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The Wildcat Comes of Age - Making it Work In Your Offense

by: David Purdum
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The Wildcat has evolved. The modern version of the single wing has surpassed the gimmick stage and blossomed into a game-changing weapon that is reportedly being used in some fashion by 80 percent of college and high school teams. The Wildcat even found a niche in the NFL, although its long-term viability at the professional level is still being debated.
What’s not up for debate is the impact the Wildcat has on defenses.
The formation, which dates back to Pop Warner in the 1890s, has many of the same benefits as its single wing ancestor, but is much more versatile. It slows down and spreads out defenses, making them more assignment-oriented, according to recently retired Kentucky head coach Rich Brooks. “It forces them to think instead of just reacting to the ball,” said Brooks, who played in the single wing at Oregon State for coach Tommy Prothro in the early 1960s.
When used with rocket or lightning motion across the formation, it becomes extremely deceptive and tests the edges of a defense. And, maybe most importantly, it puts the ball directly into the hands of a team’s top playmaker and adds another blocker at the point of attack. “It just makes you mind your P’s and Q’s,” added Ole Miss defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix, “because all it takes is one mistake, one break down within your defense and you’ve given up an explosive run or pass for a potential score at any time.”
Nix joined Houston Nutt’s staff at Ole Miss in 2008 and was immediately impressed by how creative the Rebel coaches were with the formation. Nutt, of course, popularized the “Wild Hog” at Arkansas, utilizing it to showcase the skills of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. He has successfully transformed it into the “Wild Rebel” at Ole Miss. “We probably get a little too much credit for the Wildcat formation,” Nutt said, “and I want to let everybody know that the Wildcat formation has been around since Pop Warner. There have been a lot great high school coaches that have actually taken this formation to another level.
“But it’s certainly a great change of pace,” added Nutt. “If you’re in a formation for a little bit and a defense is really starting to play fast, it’s a great thing to throw at them. It’s kind of a knuckleball that makes them slow down and think. We love nothing more than slowing down a defense when it’s playing fast.”
The Wildcat has certainly become much more than another way to run the zone-read. Teams are now passing out of it more and featuring it around the goal line. “Oklahoma State ran the Tim Tebow jump pass against us for a touchdown in the Cotton Bowl,” said Nutt, “and we’re seeing more and more teams use it around the goal line.”
But, with all the perks that come with the formation, why did the single wing disappear in the first place? What took it so long to return and is the Wildcat destined to suffer the same fate?
Before falling out of favor in the 1940s, Pop Warner’s single-wing scheme was early football’s most popular offense. It didn’t disappear completely, but the number of teams running the single wing dwindled significantly in the 50s and 60s. You saw very few major college programs running it in the 70s and even fewer in the 80s and 90s. Brooks says when defenses began overloading the box to stop the single wing, offenses were forced to develop the passing game. It resurfaced only after defenses were forced to become more balanced to handle today’s more balanced offenses.
Now, it’s come full circle, as defenses are more frequently committing safeties to the line of scrimmage when offenses go to a Wildcat look. “You’re starting to see safeties committed down into the box a lot quicker,” said Brooks. “Then, to me, the only way it can continue to have success is whether or not the (Wildcat quarterback) is capable of throwing the football. I think (the Wildcat) is here for a while longer,” Brooks added. “But the more people see it, the more they’ll be able to stop it.”
How Wrinkly Is Your Wildcat?

To get the most out of the Wildcat, like any offensive package, you must add wrinkles. Nutt says a wrinkle his brother Danny suggested at Arkansas took the “Wild Hog” to a new level. Having a multi-talented athlete like Darren McFadden as your Wildcat quarterback certainly didn’t hurt. “One day, we were sitting in a meeting at Arkansas,” remembered Houston Nutt. “We had run the formation before, but it never did quite take off, because we had the quarterback taking the direct snap. But then Danny suggested we that we put Darren McFadden, who had played quarterback a little in high school, at the direct snap. This thing took off. It took off because we had Peyton Hillis in the backfield and Felix Jones coming in fast motion. So you really had a triple threat, and when you add on top of it that McFadden could throw, it just took off.” The nation was introduced to the lethalness of Arkansas’ Wild Hog in the 2006 SEC Championship Game, when McFadden took the direct snap and threw the ball to Jones for a touchdown.
As defenses continue to adjust to the scheme, innovations like the Wild Hog will be required to keep the Wildcat alive. Here are two examples of Wildcat wrinkles that have been successful at Ole Miss and Kentucky.
Ole Miss’ Unbalanced Line

When Nutt and his staff arrived at Ole Miss in 2008, there wasn’t an obvious candidate like McFadden to quarterback the Wild Rebel. But Nutt didn’t have a hard time pinpointing his best option.“We had seven NFL teams talk to us about that last summer and have had coaches at all levels ask us the same question – who do you put at the direct snap?” Nutt said. “Put your best athlete there; put the guy who you are going to throw to or hand the ball off to anyway. It’s like a twelfth man.”
That player at Ole Miss was wide receiver Dexter McCluster. In 2009, McCluster led the Rebels with 1,169 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. He also was second in receiving. The wrinkle that helped McCluster have so much success was an unbalanced line.
“When we move our tackle over to the other side, it makes the defense adjust to it,” explained Ole Miss offensive line coach Mike Markuson. “I don’t know if a lot of people do it that way, but there’s no real secret to it. Most defenses declare strengths and their coverage looks based on where a tight end is located. When a tight end is lined up on the back side of a formation, you have to have a guy account for him when you release him for a pass down field,” added Markuson. “Different people have used that better than maybe we do, but there is always the threat of that guy possibly doing something in the passing game. You have to account for him. If you don’t, he might come wide open off of some of those actions that you use and the formations itself. It’s another element of the speed sweep and the unbalance of the lines.”
Markuson says the Rebels have three or four base plays out of the Wild Rebel, but will add a wrinkle into each week’s game plan. “Don’t try and beef it up too much,” he recommended. “Have a couple of base plays and maybe a wrinkle every week. Keep it simple and keep it fun and don’t think that it’s the ultimate formation that’s going to help you win games. But it is certainly something that will make the other team prepare.”
Kentucky’s Weak-Side Counter

Kentucky’s Wildcat package was built around the speed sweep (See Diagram 3) and an off-tackle power play with speed sweep action. It features Randall Cobb, the Wildcats’ talented quarterback-turned-receiver, who scored a team-high 10 rushing touchdowns and was Kentucky’s second-leading rusher in 2009. Cobb’s arrival in Lexington, along with his eventual move to wide receiver, prompted the Kentucky staff to install a Wildcat package.
“The more you ran what I would call the single-wing off-tackle, which has become the most successful play in the Wildcat, defenses would start committing the safeties down there, making the weak side a little vulnerable,” explained Brooks. “We’d run a counter with the guard and the fullback going back to the weak side. We hurt quite a few teams with the weak-side counter.” (See Diagram 2)

Should the Wildcat be a part of your offense? Should it be a part of every team’s offense? As Coach Nutt said, if you have a versatile athlete or a potential game breaker, you should do everything you can to give him the ball and at the same time confuse the defense.


Wildcat Base


Wildcat Counter


Wildcat Speed Sweep






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