Single Wing Offense

Coach Washington,

I've run some single wing with my kids (10-12) as a changeup to our primary I/Gun based offense in the past and actually plan on reinstalling it again for the same purpose this season. The version we run is unbalanced (we move the offside guard over) and is not a true wing, as we utilize a nasty slot to the unbalanced side of the formation. It can certainly be very effective at the youth level both as a power run formation, as well as, giving you the opportunity to exploit teams that attempt to adjust to it with effective misdirection and deception in your backfield.

Based on the descriptions you gave of your players, I'd probably keep your current QB handling the snap. We also deviate from the original single wing on the snap, by delivering the ball straight back rather than at an angle to the player we refer to as the quarterback. Getting a good gun snap is usually hard enough to do consistently at this age, much less asking them to do it at the angle needed when offsetting the backs, so we look for a knee to waist high snap at a depth of 5 yards behind center. Your "speed" back might be well suited to either play the running back or at flanker to take advantage of his speed on misdirection plays. You mentioned that he has trouble "hitting the holes". If this is because he attempts to bounce every carry outside even when the hole is inside, believe me when I say, he is not alone by any means! That is a very common problem with kids who run well, especially at the younger age levels. A compressed formation like the single wing should hopefully provide him with ample opportunity to get outside though, if your kids up front will help you establish an effective power running game.

Your "bruiser" sounds like a great fit at what we call the fullback position. He aligns a yard off the ball behind the playside guard. FB Trap has probably been my favorite play out of this formation, with the QB completing a complete spin, faking a mesh/handoff to the back and then cutting inside off the FB's kickout of the EMLOS on the weak side. I've attempted to show our formation alignments below. We usually like to have two TEs in the game, but can also utilize a second receiver on the weak side as well. We will normally align the running back behind the weakside tackle with his toes on the QB's heals for most plays.

W(TE) LT C LG RG RT----Y(TE)
--------------------FB--------Z(WB or FLKR)

-------------QB
---------RB

You also mentioned having one dominant blocker. Depending upon the defenses you will likely see, I'd look to play him at either center, TE or PST. Some teams maintain a "Quick" and a "Strong" guard and tackle but we do not and are pretty right handed as a result. Many teams will also "pull" their linemen frequently, but we have chosen to pretty much limit any pulling in this formation to our fullback.

Dave Cisar has probably forgotten more than I know about running the single wing at the youth level, but this has been very successful for us when we've gone to it in the past and hopefully will be again this fall. As far as choosing a defense goes, you can't go wrong with a 6-2 or a 5-3 as most of the veteran coaches on this board would suggest. If your league rules do not prevent you from running an 8-man front, I would certainly go that route at this age level. Pressure the center and minimize big plays by containing the outside run and you guys should be in great shape!

Best of luck and welcome to the forum coach!

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach

The blog Coach Calande referenced in his post can be found at www.directsnapfootball.com.

To Dave Hartman:

Dave, the first offense I ever ran as a QB was the single wing in the mid 1950's. I aligned directly behind the strong guard at 1 yd depth. The FB aligned where you have the QB aligning in your diagramming. The ball was always snapped directly to the FB who was 4 yds directly behind the center and very seldom to the TB aligned directly behind the weak side guard. As I called the cadence, I would execute a 180 degree jump turn facing the FB, who on receiving the snap would come directly up the middle as if he were going to run a dive in the A gap, but would hand off to me. I would then, according
to the play called, either spin and follow the FB through the line on a keeper, pitch to the TB coming around on sweep action, or drop back and pass, hand off to WB coming back on reverse action, etc. We patterened our attack after Notre Dame's box (SW).

Coach Easton-TIGER ONE

Thanks for the additional insight Coach Easton. I've enjoyed watching some film of some classic single wing teams like the ones Coach Mountjoy has mentioned previously. Coach, are you familiar with the short punt formation. My Dad was a spinnerback in that offense back in the mid 40's.

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach

Coach: Here's a very good short punt implementation.

This is the BIBLE on the Single Wing. I have read just about every book EVER written on the SW, & this is the MOST INFORMATIVE! It is "out of print" & hard to find - but you can find it on ABEBOOKS.COM (online)


MODERN SINGLE WING FOOTBALL. ILLUSTRATED WITH 109 DIAGRAMS AND 32 PAGES OF PHOTOGRAPHS
CALDWELL, CHARLES W. Jr. (Head Coach at Princeton in the 1940's & 1950's).

Here is ANOTHER by a great High School Coach who PLAYED for Caldwell at Princeton (in Princeton's "GLORY YEARS"). You can ALSO find it on ABEBOOKS.COM

Simplified single wing football
Kenneth W Keuffel

Ted - Dr. Ken & I exchanged visits to each other's homes going back to the early 1960's until just before his passing. His teams were a "THING OF BEAUTY" to watch!

PS: Ken would tell you that Caldwell's book was THE "BIBLE" on the unbalanced line SW. Caldwell mentions Ken in that book.

PPS: The number 1 living authority on the BALANCED line SW (as run by the great Gen. Bob Neyland at Tennessee, & "Red" Sanders at UCLA) is Ed Racely - now residing in Brewster, Mass. Ed is in his 80's but "sharp as a tack"!

I agree 100%. Every TRUE Single Winger should still have Caldwell's book as well. The numerous PHOTO SEQUENCE pictures of the ball handling on most of the play SERIES (with Heisman Trophy winner - Dick Kazamier at TB) are FANTASTIC!

quote:

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Originally posted by: Oneback
I agree 100%. Every TRUE Single Winger should still have Caldwell's book as well. The numerous PHOTO SEQUENCE pictures of the ball handling on most of the play SERIES (with Heisman Trophy winner - Dick Kazamier at TB) are FANTASTIC!

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Bill: I couldn't agree more -- and thanks to Coach Guy Savoie of Massachusetts, Caldwell's

Modern Single Wing Football is now available as a free PDF file:

Modern Single Wing Football PDF

As you'll see from the document, the copyright on Coach Caldwell's book expired in 1979 and was never renewed, meaning the book's contents are now in the public domain and free to be copied by anyone.

So -- thanks to Guy Savoie for creating the electronic version, and to Clark Wilkins for posting it on his website!

Thank you Coach Seay,

I just e-mailed her about them and will look forward to seeing those as well. Thanks again for the info.

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach