FIU creates its own device to teach defenders how to force fumbles

There are devices on the market that help football teams practice how to force fumbles.

But at FIU — thanks to equipment manager Donald Reed — the Panthers have created their own gadget.

It all started a few weeks ago, prior to FIU’s season opener against Bethune-Cookman. FIU defensive coordinator Jovan Dewitt wanted something to help his players focus more on fumbles and not just tackles.

Dewitt said he had seen or heard about some sort of practice aid, but FIU didn’t have any such equipment.

“I texted [Reed] that night to see if there was any way we could get that done,” Dewitt said, “and he came up with a really good solution on the fly.”

In essence, it’s a large tire, perhaps four feet tall, with a football taped to the inside, and this contraption is then rolled toward the player.

FIU’s players used it in practice that first week, and it worked as Panthers linebacker Johnny Chaney Jr. stripped the ball from a Bethune-Cookman player, and the fumble was recovered by teammate Quaylen Hill.

“Some teams have drills just to have drills,” Dewitt said. “We show our players that the drills we do have a purpose, and it was cool to be validated right away.”

FIU forced six fumbles in 12 games last season, recovering five. So far, they have just that one fumble recovery in four games.

Clearly, more work is done for the Panthers, who are 2-2 overall and 0-1 in Conference USA. They are also coming off their worst loss of the young season, falling 38-16 to visiting Delaware on Saturday.

Even so, you can’t say that the Panthers aren’t trying whatever they can to improve, and coach Willie Simmons agrees with Dewitt that drills need to show up in games.

“In a game, you can’t think,” Simmons said. “If you are thinking when the ball is snapped, you’ll be behind. Everything has to be habitual and muscle memory.”

Dewitt said that when he was at Army in 2014 and 2015 — working as the special teams coordinator and outside linebacker assistant — he once spent eight hours talking to a rugby coach about tackling.

With a “rugby tackle,” Dewitt explained, a defender has one arm free to attack the ball.

As for these football-attached tires, also known as “tackling doughnuts,” FIU has three of them. The Panthers therefore split up into three groups – linemen, linebackers and defensive backs – and they spend a good five minutes during every practice working on the drill.

Dewitt said he constantly talks to his players to take note of how an opponent is carrying the ball.

“Is the elbow in or is the elbow out?” Dewitt said. “If you are in inside-out pursuit, and the ball is on the outside arm, you can reach and punch for the ball without disrupting your path to the tackle.”

The technique calls for a player to use his fist to strike the ball at a downward angle, out and away from the body. You don’t want to punch it into the body because that is just helping the runner secure the ball.

If a player is holding the ball high and tight, the weak spot is at the tip of his biceps. So, if the elbow is up, you are trying to punch down into the bicep. if the elbow is down, you rake the ball out.

Gang tackling is crucial as the second man in can more easily go for the ball.

Here’s the bottom line:

“The more we talk to our players about forcing fumbles,” Dewitt said, “the more they focus on the ball.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2025 at 10:50 AM.