Tackling Accuracy: How Important Is It?

In nan days aft Indiana’s culmination of nan eventual “worst-to-first” climb, galore stories came retired disecting nan Curt Cignetti hire, his staff, and really they did things successful an effort to fig retired “how nan heck did Indiana do that?”.

There were excessively galore nuggets that I appreciated to prime retired conscionable a azygous 1 to constituent to, but 1 that did guidelines retired to maine was Indiana’s tackle accuracy/success complaint complete nan past 2 years.

For now I’m ignoring nan moreover much juicy anecdote of their “no interaction practices” and, instead, focusing connected nan truth that Indiana had nan lowest missed tackle complaint successful 2024 and was Top 20 successful missed tackle complaint successful 2025.

At its core, shot is astir blocking and tackling; if you tin artifact a play perfectly each clip you’ll ever people points, and if you tackle each play earlier they people you’re going to support scoring down. It’s a elemental game.

So while we don’t talk astir it a ton, tackling accuracy seems to beryllium a bully portender for wide protect success, wouldn’t you say?

But alternatively of postulating, let’s really return a look and find out! Here are nan Top 10 defenses of 2025 and spot wherever they classed successful tackling accuracy:

Seven of nan Top 10 defenses successful SP+ besides had a Top 20 tackle accuracy successful 2025. So while talent and strategies will ever matter, it besides seems nan elemental enactment of not missing a tackle helps to make a defense very good.

And, of course, you tin spot Missouri was nan tenth-best defense of 2025 and had nan fourth-best tackle accuracy successful nan country. All bully things.

As I’ve discussed successful various articles and podcasts, nan Missouri defense was a.) nan main motor of Missouri’s wide occurrence for nan past 2 years, and b.) is getting a difficult reset for 2026. But if nan coaching unit is bully astatine coaching tackling, and that unit is still successful place, past possibly nan monolithic turnover from ‘25 to ‘26 could beryllium mitigated. Maybe?

Let’s return a look astatine nan tackle accuracy for nan guys who played past twelvemonth and are returning pinch much than 10 tackles, positive nan tackle accuracy of nan guys coming connected board. We’ll commencement from nan champion and activity our measurement down:

A bunch of backups (Dante McClellan, Trajen Greco, etc.) are coming successful pinch 100% tackle accuracy connected their 2-4 tackles connected nan twelvemonth but I didn’t deliberation that was worthy adding. But you tin spot nan precocious accuracy of nan guys who are coming backmost and were producing past year!

Now, present are nan transfers and their tackle accuracy:

If you group an 85% tackle accuracy arsenic “acceptable” past you person half of nan transfers who played important snaps past twelvemonth complete that people and nan remainder under. Corners and separator rushers thin to person little tackle accuracy numbers (maybe because their tackles are of them chasing a feline vs. squaring up connected a dude? Just a thought) and 3 of nan 4 lowest guys present are 2 corners and a protect end.

But, again, if Corey Batoon’s teachings/scheme lends itself to having guys beryllium much meticulous tacklers, and he only really needs to attraction connected 4 guys from nan “significant experience” transportation class…that’s not excessively bad!

Being meticulous successful tackling seems to beryllium important to having a awesome defense and Batoon has a batch of guys connected nan roster who are meticulous tacklers. If you’re looking for reasons to constituent to arsenic an statement against this defense regressing noticeably successful ‘26, that’s a bully point to cling to. Obviously it takes much than that to create an elite defense, but if that tackling accuracy tin hold, past that’s 1 little point to interest astir successful nan rebuild.