The Dallas Cowboys aren’t shy about trying out new technology if they believe that it will possibly help them gain a competitive advantage or help them improve in the way they go about preparing for the season.
You may remember that the Cowboys coaching staff started using drones to help get a different vantage point while filming practices last year before the 2015 season kicked off.
Well, fast-forward a year and the Cowboys organization is now trying out a new piece of technology to help put an emphasis on the correct way for running backs to carry the ball.
If you’ve ever played the game of football, then you know how important ball security is and how there is probably no other aspect of the game that infuriates coaches more than fumbling away the football.
Well, thanks to inventor Tom Creguer, ball security has become much more coachable with his new invention the HighandTight training football.
Creguer, like many other football coaches grew tired of the fumbling issues his running backs were having, so he decided it was time to find a solution, even if he had to do it himself. His determination led him to a sensors convention where he learned about surface area compression, which ultimately led to the HighandTight training football.
Creguer started pitching his new invention at the NFL combine where he met the Dallas Cowboys running back coach, Gary Brown. Brown may have been the driving force that ultimately led to the Cowboys to trying out the new piece of technology.
This new piece of technology could possibly be revolutionary to the way coaches instruct their running backs to properly carry the football.
The HighandTight training football doesn’t look much different than a regular football, but might just be the most important piece of training equipment at a coaches disposal.
The HighandTight training football has sensors on the panels and as long as the ball is being held properly it whistles.
Yes, you heard me correctly. It actually whistles.
The football has to be angled properly and held tightly against the chest (high and tight). If it loses contact it stops whistling.
Essentially, this new piece of training equipment helps teach the proper technique about how to carry the football and it helps create muscle memory, so that hopefully it becomes a second nature in time.
Now, the Cowboys running backs don’t have a really bad track record with fumbling the football. In fact, Darren McFadden only had three fumbles and Joseph Randle lost one in 2015.
Alfred Morris had seven fumbles in four years with the Washington Redskins, but didn’t fumble the ball at all in 2015.
The Dallas Cowboys first-round draft pick, Ezekiel Elliott, only had four fumbles in his entire collegiate career.
The fact that fumbling really isn’t an issue sure didn’t deter the Cowboys from trying out something that could possibly help improve ball security even more.
The Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, and San Diego Chargers are the only teams in the NFL that are currently using the HighandTight training football.
Only time will tell if this new piece of technology will help cut down on fumbles or not, but you have to give credit to the Cowboys organization for leaving no stone unturned to help improve the team in any way possible.
