AHC: in 1990s U.S. high schools start replacing football with imagined 'Ohio Rugby'?

Rugby has its own problems with concussion and unfortunately the non wrapping tackle is becoming too common. Some of the tackles now the tackler just flaps an arm round to try and tell the ref he is going to use an arm and then bang goes in with the shoulder.

We were taught to go low and wrap the player around the waist down to his knees and use his momentum to go to ground and then get on our feet to play for the ball but defence coaches now want a runner stopped dead and even knocked back because of the modern obsession with stopping at the gain line and preventing a pass out of the tackle. Nowadays with the massive size of players its probably the only way to go.

I think if Gridiron wants to cut down on concussion player size has to change make the 11 starting players stay on the field get rid of the endless timeouts and the 300+ pound behemoths will soon disappear and less damage will be caused.
It sounds like some of these coaches are trying to Gridiron-ize rugby.

A criticism of rugby is that it lacks the concept of downs like American Gridiron Football has. But as you hint at with classical rugby where the player pitches out as he's being tackled and the next player may do the same, in a sense a single play has multiple downs and a single play can constitute its own drive!
 
You've envisioned a game that causes far, far more injuries than current football.
I'm assuming you're saying this because I'm envisioning a wide-open game with a lot of broken field running. So, even if we have a very strong norm against the 'charge' where the offensive player runs into a defensive player who has established position, and similarly for 'obstruction' on the part of the defensive player, with this much running around, inevitably . . . inevitably, players will run into each other.

Well, one thing, it's the stop of play, either legitimate corral or 'trap,' or some kind of penalty. Players may learn to arrest their motion and come to some kind of stop. Maybe.

And compared to modern American football with its spread offenses, with up to five offensive players running pass patterns at full speed plus even more defensive secondary players, I figure it's got to be an improvement.
 
Alright, we have a long half-mile course which flows and turns through a big terrain. It's primarily an elaborate tag game, where you have to corral or trap the ball carrier, but what a game! Think of a lot of Barry Sanders open field running. A talented runner can perhaps build up a whole 1,200-yard highlight reel from a single game.

In addition, there are red zones the width of the field and maybe about 10 or 15 yards in depth. From anywhere on the field, you can throw into a red zone. And from a red zone, you can throw anyway. And by definition, a forward pass is the only place where you can have a change of possession. We stop the obstruction and the direct collisions, but we do allow the receiver and defended to scrap for the ball. So, in a sense, this is a less heavily referred game than is current football.

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In his book Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis from the NFL to Youth Leagues, Chris Nowinski gave at least one example in which high school athletes do want to know, are concerned, including the part with CTE where is accumulated lesser blows. In addition, teammates want to take care of each other, and this is a very positive dynamic which can be built on. I don't want to oversell, for teenagers of course have patchy skills, mature beyond their years in some areas, but not in others.

So, maybe a coach or parent picks up on this concern and comes up with the above running game. At first just in springtime competing with a few other schools. But it becomes bigger, and eventually one school district makes the move that this will take the place of fall football.

But then the question becomes, what about college scholarships?

For big-time college programs have large teams, with more scholarship positions available than several other sports put together.
 
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