Jim Harbaugh to parents: Football's never been safer than it is right now

By Joe Frollo | Posted 5/23/2016

University of Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh is busy on the recruiting trail this spring, traveling not just the United States but Australia and American Samoa to find the next class of Wolverines.

On Saturday, he took a day before his worldwide journey began to open the Ann Arbor campus to local kids for a basic skills camp. Activities were led by Harbaugh’s staff, but first the head coach addressed everyone in the crowd to offer some words of encouragement to parents whose young athletes are just starting out in their football careers.

“Don’t know of any other sport that requires toughness, courage, discipline, being on time, teaching youngsters to be a part of a team,” Harbaugh told The Detroit Free Press. “So many good things come from being on a football team.

“There’s a lot of people attacking football these days, talking about it being too rough of a sport or too tough. I feel like there’s a real prejudice against football at all levels. But there’s just a misconception about football. ... Football’s never been safer than it is now with the rule changes and technique changes.”

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The Big Ten Conference is one of seven college conferences to endorse USA Football’s Heads Up Football program, a comprehensive approach to teach and play the No. 1 participatory sport of U.S. high school boys. Supported by the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, the program teaches tackling and blocking techniques designed to reduce helmet contact while addressing all-sport-relevant topics with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concussion recognition and response; sudden cardiac arrest protocols; hydration and heat preparedness; and instruction on proper helmet and shoulder pad fitting.  

More than 6,300 youth organizations and 1,100 high schools signed up for Heads Up Football in 2015, representing more than 1 million young athletes.

Along with the program’s health and safety elements, coaches have access to USA Football’s Youth Practice Guidelines and Practice Planner tool that instructs on how to properly build player confidence and instill player fundamentals in a progressive manner, limiting full-speed contact and potential for injury.

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