Installing Today’s Hybrid Pistol Offense Run & Pass from Top to Bottom
This manual provides you with the full offensive line, receiver, and quarterback mechanics for installing each offensive play presented. Coach Campbell has left no stone unturned for implementing today’s Pistol Offense into your program.
Just wondering what defensive fronts/alignments, stunts, coverages, or blitzes have given you double wing guys the most problems?. We only have one team in our high school league that runs the double wing, so we don't see it very much in Western North Dakota. I was just wondering because this one team is a pain in the butt to prepare for and I would like to find a curve ball that I could throw at them out of my 53 front. Thanks for any info that you may be able to provide.
Against the double wing if one of the wings motion to the "I" then put in an automatic slant to the remaining wing. If they run power or sweep your slanting to it. If they pull the "OG" then your DT and NG will water ski into the play.If they boot away then the DE from the backside will slant into the Qb before a pulling OG can get him. Hope this little twist will help.
The biggest success I've had against the double wing is the 53 defense with the defensive ends in a two point stance, and having my d-line slanting to gaps to the motion, and having my sam backer spying the motion back. Also running twists with my ends and tackles with a blitz with my backers is great if the offense runs an option attack. Confusing the o-line and getting penetration is the best way to defend the double wing.
We've found that slanting to motion against a good Double Wing coach will only leave you wide-open to the vast array of counters and reverses they have in their arsenal. Usually, the formation is so tight, the motion is really not necessary for 90% of their actual running plays. If you listen to the good DW coaches, they use the motion to see if you are "over adjusting" to it, then they hit you where it hurts.
We run a straight 5-2 with both safeties up in the box in a double robber scheme. The DE's crash hard down the LOS to take on the kick-out blocks as violently and quickly as possible. LB's purely read offensive guards and react on downhill pre-programmed paths. D-Line simply engages and reacts to double teams. The DL must engage a double team immediately so as to keep the LB's free.
Play it honest and play it physical. Concentrate on keying and defeating the blocking schemes, NOT the motion or backfield action. The blocking schemes will tell you where the play is going nearly every snap. Your second level (LB's and safeties) must read the blocks and react at the pre-assigned landmarks and angles. The DE's must destroy the kick-out blocks. Your CB's key the end man on the LOS (TE or Wing, depending on motion) and either react to run or drop if he releases for pass.
Of course, there's a lot of details to this scheme, but that's essentially it.
We haven't lost to a DW team in 2 years (ever since we went to this scheme). One of those teams was the #1 ranked team in the state. We beat them 42-0 and held them to 120 total yards. With all due respect (sincerely), we would never penetrate or stunt our DL against a double wing team. This is exactly what they are looking for, and is exactly what their offense is designed to counter against if you study their philosophy. Penetration against a properly coached DW team will open up massive vertical seams in the running game, and they will take advantage of it.
We feel our basic scheme gives us the best opportunity to win.
I'll tell you something: necessity is the mother of all good inventions!!
We used to get absolutely man-handled by DW teams when they first started becoming popular in our area. We made many mistakes in our scheme and keys / reads before we came up with something that seemed to work and be simple enough to implement.
The year prior to developing this, we lost to a DW team 34-14 and they ran "Toss" on us over 40 times in one game and we simply could not hold it from being efficient and churning out yards on us. Another DW team orchestrated a game-winning 22 play drive that coverd 90+ yards against us. Both of these instances gave us as coaches a maddening, sickening experience we all vowed never to have to live through again. We really had to study what you guys are truly trying to do, either by listening in on lectures, reading books, or watching tons of tape. In the end, this is essentially what we came up with.
It's a killer offense unless the defense is very well coached and very disciplined. Once that's taken care of, it's just jimmys vs. joes,and I like those odds better than being totally outschemed and outflanked by an offense you don't truly understand!!
The nice thing about this defensivbe scheme is that it works for most "Wing" or "T" based offenses such as the Deleware Wing-T, the Double Wing, the Straight-T and so forth. The principles revolve around:
1. Getting the maximum number of defenders committed to the run while still having the proper reads and keys to defend the pass (which will murder you if you're not diligent).
2. Keying and DEFEATING the blocking schemes of these offenses, not the backfield or QB actions (mostly "block down and kick out" power schemes)
3. Getting the kids to remian disciplined about their assigned reactions / attacks to these keys.
I appreciate your kind words. Your offense is a difficult one to defend!!
Football is a funny game lochness - it seems like the more a coach believes the DW is a "gimmick" the more they try to defend it with a "gimmick" --- WE LOVE THAT! We have one consistent nemesis that is not in our conference but is a regular non-conference opponent - in fact in our very good seasons they managed to put together a 17 quarter scoreless streak on us! Yes that is 4+ games! During that time we averaged 32 pts a game against all other opponents - our scores against them during the streak 6-0, 7-0, 12-0, 6-0 --- now that is jimmy v. joe!!!! Your post could have been written by their coach - and I have great respect for their coach. Your kids are very lucky to have a staff willing to do all that you did to prepare them for success.
Our problem now is that we've moved into a conference that includes 3 hall of fame coaches with 200+ wins each - my guess is that we'll be jimmyed and joed all over the place! Time for us to hit the film room, the books, the clinics, etc.!!!!!!!
govertical - there are a couple of major differences between the two systems. The first one is that the line splits are 0-6 inches (wing T is normally a 2'-2'-3' relationship). This makes blitzing nearly impossible and provides greater opportunities for double team blocks at the point of attack. The second one is that the FB is aligned very tight to the QB - a majority run a "sniffer" back which is self-explanatory, while some move him back a couple of feet (wing T is typically four to five feet back).
All run the double tight, double wing look but that is definitely not the only formation - you can have an extremely tight double slot, offset FB, a triple I, full house T, gun etc. and still run the base plays.
I have been involved with the wing-T for a good portion of my career and love it. However, I have been doing quite a bit of research on this offense recently and I must admit I like the concepts of DW, especially if you have smaller, less talented kids. However, it will work at the top HS level - just look at Clovis East (CA). I have been tinkering with a DW type offense using multiple 2 TE sets and putting the wings in different positions, using motion to place them in the required spots to run the base plays.
Lochness - I have a couple of questions for you regarding the defensive strategy. I have read that many DW guys love the odd front since they will run wedge until you move. Have you seen this? If so, what was your counter to it? Do you run a lot of double eagle or reduction to one side? Also, what would you do with a team that runs rocket (wide toss to WB) or jet sweep? Would the DE have time to react to the playside pulls and not get squeezed down?
FYI - I loved your double dive package - great stuff.
We don't see a lot of wedge, but we adjust by putting our most immoveable lineman at the NG position as a general rule anyway. We usually put quicker, more athletic linemen at the tackles. Particularly, if we find they have one side they have tendancy to pull the guard and tackle from (like for the Toss), we'll put out quickest guy over there.
Most of the DW teams we play will tip the wedge off by moving the FB up a bit closer than normal OR by down and distance tendancy. We'll sometimes double eagle, putting both DT's into a 3 technique. Other times we'll have a call where the NG immediately cuts down the center on the snap, thus elimiating the "keystone" of the wedge.
As for outside runs, our safeties and CB's are both responsible for outside-in contain. Since both of our safeties are inverted at about 5 yards, and the CB's are reading the end man, we have certain block keys that tip off a motion sweep as it comes, and we react at the appropriate angles to get us there in a hurry and defeat the blocking. To be honset, we find we are actually stronger defending D gap than we are C gap, even though our defense is primarily schemed to shut that C gap down. We usually have 2 very good and smart athletes at the DE positions (it's really more like a 3-4 than a 5-2, because these guys are more LB types) who can react to different situations as well.
A lot of it is simply a matter of personnel, as well! If we didn't have a big, strong NG, we'd be in a tougher situation to defend the Wedge. Luckily, we've always been able to find someone to fit that mold. Same with the safeties and DE's. If we have weaker athletes in that position, we'll have to adjust our scheme accordingly and hope the heck these DW coaches don't find our weakness and pound us to death.
I will say that A LOT of defending the DW is scouting that particular opponent for their tendancies. For us, this is probably just as critical as the scheme itself They usually have circumstances you can adapt to:
They may have one back that is more skilled than the other
They may have one pair of OL that they prefer to pull on the guard and tackle schemes.
They may have a tendancy to "Toss" one way and "Counter" the other way fairly exclusively.
We try to determine all of this from scouting information and place our personnel appropriately to counter these things. Sometimes, it may be as simple as always putting your strongest defenders AWAY from the side their best back lines up on, if there is a clear distinction between the skills of the two.
Thank you for your comments on the Double Dive "Belly Series"...I love talking about that stuff!!
38,
We did EXACTLY that (combat a gimmick with a gimmick), but that's not the case anymore. The DW really isn't a gimmick. It's just like any other offense. It's just very precise and patient and if you are not in the proper position to defend it and / or you've based your defense on an incorrect assumption about what they are trying to do to you, you are in big trouble!! They will find you and kill you.
We are in a league with some excellent coaches too. I'll tell you, it certainly makes you work harder in order to be competitive. Best of luck.
IS option something that could be encorporated with the DW? Or is this generally not seen? We have small kids and not alot of speed. To be honest we do not have alot of skilled kids either. Right now we have three kids who run under 5.00 in the 40. Is this offense something that could help us?
Wise men talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.---Plato
Based on what I know about the DW offense, I would say that the Outside Veer would be a devistating play if run in this offense. The DE's have so much responsibility trying to be "the rock" on the Toss and any Sweep action that is run, that further complicating their job by running a FB Veer into C gap and optioning them would be VERY effective! Have the far WB act as the pitch man and the playside WB blocks the alley or support player.
Just my two cents as someone who doesn't run that offense, but someone who's spent a great deal of time devising a proper defense!
The DW is made to order for the Triple Option (ISV,OSV). You just motion the off WB around to assume the proper pitch relationship and your off to the races. It really helps if you have a big crunching FB type to run the complimentary plays with and then when you run the option he will draw all the heat on the dive and your QB and WB can both run as well! Great Offense,imo.
Coach Easton
J.C. EASTON<BR>HEAD COACH<BR>GA TIGERS FOOTBALL<BR>PROFESSIONAL MINOR LEAGUE
Can't agree with above post that says you run a 6 inch split when running the DW, maybe if it is some zone blocking scheme I guess. But, with the FB aligned close, you have to have a split big enough for him to run through on a quick hitting ISV, Dive, etc. I have run the DW out of a flexed look for many years, and still incorporate some of the philosophy in my 3 x 2 empty gun. WE will flex the x and y out 14 yds off the ball or wider, move the WB's in and out according to the 3 yd. rule. This to me, is the base R&S formation. Just my way, as always.
Coach Easton
J.C. EASTON<BR>HEAD COACH<BR>GA TIGERS FOOTBALL<BR>PROFESSIONAL MINOR LEAGUE
Groundchuck - the lack of's that you mention are precisely the reason we went to the DW when I took over at a small school with a 20 game losing streak - I'd rather have a bunch of little rascals all in the same hole trying like heck to move one person than have them matched up one on one - the double teams and angles help reduce the impact of being small. As a ground attack and 3 yards and a cloud of dust offense, you'd be surprised how well you can run it with smaller lineman.
And because the traditional DW playbook is not heavy on perimeter stuff you can be successful with a lack of speed - as long as your guards and your backs are tough SOB's. In fact we're faster now, but we aren't necessarily better - we have more big plays now, but our current crop of backs struggles to pick up the tough 3rd and 5's - we tend to TRY to get them on the perimeter now, whereas before we just plunged it up in there with the "toss".
The option question is an interesting one - and the reason it's interesting is also the reason you get so many different responses when you talk about the "double wing". For many, the DW is just a formation - for others "DW" signifies a "system of rules/playcalling/assignments". For those that see it as a formation, the option is an obvious attraction - after all Air Force does it! The DW and Flexbone can easily be mistaken if you look at it as a "formation". For many of us that run the "DW" we see it differently - here's why we don't option out of our DW.
Line splits make the reads TOO quick and TOO messy- outside veer read might be only a 3 tech width. And the traffic of the tight splits makes it a mess inside - trying to figure out whether the read is stepping down or just being bumped is very difficult (I'd say "impossible" but I know someone must be doing it successfully...)
Athlete availability - if we had exceptional athletes when I got here I probably wouldn't have gone to the DW system. We may have lined up in a DW, but we'd have been more Air Force. I think there is a difference in the mix of kids you need when you have a good option team and a good DW team. The option requires a certain type of QB - the DW requires a very different type of QB - not that a good option QB cant be a DW QB - but you don't HAVE TO HAVE an option QB to be a good DW team.
Philosophy - most DW SYSTEM coaches are willing to be patient, and are ultra-conservative when it comes to protecting the football (I know I am) - that's why we run an offense that tries to churn out 15 play drives. I know option coaches want to protect the football too, and they'd say they value a good 15 play drive as well, but the reality is different. When you're pitching and reading you are taking a risk with both - Either misreading and punting, or fumbling and turning it over. You might coach like crazy to avoid those things but the risk is still there.
Time - as the thinking goes - you either run the option or you dont - you can't run a "little option". In the DW this is particularly true - you have to spend so much time on the ballhandling and the timing with the line pulls and backfield motions that I can't imagine having enough time to be any good at option football too. Secondly - the line play is SO different that your kids would have to be able to switch from ultraprotective of any penetration to NOT blocking some folks - this is a split personality that I'm not sure we could be successful with.
Summary - if we were an OPTION TEAM, we'd run a lot of formations with TWO WINGS - As a DOUBLE WING team though, we won't run any option. Although I'm envious of anyone who can do both!
As an outsider looking in, I'd see the Outside Veer Option as being a logical (and devistating) addition to the DW system...but now that I've read what you've said, I have to agree with your points that go contrary to my original thought. I have never seen a TRUE DW team (as you say, one that truly follows the "philosophy" as opposed to just the "formation") run an option. They pretty much stick with the base DW plays, and they run them to perfection.
I myself am a "power football" guy, although more West Coast / Multiple I style, and I don't really mess with option too much. Again, reason being that I am not fantastic at coaching it and it doesn't completely match our style. I love option football, but I always feel I don't have the time to dedicate to teaching it properly. I'd not want to take away from our Power / Counter / Sweep / Iso / Trap / Belly (Double Dive) stuff that we hang our hats on.
The perimeter has always scared me when defending the DW because we have so much devoted to stopping off tackle. And also, because of the constricted tight formation, the flanks are so large and undefended, it would be hard to get pursuit angles should you get a back wide with some good blocking in front of him.
I have most if not everything from the Wyatt version of the DW - and I've got a bunch of game film obviously - if you're interested let me know how I can get it to you - not too much of it is electronically available (we're a bit technology-challenged!) but I'll certainly do what I can!
Lochness -
I'm with you - I would LOVE to be an option football team - when I lost my OC who was with me when we started the DW we went to a veer-based option --- and we we're okay at it but I hated it! It's a bit like skydiving for me - in love with the thought of doing it, but when it comes right down to it it just doesn't suit me. So we're back in the traditional DW. You make an excellent point about the perimeter - it is tough to defend the c gap and the outside --- we had good speed at guard this year and our bread and butter became "reach" - which is just both guards pulling and leading on the edge - it's all about the speed you have but it was a huge addition for us this year.
Groundchuck - tried to reply to your private msg - couldn't! I told you we were technology-challenged! I have a great qb story for you -- he was 5'4 as a 10th grade starter - 5'5 as a junior, and hopefully he'll be 5'6 next year - he couldn't be a QB in any other system - but he's all guts and all leader and he needs to be on the field - DW QB is all him - thank goodness we run it!
Coach Easton - your response showed that I assumed too much and did a poor job of defining terms. As 38 has stated, "double wing" can either be a formation or formations or a system/philosophy like the wing-T. The double wing I was referring to was the latter - tight splits and FB and a series of plays which feature a substantial amount of line pulls and deception, but is primarily a power game. In fact, this offense might be the best definition of "3 yards and a cloud of dust". It is in direct opposition to the spread offense; many a DW team has the goal of not throwing one pass. The offense is prevalent in youth ball, but only a few large enrollment high schools and one D3 college run it for obvious reasons. There are several websites that will provide much better information than myself.
From a formation standpoint most of my career has dealt with "double wings". Three such formations are widely used in wing-T - with one, two or no TE's. Many years ago our one-back offense placed the slotback as a wing like you have mentioned - he was as much a running back as a WR. Two years ago we ran a spread offense where we would place one or both slots in tight, and the FB in no-back sets was a wing. It provided additional run plays and more versatility in pass protection. However, our HC was not a option guy so we never used it. I loved the old Hawaii offense under Wagner with the triple options from the R&S formation. We have a local HS that had run the wishbone for years, but opted for the wing-T. Their execution of the triple was so good that I should have convinced the new HC to continue using it but from multiple spread formations. Almost no one runs either the triple or the spread offense so they really would have been a preparation nightmare.
lochness - you are dead on about scouting tendencies. That has often been the only thing that has saved us these last couple of years. It is probably the primary way to stop or slow down any offensive system that is run with great execution.
Yes, your correct in saying that it can be a total package/philosophy or as it is to me, just another formation to accomplish what I am looking to do. The flexed double wing that I have utilized for a long time is a base formation of the run and shoot. I do not embrace any special DW philosophy, but rather merely the formation. Thanks for your post.
Coach Easton
J.C. EASTON<BR>HEAD COACH<BR>GA TIGERS FOOTBALL<BR>PROFESSIONAL MINOR LEAGUE