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AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


Stopping the Wing-T

Defending the Wing-T is an Exercise in Discipline
by: Steve Silverman
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It is one of the most confounding offenses found in either high school or college football. Mention the Wing-T at any meeting of coaches and the majority – if being honest – will admit that it is one of their worst nightmares. It is an offense that is as unpredictable as any in the game and the team that is unprepared for it will be placed in peril and will most likely be embarrassed.

Few coaches will put their team at that disadvantage. Through scouting and film study, most coaches know when they are about to be attacked by a Wing-T team. Knowing what you are facing is one part of the battle. Stopping it effectively is something quite different.

The Wing-T features motion, misdirection, surprise and counterattack. Many coaches who use this offense will explain that their team does not need to have a superior group of athletes in order to defeat the opposition with the Wing-T as its primary source of offense. When the offense executes it with ability and precision, solid defensive coaches and players can be made to look like rank amateurs.

The offense has been around since before the mid-point of the 20th century, but it was Dave Nelson who brought it with him from the University of Michigan to Delaware in 1951 and installed it as the primary offense for the Blue Hens.

Dave Cohen is the current defensive coordinator for the Blue Hens under head coach K.C. Keeler. Cohen also was a linebacker and defensive line coach under Delaware legend Tubby Raymond from 1994-98. Cohen faced Wing-T opponents throughout his coaching career, but his expertise came from seeing the offense every day in practice. While the offense can be confusing because of the sleight of hand and misdirection, it is up to the defense to concentrate on its strengths and to not be drawn into a battle of subterfuge.

“It’s not about where the offense starts,” Cohen explained. “You don’t have to be concerned about the shifts and the movements of the offense. It’s where it ends up before the snap of the ball and then it’s a matter of playing defense. First and foremost, a defense that goes up against the Wing-T has to concentrate on the fundamentals. Read the keys and react to what the offense is doing. Any team that sticks to what it does best and doesn’t try to overreact to the intricacies of that offense has a much better chance to be successful.

“When it comes to game planning for a Wing-T offense, I’m not a big believer in changing too many things. For one thing, you are only going to see that offense one time a year usually. Why should you change what you do for one opponent? If you do that, it is really going to confuse some of your players. Get them comfortable in what they do best and then make them aware through film study what that offense will do. You can break up your regular practice by working on the Wing-T, but don’t make that the complete focus. I think that only leads to trouble. Changing your normal defense for that Wing-T opponent can cause problems throughout the year if you let it.”

Carl Poelker of McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois has successfully run the Wing-T for years. His Bearcats have been one of the top teams on a consistent basis in the Mid-States Football Association’s Midwest League. Non-conference opponents have regularly been intimidated and confused by the offense because they have never seen it before.

“I had one coach tell me that he was going to make sure his school did not schedule us any more because it cost him too much preparation time,” Poelker explained. “Instead of using his regular defense and making adjustments, he installed a 6-2 setup just for us. We were their first game of the year, so they prepared for our Wing-T. He said it hurt them later in the season and he would not do it any more.

“When you are defending a Wing-T, you still have to defeat blocks and make tackles. It is predominantly a run offense so there is usually one less threat in the passing game. Make that work for you when you play a Wing-T.”

While it is a good idea to keep players in positions they are familiar with so that they do not feel they are on a different planet when facing the Wing-T, it is important to familiarize players with what they are going to see. C.W. Post college head coach Bryan Collins is one of the foremost experts on defending the formation and his video “Defending the Wing-T with a 4-4 Formation” is one of the standards on coaching shelves across the country. In order for players to have a chance at defending the attack, they need to be familiar with the goals of the offense.

“When we go into a game where we are going to see the Wing-T, we talk about the specifics of what we are going to see. Whether the team features the sweep, trap, belly or veer, we talk about what we need to do to stop it. We talk it, chalk it and walk it – and that’s how we begin the process of familiarizing our selves with a Wing-T opponent. You do those three things and you are going to have a shot at defeating this offense.”

While some coaches think the Wing-T is a scourge to defensive coaches, Taylor Burks is unimpressed. The defensive coordinator of Georgia Military College believes that since misdirection and an unbalanced line are the keys to the success of the offense, it can be defeated with a more balanced approach.

“Don’t play the game with them,” Burks said. “They are going to be unbalanced so the defense can be balanced in its approach. When they go east and west with their pulling guards, you have to go north and south. Regardless of what they throw at you, they still have to go downfield. You don’t have to defeat the Wing-T going east and west – but you do have to stop it from going north and south and putting points on the board.

“I try not to get too concerned with what the offense is doing. I am more concerned with our players reading their keys and making plays. If you get too concerned with what they are doing it’s going to end up hurting you.”

While conventional wisdom says that the Wing-T can be the great equalizer for an offense that may lack the athletic capability of its opponent, Burks believes the opposite is true. “I don’t think the defense needs to be that athletic to stop the Wing-T,” Burks said. “They are trying to confuse you, but if the defense holds its ground it can influence where the play is going to be run. You can basically force them to run the ball to your strength. That’s what I have found.”

Cohen believes the top priority of stopping the Wing-T is to take away the perimeter running plays. “That’s the big play of this offense,” Cohen said. “The Wing-T wants to hit you with the big play to the outside. The outside linebackers and the secondary have to force the plays into the middle. That has to be a priority.”

Stopping the Wing-T’s outside running game can mean the difference between victory and defeat. At the very least, it can allow a defense to stay in touch. However, if the Wing-T offense can hit the big plays on the perimeter – much like the Veer or the Wishbone – a game can quickly be turned into a one-sided route.

The second priority has to be stopping the inside run. The defensive tackles not only have to understand that the guards lined up opposite them will be pulling much of the time but they also have to be able to read into the backfield and find the ball.

While facing the Wing-T can be difficult for even the best head coaches and defensive coordinators, there is also a significant benefit. The Wing-T is a great running offense and while it is possible to throw the ball off of it, there is generally one less receiving threat than in a conventional offense. As a result, the safeties are used primarily as run stoppers and don’t have to concentrate on the passing game as much as they do in a normal week of preparation.

“Offenses can and will throw the ball out of the Wing-T and you always have to be aware of that,” Cohen said. “But that’s not the top priority and the passing threat is not usually great. As a result, you can concentrate more on defending the run and not concerning yourself as much with the pass.”

The use of videotape to prepare for any offense is vital nearly every week. It is just as important when facing the Wing-T. It can be intimidating to see the offense being run well at full speed, but slowing the tape down and identifying exactly what the offense is doing may be the key to players gaining confidence and understanding their jobs.

Looking at videotape also identifies the top players who need to be stopped. “No matter what offense a team runs, you always have to know who the bread-and-butter guys on their offense are,” Cohen said. “They are going to run to their strengths. If the best player in the Wing-T is their quarterback, he’s going to have the ball most of the time. If it is the wingback, he’s going to end up with it. “No matter what formation the offense is using, the team with the edge in personnel match-ups is going to win 90 percent of the time. I believe that’s the case at the high school, college or pro level. That’s the case when facing the Wing-T as well.”

Cohen points out that when Tubby Raymond was running the Delaware Wing-T, they welcomed the challenge of an opponent that was not intimidated and could adjust to the unconventional offense. But no matter what a defense did, Raymond usually had an adjustment that allowed them to unlock the offense’s potential.

“They would get the word from the press box or look at a picture and understand how a play got stopped,” Cohen explained. “They would always find an adjustment that the defense could not answer.”

But Cohen reiterated the key to stopping the Wing-T is not in looking for adjustments – but staying with the fundamentals of good defensive play and keeping it simple. “Don’t try to make so many adjustments – that leads to confusion,” he said. “You don’t want your players trying things for the first time in the middle of a game. That simply won’t work. If they are familiar with their own scheme and have seen enough tape, that should be a big part of the answer.”

But it’s a difficult assignment and facing the Wing-T will continue to cause many sleepless nights for coaches throughout the country.


PRINCIPLES FOR PLAYING AGAINST THE WING-T

1. Play with the base philosophy of your defensive package (Adjustments are subtle as in any other game week).

2. The defensive line and inside linebackers need to control the fullback game.

3. Outside linebackers and defensive backs need to control the perimeter game (base run support rules).

4. Force the run game east and west (sideways). Do not allow it to hit north and south (down hill). Spill all the kick-out blocks.

5. The secondary has to contain all waggles and bootlegs with the outside linebackers. Don’t ask the ends to serve two masters – either they will close to defend the run or not.

6. Play base run reads. Do not get away from the basics that you teach your defense the other 51 weeks of the year. Stress the keys the secondary must read.

7. In order to confuse the offense adjust the defensive line movements. That will help against the fullback game inside and the outside game against the quarterback and the wing back.






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