’s AI Sports Committee has officially approved the use of fully autonomous tackling robots in offseason training programs, and reactions have been… mixed, to say the least.

Coach Hank "Hard-Nose" Fuller of the Western Montana War Goats has fully embraced the change. “Nothing prepares a young player for the season like getting absolutely flattened by an emotionless, six-foot-four hunk of titanium with laser-precision pursuit angles,” he said while watching a defensive lineman get flung across the field by a bot named "Crunch" Unit 9000. Other coaches, however, are raising concerns. “My quarterback is afraid to even step on the practice field,” said Coach Jeb Tibbins of the Pacific Tech Wave Riders. “The robot tackled him once in May, and he’s been hiding under the bleachers ever since.”

Still, some see an opportunity. East Nebraska A&M has begun offering scholarships to aspiring "Robot Whisperers"—players who can evade, confuse, or even befriend the tackling bots. One freshman already claims he’s programmed his robot to hand him water instead of hitting him. Whether this new training method will revolutionize the game or simply leave a trail of broken bones and shattered dreams remains to be seen.