NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Titans have named Clarksville Academy's Todd Hood the Week 6 Titans High School Coach of the Week.
During their week 6 contest, Coach Hood's Clarksville Academy Cougars defeated longtime rival Jo Byrns' Red Devils, 20-35. The Cougars battled the entire game, overcoming the offense surges of the Red Devils, and sealed the victory with a 50-yard TD run with 1:47 remaining in the game.
The Cougars head coach is passionate about the game and would like to provide all necessary precautions to make football safer.
"I know you guys (Tennessee Titans) understand as much as we do, in this day and age, with our kids, especially younger kids, we do not want to turn parents off from football," said Hood. "We want them to know that we are being proactive every way we can to promote safety for the players."
Similar to our Week 5 honoree, Hood's players also wear fitted padded caps over their helmets during practice to reduce the risk of concussions. Even though proper "Heads Up" tackling techniques are a great way to decrease the likelihood of concussions, Hood chose this particular method to ensure the safety of his student-athletes. We briefly discussed the reasons why he chose this method to make the game safer and how easily receptive players are with changes towards those measures.
What made you decide to use the fitted padded caps for extra precaution? And how long have you used the caps?
We have actually used them since this past May. I went to a coaching clinic and received information about the cap's ability to reduce some of the (helmet) impact. Of course it doesn't eliminate concussions, but anything we can do to help kids and parents relieve the tension and worries, especially as we hear more and more about concussions; if we can do anything to be proactive in that regard, in any type of safety, we want to do that. That's what led me to the extra precaution.
Players sometimes are resistant to change. How did your players accept the safety measure?
That's the thing, they do look goofy and about after the second day I asked kids how they like the caps and they really liked them. Now the players don't say anything about them anymore, they just put them one and go. It's really amazing how well they have adapted to them. They do feel a little difference when they hit and it took a little adjustment period but they really do like to wear them. Overall, even if it helps only a small percentage to prevent a concussion, it is well worth it.
Coach Hood will continue his efforts to make the game safer for his student-athletes as he moves forward in the season. As the Coach of the Week winner, he will receive a $1,000 grant benefiting the Clarksville Academy football program.
The Tennessee Titans have provided grants for teams across the state for over 15 years. Over that period the Titans have provided $180,000 toward the Titans High School Coach of the Week grant program.
