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The Spread Shot-Wing OffenseA variation of the Delaware Wing T can provide instant offenseby: Lew Johnston © More from this issue For years, we were a basic Delaware Wing T football team. We had great success with it, using the 3 basic series (buck sweep/trap; belly/down and power) and mixing in a good dose of play action and 3 step drop-back passes to keep defenses honest. But four years ago we started a 15 year old freshman at quarterback whom we knew was going to be somebody special as far as throwing the football before he graduated. He broke our area’s 40 year old record for career passing yards midway through his senior year. He was the classic drop-back pocket passer with decent running ability. I realized then that we had a weapon that people would be hard-pressed to stop if we opened up our passing game. However, I was not inclined to give up our base Wing T offense. After doing some research and talking with coaches who ran a shotgun offense, I developed what we came to call the “Spread Shot-Wing.” It has proven to be a highly effective change-up to our normal Wing T offense. By this past season, when our quarterback was starting his fourth year for us, we went to the “Shot-Wing” about 75% of the time. Now opponents have to not only prepare for the complexity of the Delaware Wing T running game, but they have to be ready to stop a spread shot gun attack at the same time. What has developed is an even more potent Wing T attack because opponents cannot spend all of their preparation time on stopping the Wing T. We are now able to change the tempo, spread the field and force opponents to defend a wide-open passing attack. The KEY is that this Spread Shot-gun offense is simply an extension of the base Wing T Order of Football developed by Tubby Raymond and his staff while at the University of Delaware. As I pointed out, we did not want to abandon our Delaware Wing T offense. So I needed to find a way to meld our Delaware system into a Spread Shot Gun package. I began by finding a way to keep the integrity of the Wing T system but spreading the field. We took our Wing T tight end and wingback and moved them out. The TE went out about 7-10 yards from the offensive tackle. The wingback (now a flanker) split 12- 15 yards from the flexed TE. The split end away from these two receivers took a normal 12-15 yard split from the tackle. We walked the QB back to a depth of 5 yards. We stepped the fullback over to the TE side and aligned him and the HB behind the offensive guards. Next, we had to settle on our pass blocking scheme. A lot of coaches looking to throw the ball fail to coordinate the passing game routes with the blocking scheme. We felt that the single most important factor was to protect our quarterback at all costs. What this forced me to do was to simplify our routes. This in turn was beneficial because, as I said, we wanted to continue to run the Delaware Wing T as our base offense. I am a firm believer that in high school you can only be truly successful in two of the three types of offensive attacks: power running game, passing game or option game. We used the power of the 30 series (Delaware terminology) in the Wing T and incorporated it into our Spread Shot Gun running game. Thus... the new name: Spread Shot-Wing T. (See Diagram l.)
We put the backs on the toes of the QB whom always needs to be
at 5 yards from the center. The other thing we do, which is
important,
is that we do not huddle. We signal in the play from the sideline
and the QB calls the play from his position. This changes the
tempo
of the game for us and disrupts the defense. When a play ends,
the QB will signal which side he wants the strength (TE and
flanker)
to align. This is to the wide side of the field if we are on or
near a hash mark. Everyone jogs to his alignment and waits for
the
play call from the QB. He’ll motion with his leg to the center
that we are set and then the center snaps the ball when he is
ready.
NOTE: If there is a middle LB over the center... that is the first
LB to the split end side. Our center must take him (MLB) if he blitzes.
The HB must key the OLB lined up over his offensive Tackle as the
# 2 LB to that side. (See Diagram 3)
PASS PATTERNS and ROUTES
2. Our second pattern is a combination route with the TE and the WB (flanker). The TE runs a 5-yard sideline route and the WB runs a deep Hook. The SE on the backside runs a post. Again, the QB gets a pre-snap read on the free safety. If he is cheated over to the TE side, he knows he has a shot at hitting the SE on the post. If he goes to the combination side, we tell him to catch the ball, take a cross-over step and set (like on a 3 step drop from under center) and if the TE is open in the flat when the QB hits his 3rd step, he fires it to the flat. If the TE is covered by the OLB, the SE hooks inside of the OLB; the QB re-sets his feet and hits the WB hooking inside the OLB. Your QB needs to remember that he has a potential shot at the home run ball with the SE running the deep post over the middle. If the free safety rolls over too far to help with the combination side, the QB can knife the ball into the SE’s hands. Again, the HB can swing if his LB drops in pass defense to help the QB see the SE on the Post. NOTE: You can see the possibility of a HB screen out of this route. (See Diagram 6)
3. Our third pass pattern out of our Spread Shot-Wing package is very familiar to our players because it is one of our favorite patterns. We use the same routes as we do on our Wing T Waggle route. The SE runs a 12-yard sideline cut; the TE drags across the formation at 12-14 yards and the WB (flanker) runs a Post. Once again, the QB gets a pre-snap read from the free safety’s alignment. He can hit the SE for the easy completion or give the TE a chance to work against the LB’s as he drags. If the F/S is out of position, we will always take a potential shot at the post. The HB’s route changes now that the SE to his side is running a route into the boundary. Now if his LB drops, the HB runs a tight circle route to control the Inside LB to his side. The QB has an “over-under” read on that LB with the TE dragging behind him and the HB curling in front of him. (See Diagram 7)
4. Our final drop-back pattern is the one the players enjoy the
most. It is 4 vertical routes! With the speed that we put on the
field, we have hit some big passes on this simple pattern. We simply
out-run the defensive backs down the field. The TE needs to stay
on the nearest hash mark as he drives up the field. The two wide
receivers must stay on the numbers as they go vertical. The HB
will
come a little late since he must check for his LB blitz first.
But this little bit of a delay often makes him wide open up the
hash
opposite the TE. This happens because the free safety sees the
TE coming first up the middle and tends to slide towards him. This
leaves a big hole for the HB behind the LB’s to the other
side. A TE (flexed) with great speed really threatens the middle
of their
secondary. Coach the wide
PLAY ACTION PATTERNS
Our final play-action pass is a bootleg back to the TE/WB flank. We incorporate the Hook/Flat Combination pattern with this play-action. The QB rides the FB across the formation, pulls it and rolls towards the TE flank. The TE runs his 5-yard sideline cut and if he is open, the QB drills the ball to him. If not, the WB will come open inside and behind the OLB. The QB sets his feet and fires a strike to the wingback. Once again, if the F/S drifts out of center field, the QB can hit the SE on his backside Post. The HB checks OLB blitz and the FB after faking checks inside LB blitz from the backside. The center, guard and tackle to the play side use their drop back rules for protection. The backside guard pulls and leads the QB to the flank. (see Diagram 10) We also have the ability to call “Go!” and send the 3 receivers vertical anytime we want to add the word “Go” call to the bootleg play-action.
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