This drill was developed by legendary football coach Bud Wilkinson and can help you improve your speed, strength, and footwork during your gameday prep. There are multiple variations to this drill, including a drill that uses a defensive lineman.
The OKC drill is something that is done a few times during a game, and is a method of the Oklahoma Football team to simulate a game in real life.
Why Do They Call it the Oklahoma Drill?
When the Oklahoma Sooners played games on ABC, they were known as the Oklahoma Bud’s Sooner Team. When the Sooners wanted to take their own name and play without the sponsor, they played the game as the Oklahoma Drill.
When Did it Begin?
The concept was introduced by coach Bud Wilkinson of the Oklahoma Sooners college football team in the 1940s. This drill was designed to practice pinning an offensive player directly against a defensive player. The offensive player tries to push past the defensive player while the defensive player tries to stop them with a tackle.
When football coaches started using this drill, they put their players into the middle of the ring and let them hit the players with a ball. This allowed them to test their players’ reactions to full contact.
How Does the Oklahoma Drill Work?
A football drill where one player (the ball carrier) is given a football to run full speed up three yards or so to try and score a touchdown. The defender is trying to stop the run while the ball carrier is trying to score. This drill requires the defender to stop the run.
Coaches often choose to use this drill as a way to practice their defense against different offensive lines. They may use the drill this way for a few minutes to help practice their techniques before they start scrimmages, or as a way to increase intensity. This drill can be used with almost any position group.
What is the Point of the Oklahoma Drill?
The Oklahoma drill is also used by college coaches to simulate getting hit during games. However, college players are usually more experienced at getting hit than high school players. This is why the Oklahoma drill is used with high school football players.
Team bonding was the reason coaches used this drill. They wanted to unite the team, so they gathered the team on one field to watch the drill. It created unity for the team, which the coaches wished for.
The “Guts” section is an optional continuation to the “Drills” section depending on the coach’s preference. The “Guts” section allows the coach to explain that certain players have been having too much fun during a play, are not pulling their weight, or not hustling. The “Guts” portion may also offer a solution to one of the problems that the coach may have noticed during the drill, as well as a solution to the problem that is occurring.
3. Pre-Practice Warmup
When you’re preparing for a big game, you want to focus on the little things, not just the big stuff. So, to prepare for a big game like the season opener, we want to do a few things that are not only fun and will make sure we’re ready for game day, but will also focus on the things that we need to work on. This is a very important part of football and we want to make sure we practice it.
Is there a Winner in this Drill?
The winners of this drill are the defensive player and the runner. The defense wins by tackling the runner or knocking the runner out of bounds. The runner wins by getting by or by being tackled by the defender.
Is the Oklahoma Drill Banned in the NFL?
The NFL did not allow the drill to be used last season. They banned it from team practices in 2019 because they want to minimize the potential injury situations. Some football teams still have the Oklahoma drill allowed today. It is a common drill used in high school and NCAA football.
For most coaches, the stick is no longer used because of the safety considerations.
What Do Critics Think?
You might compare this to some of the practices of the early 2000s. We had a lot of practice that was meant to be more punishing and that didn’t seem to bother anybody. Of course the game is evolving and now is very different from what it was.
How about on the other side of the ball?
I’ll answer this question with a few quotes from John Harbaugh and Jim Caldwell.
Many believe that this is the first time that the NFL is seriously looking to take a stance with the issue of concussions. At the very least, there are currently plans to require players to come to camp with all the same equipment they would at a normal camp.
Some NFL players expressed concerns about the concussion risk during practices. The league banned head hits during practices in 2019.
Conclusion: What is the Oklahoma Drill in Football?
In summary, I believe that the Oklahoma Drill is a way to prepare football players to be better players by playing against each other, but it has gotten too dangerous to be allowed in practice. Since 2019, the NFL has banned this drill, and instead teams use other drills that are not as dangerous.
