suggestion backs wont hit inside

Coach,
You are in a very difficult position. And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure how to teach toughness. Your sprinters have to become tougher. You can try a day of just hitting drills, tackling drills, and the like to force the guys to get used to the contact. But, you can't force something like that into a kid. They are either tough or they're not. If this is their first time playing football, it may be fear and the hitting drills can help through teaching them that while getting tackled hurts, it won't be the end of the world. As for the catching, spend your entire individual time on catching drills and catching technique. Hit them with pads while they catch the ball as well to teach them how to catch in traffic. Telling the kids to have a ball in hand as much as possible is another good way. I find the more comfortable they are with a ball in their hands, the better they will catch. There are little drills they can do on their own or in their spare time that are tough to explain. However, if you would like to know them, send me an email. Griffmoose@aol.com. Great job with the defense. That shows that your kids hustle and hit. And as I think about it now, they aren't afraid of the concept of contact if they tackle. They just don't like the idea of being hit. Tell them to take a defensive mentality when they carry the ball. Hit the defender before the defender can hit you. If you do it often enough, they may not want to hit you and it will be easy to avoid them. Just a few thoughts. I hope that helps a bit. Good luck.