Made famous by the Philadelphia Eagles with Jalen Hurts, the “tush push” has been a hot-button topic in NFL circles and is now making its way down to college football.
What could be described as a quarterback sneak, in reality, involves the offensive line and others shoving the quarterback forward across the line to gain.
The play has been wildly successful for Philadelphia and others across the league, but the question of player safety has been an argument for banning the play altogether.
On Wednesday, Alabama head coach Nick Saban was asked to give his own thoughts on the play.
“We’ve tried to make a lot of rules in the last few years that are intended to enhance player safety,” Saban said. “And I don’t think that’s necessarily a play when people are running into the pile and aggressively pushing the pile forward that is enhancing player safety.”
The fairness of the play has also been brought into question, but Saban feels as if there isn’t a great advantage to any team.
“From a competitive standpoint, everyone can do it, so it really doesn’t matter,” Saban said. “It’s not a competitive or disadvantage one way or the other. But I do think there may be a conversation about how it can impact player safety in terms of doing that kind of aggressive pushing of the pile.”
Alabama is set to kickoff against Arkansas on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. with ESPN on the call.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
