Wildcat Offense

Coach,

Do you mean making a kind of backside zone read on Jet sweep?

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach

Any coaches out there running the Wildcat? Coach CAmpbell

The wildcat formation (or wildcat offense), a variation on the single-wing formation, is an offensive American and Canadian football scheme that has been used at every level of the game including the CFL, NFL, NCAA, NAIA, and many high schools across America. The general scheme can be instituted into many different offensive systems, but the distinguishing factor is a direct snap to the running back and an unbalanced offensive line.

The wildcat is an offensive package rather than an offense, in that it uses the same pre-snap motion coming across the formation on every play in the package and every play initially looks like a sweep behind zone blocking. However, after the snap several things may happen once the motion man crosses the player receiving the snap.


History
The precursor to the Wildcat formation is named the "Wing-T",[1][2] and is widely credited to being first implemented by Coach Tubby Raymond and Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team. Tubby Raymond later wrote a book on the innovative formation. The Wildcat's similarity to the Wing-T is the focus on series football, where the initial movements of every play look similar. For example, the Wing-T makes use of motion across the formation as well in order to draw a reaction from the defense, but runs several different plays from the same look.

The virtue of having a running back take the snap in the Wildcat formation is that the rushing play is 11-on-11 (although different variations have the running back hand off or throw the football). In a standard football formation, when the quarterback stands watching, the offense operates 10-on-11 basis. The motion also presents the defense with an immediate threat to the outside that it must respect no matter what the offense decides to do with the football.

High school
There has been much conjecture about the origins of the Wildcat offensive scheme. Michael Vick has claimed to be "the originator" of the Wildcat offense. Some claim it is named for the Wildcats of West Genesee High School, where Miami Dolphins assistant coach Steve Bush once worked. Others claim that the offense was created by double-wing guru Hugh Wyatt, a longtime coach in the Pacific Northwest. Wyatt, coaching the La Center (WA) High School Wildcats, published an article in "Scholastic Coach" magazine in 1998, where he explained in detail his offensive system. Many other high school football programs across the United States run or have in the past run similar schemes.

The wildcat offense's key trait, that either the quarterback or running back can receive a direct snap, is one of the many gimmicks featured in the controversial A-11 offense.

College
The modern version of the Wildcat was first used by the Kansas State University Wildcats with Michael Bishop as quarterback in 1997 and 1998 when they made a run at the top of the national rankings. The Wildcat was popularized on the college level by current Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, and current Miami Dolphins quarterback coach David Lee in their former jobs as offensive coordinator with the Arkansas Razorbacks. In 2006, Malzahn, and in 2007 Lee, was the offensive coordinator for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team. They both ran a variation of the Wildcat formation in which running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones were prominently featured. The Wildcat formation was sometimes called the "WildHog" (in honor of the Razorback mascot at the University of Arkansas) and subsequently rebranded as the "WildRebel" when Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt went to Ole Miss as head coach (Ole Miss' mascot being the Rebels) and in 2009 as "WildHorn" for The University of Texas Longhorns And Alabama having 6 snaps using the Wildcat Formation agianst Virginia Tech.

While the Wildcat formation is often seen as successful for offenses, there have been several instances where the wildcat formation has indeed kept the defense on their toes, but the offense has not followed through. Kansas State has used the Wildcat offense more recently as has the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Kentucky. The University of Pittsburgh has had great success with the formation lining up either star running back LeSean McCoy or running back LaRod Stephens-Howling taking the snap. The Panthers have scored numerous times from this formation throughout the last two seasons. [10] The Kentucky Wildcats look to improve their offense by utilizing Randall Cobb, who can play quarterback, receiver and running back, in their Wildcat formation.

National Football League

Chiefs running back Larry Johnson lines up at the quarterback position in the Wildcat formation, 2008.In a December 24, 2006 game between the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons, the Panthers deployed a formation without a quarterback and directly snapped the ball to running back DeAngelo Williams. The Panthers ran the ball—mostly in this formation—for the first twelve plays of the opening drive. The offensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers at the time was Dan Henning, who later developed this concept into the Wildcat as the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins.

Relying on the experience of quarterbacks coach David Lee who had run the scheme at Arkansas, the 2008 Miami Dolphins implemented the Wildcat offense beginning in the third game of the 2008 season with great success, instigating a wider trend throughout the NFL.The Dolphins started the Wildcat trend in the NFL lining up either running back Ronnie Brown (in most cases) or Ricky Williams in the shotgun formation with the option of handing to the running, or throwing. Through eleven games, the Wildcat averaged over seven yards per play for the Dolphins. "It could be the single wing, it could be the Delaware split buck business that they used to do," Dolphins offensive coordinator Dan Henning said. "It comes from all of that."[14] On September 21, 2008, the Miami Dolphins used the Wildcat offense against the New England Patriots on six plays, which produced five touchdowns (four rushing and one passing) in a 38-13 upset victory.

As the popularity of the Wildcat spread during the 2008 NFL season, several teams began instituting it as a part of their playbook, including the Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings, and the Dallas Cowboys.

Many teams admit to spending an inordinate amount of time having to prepare for such a scheme.

Canadian Football League
Up until the 2009 season, a technicality in the league rules made the Wildcat offense illegal; essentially, the rule stated that a designated quarterback must be in position to take all snaps. This has since been changed.

Dan Henning (Dolphins) did his student teaching under me in 1963. I worked at his Football Camp from 1982 thru 1986 (5 Summers).

HIS "Wildcat" is no more than taking some of his traditional Oneback sets, & putting a runner at QB in the GUN position.

When he beat the Jets last Monday night - the RB faked to Ricky Williams & scored on the "POWER-O", which has been a stable in his offense since the 1980's. The NFL network is showing the game over & over this week.

Knowing Dan as I do - he doesn't make a "big deal" about the "Wildcat". The following exerpt from an article (by Michael Lombardi) about Dan sums up his philosophy:


"Miami’s offensive coordinator, Dan Henning, has been around the block -- at least three times. He’s seen the game evolve from one point to another, and he coached against Buddy Ryan back in the day, so he understands how this blitz package was built and what gives it problems. He knows football, he understands the evolution of concepts and plays, he knows how a play can adequately function, and he knows what causes a play to break down. He’s not a play drawer like so many young offensive coaches; rather, he understands how defense works and how to attack a defense.

Football is a game made of plays, but knowing a lot of plays doesn’t guarantee a coach success. Knowing and understanding how a defense operates is more important than knowing plays, or having a pretty notebook. The best offensive minds in the league offer simplicity in their offense, but they know how to attack the nerve center of the defense. Gadgets and fades never stand the test of time, but sound football principles do".

AMEN!

Ryan I agree about your comment having a player who can get to the edge quick. We run some Wildcat and it allows us to challenge the edge faster. Coach CAmpbell

Many times a Qb is basically a wasted player in most offenses after he hands off. I know that he is supposed to fake boot or some other fake after he hands of, but often times this does not happen.

Our QB is not physically mature enough to handle running the football yet. (He is only a freshman, but he is the best we have). We would be putting him in harms way (literally) if we tried to have him run the ball.

However, we have a running back who is our backup QB, wh o is much physically stronger and capable of running the ball. He can also pass the ball relatively well. When we move him and our halfback into the backfield together (we usually run double slot) in the gun we create multiple running opportunities, plus we still have the opportunity to pas as well. This way we make the defense account for all 11 of our players. The QB can catch and the defense must still account for himleaving the rest of the offense 10 on 10. It is just very helpful to have that. We run it as a limited package. The Backup QB (RB) is not capable of handling our entire offense or else we would run the Wildcat constantly the way West Virginia did with PAt White.

Coach Kerr thanks for sharing information on the Single Wing clinic. Wish I could be there but, glad to have you on our forum. Coach CAmpbell