When the sirens sound during a Michigan football practice, the “initiation process to hitting people super hard” starts. Speakers play the foreboding song from “The Purge” (2013), as practice is consumed by a live, nine-on-seven tackling drill.
The Wolverines and head coach Jim Harbaugh have called it “Beat (whoever U-M was playing)” for the past two years. It was initially constructed to find a means of stopping Ohio State’s string of victories over Michigan. After the Bulldogs won two consecutive national titles, the team decided to move ahead of this season to Georgia. They do it once a week, and in December, it will be known as “Beat Alabama” in anticipation of the Rose Bowl College Football Playoff Semifinal.
“During those times, it’s almost like no football at all. Like my guy in front of me isn’t tackling the ball carrier, it’s smashmouth. Trevor Keegan, an offensive lineman, stated, “It’s really cool.” It seems like a major factor in our achievement. I recall our first spring ball 2021 drill in which we defeated Ohio. Like I couldn’t really put it into words for you. It resembled Sparta, Battle 300, or something similar. It was crazy, I assure you.
Sherrone Moore, the offensive coordinator for the Wolverines, grinned and concurred with Keegan’s assessment, stating that it has a lot of loud music, the sound of plastic thudding, “a lot of violence,” and “physicality at its finest.” On New Year’s Day, No. 4 Alabama will take on it in the College Football Playoff title.
The team’s “heavy, 12 and 13-personnel” have 20 yards to gain on the ground, according to the players who described the practice. Centre Drake Nugent said he knew his facemask was going to get lodged in a teammate’s chest plate as soon as he heard the sirens. Nugent, who transferred from Stanford in 2020, claimed that the programme at Schembechler Hall in Ann Arbour had taught him the standards.
