Chances are Buffalo Bills tight end and special teams player Kevin Everett knew he was supposed to keep his head up when he instead ducked and hit Denver Broncos kick returner Domenik Hixon with his helmet, suffering a severe cervical spine injury Sunday in Buffalo.

Everett's injury didn't push area ACC coaches to make special reminders to their players about how to tackle the right way. They say they do it anyway.

Duke's Ted Roof, N.C. State's Tom O'Brien and North Carolina's Butch Davis say they push, yell and remind their guys about proper technique every chance they get.

"Because you treat every kid like your son," Roof said. "You have a responsibility to do that. ... We do that every day."

Hit what you see.

Almost to a man, area football coaches use the same words when discussing tackling technique. They also say: Bend at the knees, not at the waist. Don't duck your head. Don't hit the ballcarrier with your helmet. Wrap up tight. Pump your legs.

"When he hits the ground and you hear the wind come out of him, you know you've done your job," North Carolina defensive lineman Kentawn Balmer said.

Hit what you see.

It's great advice that coaches haven't always used. Wake Forest-Rolesville High football coach Earl Smith remembers when tacklers were taught to put their face on the ballcarrier's number.

The tackler was to keep his head up, looking at the numbers, but was to make first contact with his helmet and face mask. It has been decades since coaches embraced that old-school attitude.

"If I see somebody using their head, I go ballistic," Smith said. "We constantly teach that you don't hit with your helmet."

Area coaches also remind themselves each offseason while attending clinics and safety seminars through the American Football Coaches Association.

High schools take extra steps for younger players still learning the game. Bobby Guthrie, the athletics director for Wake County Schools, recommends that high school and middle school coaches use a video called "Heads Up" that was produced by the National Athletic Trainers' Association.

The video, which can be downloaded for free at the NATA Web site at www.nata.org (click on public resources) and can be viewed on the AFCA's site at www.afca.org, features Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy and explains the dangers of incorrect tackling.

Wake County high school and middle school coaches also are given an instructional sheet in the preseason that discusses proper tackling and blocking technique.

ACC officials and high school officials do their part by tracking and penalizing teams and players for helmet-to-helmet hits. ACC coordinator of football officials Doug Rhoads also is always on the lookout for unsafe practices.

You're going to hit and be hit when you play football. As State's O'Brien said Wednesday, "I don't think you're going to take tackling out of the game."

So when coaches say "hit what you see," "hit" is the operative word. Tackling technique hasn't evolved much, Roof said, but the force of the tackle has.

Especially at the college and professional levels, physically mature and exquisitely trained men run at great speeds to make a tackle. The ballcarrier is just as strong, fast and eager to get past them.

"That makes the impact more violent," Roof said.

So why would anyone risk injury by leading with his head?

"I think sometimes guys feel like they're hitting harder that way," Duke cornerback Leon Wright said. "You just have to remember it's not about how hard you hit. The technique will deliver the blow, and you'll have the force you need coming from your butt and legs."

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