Question for Defensive Guys

Coach,

I always hated seeing what I call a Wings-n-things team. This is a team that is not a straight ahead Wing T team but will break the wing and do other things from it, being option, spread, shotgun, etc. I have seen some pretty good teams that do the Wing T plays to perfection and still do other things that force you to prepare for them.

Also, option teams can cause problems if there effecient. The teams that line up in four wides and are very good at what they do always cause issues, espcially on your personnel.

Hope this helps and God Bless, Jason Bornn

Coach, I just took over a program last year that had been running wing-t for about 30 years. I made the switch to triple option and totally abandoned the wing-t. It was a mistake because that was all our kids knew. This year we will be running a combination of roughly 40% wing-t, 40% option, and 20% power when we are on the ground. Both the wing-t and the option have their advantages but when you combine both of those systems and committ to practicing and executing both with equal focus, it's very difficult to defend.

gohuskers,
that sounds very interesting. How much time do you spend on each series? Do you still pull and trap within each style?

Bornn,
Thank you very much.

OC1C, yes we stay within each of those two schemes. Our wing-t is run with the backs hands folded over their chests (hiding the ball) and on our triple option package we truly read for both hand-offs and the pitch phase. We spend a lot of time practicing both types of systems. We throw the ballabout one third of the time (ideally). Our practice focus is roughly the same percentage as what we do in games. The trick is to compartmentalize each area of the offensive system. The coaches and players must deliniate between the different styles, yet be comfortable in running each.

Coach Anderson I run multiple formations and multiple backfield sets and the kids handle it fine as long as you have an organized system to install it and understand how to fix it if it breaks. Coach CAmpbell