Tapering practice

I am a firm believer of backing off a bit. Most of the backing off is on contact in practice and a bit on conditioning. However, I'm a positional coach and not the HC, DC, or OC on the team I coach for and I'm not in the high school building because I am in grad school and student teaching in another school in the district at the moment. The other coaches do a lot of thier planning throughout the day when I'm not available to consult with them. The OC thinks along the same lines as I do, but the HC, who is also the DC, doesn't feel the same way. It's sometimes a struggle to get him to back off on contact. He's been coaching for 35 years and still believes in hard contact all the time. I actually had a hard time biting my tongue during last week's day before game practice when he was ripping the team for not hitting fully that day. But, that's what happens with philosophical differences. He is the HC, so I don't let my thoughts spill out in front of the kids. But, I really do believe that at the end of the season, contact needs to be lessened due to the amount of beating the athletes have already taken. Practices at the end of the season should be shorter, more intense mentally with less emphasis on the physical. Hell, if the kids don't know how to hit or tackle at this point in the year, they aren't going to figure it out this week. Just my opinion.