At AFCA 2026, Keith Grabowski talks with Richie Gray to explore how contact training, tackling methodology, and innovation have reshaped modern football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richie shares lessons from his rugby background, his work with USA Football and the NFL, and his belief that better technique and better tools lead to safer, more effective play. The conversation focuses on accuracy, realism, and solving problems through coaching rather than rule changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The discussion also touches on the quarterback sneak and tush push. Richie explains how his insight contributed to the play\u2019s early development and why its success comes from timing, personnel, and repetition rather than gimmickry. He emphasizes that defenses must solve the play through coaching detail and structure instead of relying on rule changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richie Gray is an Elite Performance Skills\/Contact Coach who has quite simply changed the way coaches coach, and players train and prepare for the area of contact and collision globally. Although Gray is the founder of GSI Performance, he is also a full-time professional coach in his own right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What separates Gray from the rest, is his unique position of being involved in the following three key areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-Elite Performance Coaching<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-Technical Training Equipment<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-Contact & Coliision Coaching Methodology<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chapters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 How rugby principles influenced modern football tackling
\u2022 The evolution of the Five Fights tackling system
\u2022 Why simplicity drives better teaching and execution
\u2022 Designing tackling equipment that creates realistic contact
\u2022 Why many common training tools fail to improve accuracy
\u2022 Early influences behind the quarterback sneak and tush push
\u2022 Personnel and coaching details that make short-yardage plays work
\u2022 How defenses should approach solving new offensive trends
\u2022 Improving late-game lateral and pitch situations
\u2022 Measuring coaching success by long-term player health<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learn more about Smart Clinics at https:\/\/coachandcoordinator.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Richie Gray – GSI Performance Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Connect on X:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2060@CoachKGrabowski\u2060<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2060@RichieGrayGSI\u2060<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At AFCA 2026, Keith Grabowski talks with Richie Gray to explore how contact training, tackling methodology, and innovation have reshaped modern football. Richie shares lessons from his rugby background, his...","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":13286,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":""},"tags":[2387,2386,2385,2384],"series":[1027],"class_list":["post-13285","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-afca-2026","tag-gsi-performance","tag-richie-gray","tag-rugby-in-football","series-coach-and-coordinator"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/coachandcoordinator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CCN-2026-RICHIE-GRAY.png","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/coachandcoordinator.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/coach-and-coordinator-podcast\/id1216363733","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2FMkGaDAACBdFKWXY9WfGs","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/coachandcoordinator.com\/?feed=podcast&podcast_series=coach-and-coordinator","embedCode":"Tackling, the Tush Push, and More, From Rugby Roots to Football Results with Richie Gray<\/a><\/blockquote>