Tomlin embraces new technology
avoidable injuries in practice.
In 2013, Teevens and his former Dartmouth classmate, engineer John Currier, looked to Dartmouth students, including Teevens’ own defensive lineman Elliot Kastner, to assemble a team of engineers. Kastner worked with classmates to build a prototype for an engineering class, one where sponsors bid to fund projects at the end.
The result was a 5½-foot tall tackling bag with the weight distribution of a standard pop-up tackling dummy, with wheels for remote-controlled movement and stabilizing technology to keep the body upright and right itself back up after a tackle.
When the device received one of the highest bids in the class, the group went ahead and began testing the product at Dartmouth football practices in August. Teevens, the current chairman of MVP, and his team utilized the dummies all season en route to a 9-1 record and a share of the Ivy League title.
Footage of Dartmouth’s practices has gone viral, garnering more than 10,000 views within the span of two days on YouTube, after which the group received calls from numerous interested parties — high schools, colleges and even a producer for “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
The Steelers are one of the first teams to beta test the devices, joining their rival Baltimore Ravens and the Detroit Lions, as well as colleges such as Michigan State and Minnesota and the high school football powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida. Many of the teams, including the Steelers, already have requested a second chance to practice with the MVPs.
Once Kastner rolled out the dummies last week, Tomlin couldn’t wait to take his new toys out for a multiple-day spin.
“[Tomlin] was ecstatic about it,” Kastner said. “He was tackling it himself and showing the coaches, racing it around on the field. It was great to see his enthusiasm and his desire to figure out what the product can be used for.”
Tomlin told Steelers.com it was “an awesome piece of football technology.”
“I’m always interested in ways to utilize technology in terms of teaching football,” he said.
Some players, such as wide receiver Sammie Coates, simply watched from a distance as players trained with the moving tackle bags.
“I saw them. It was kind of funny,” Coates said at Steelers OTAs this week. “I feel like they could give us a good workout.”
Others, such as defensive back Ross Ventrone, had a chance to tackle the product head-on.
“I feel like it can really maximize the reps that we get and the looks we get once it’s perfected,” Ventrone said. “Once you figure out the drills it’s good at and where it will be helpful, it will definitely be a huge advantage in terms of drill work.”
The drill work, according to Kastner, is one of the MVP’s biggest advantages. Initially, the group was going to dub the device the Mobile Tackling Target but audibled to the MVP name when they realized the versatility of the dummy. Kastner says the device is as easy to operate as a remote-control car.
“You can simulate a lot of different players on the field,” Kastner said. “Even Coach Tomlin said this last week, the uses are growing and you continue to learn from it.”
As for the injury-prevention aspect, Ventrone said the value is apparent.
“[Defensive backs] will get up as a receiver and run and give the defensive player a look,” Ventrone said. “When you have the bag doing it, you’re avoiding that chance of running into or colliding for unnecessary reasons.”
Teevens and Kastner cited January as their target date to bring the MVPs to market, thanks to help from their new manufacturer, Rogers Athletic Company. The goal is that any coach at any level can order and unbox a dummy themselves.
Issues such as market pricing and design changes after beta testing are being ironed out, but the coach is rearing to go.
“I’m the optimist, I just say, ‘Get them out there,’ ” Teevens said.