In an age where spread offenses run rampant in all levels of football, one “old-school” offense has reigned true to its blue collar beginnings and dominance across high school football – the wing-t. The wing-t offense, born from the likes of Tubby Raymond of Delaware, and my personal coaching idol, Bob Reade at Augustana College, continues to make its case as one of the best offenses in high school football. The wing-t has been a powerhouse offense run by many football programs across America.
The wing-t is a smash mouth offense predicated through its base plays of trap, power, belly, buck sweep, bootlegs, and waggles. With dazzling misdirection and play action passing off of it’s “three yards and a cloud of dust” running game, it allows teams that don’t possess the 6’6, 300-pound offensive linemen to use angles and quickness to block at the point of attack. However, as a young and innovative coach born and bred into the philosophy of the wing-t, the thrill and pizzazz of the spread offense has intrigued me throughout my coaching career. The thought of spreading out defenses and getting the ball into your playmaker’s hands quickly has been very enticing. In some circles of wing-t coaching, I would be considered a traitor to the scheme that we all love. Some coaches say that you cannot do both, that you simply cannot run spread and wing-t at the same time. When I became a head football coach four years ago, I wanted our offense to do just that and mimic the two offenses that I know and love.
When I was a young assistant defensive coach, I always sought out ways to stop both of these high octane offenses. I took some advice from Sun-Tzu, and his belief to “know thy enemy” and I looked to find the best way to learn about the spread offense. What better way to learn about the spread offense than from a coach who eats and sleeps the spread offense - Coach Brad Bradley, now the head football coach at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, VA. Coach Bradley gave me an offer to join his staff at William Campbell High School right out of college and it became an opportunity for a young coach to test his defensive philosophy and to learn the spread offense.
Coach Bradley played for Rich Rodriguez when he was the head football coach at Division II Glenville State. During my three years as an assistant under Coach Bradley, I sat through endless hours of meetings and watching film and acted like a sponge soaking up all the knowledge I could on the innovative spread offense. I witnessed the success that he had with the spread offense and I even helped coach the Generals to a state championship in 2005.
When I was given the opportunity to become head football coach at Galax High School in Virginia, I knew I wanted to mix both the wing-t and spread offense to be my offensive scheme. I used many of the ideas of the spread offense and incorporated them with the wing-t. With a fast-paced, no-huddle offense, using signals from the sidelines, it has become a very exciting offense. In my personal opinion, I think the wing-t and the spread have many common components. There were three main reasons for my desire to mix both of these offenses. First, at our high school, we aren’t blessed with huge offensive linemen so we could not play smash mouth football. Second, the “spread wing-t” forces our opponents to prepare for two different types of offensive schemes. Third, the spread offense is an exciting offense that has been very helpful recruiting athletes that would probably not come play for a “three yards and a cloud of dust” offense.
I still run the base wing-t plays of trap, buck sweep, power and waggle from my “spread wing-t” formations. I will diagram these four main plays to you, and hopefully, that will help you incorporate the spread into your wing-t attack. The first play that I’ll go over is the bread’n’butter of the wing-t offense – the fullback trap. Though adjusted to a spread set, the main principles of the trap remain true which is a quick-hitting run with a punishing trap block by a pulling guard. Diagram 1 shows the fullback trap out of a wing-t and spread formations.
The second play is the complement to the fullback trap which is the buck sweep. Combining multiple fakes and pulling guards to the perimeter, the buck sweep has been considered the “home run” play of the classic wing-t. Diagram 2 shows the buck sweep out of wing-t and spread formations.
The third play is the base wing-t hard nosed “three yards and a cloud of dust” play - the power. The fullback always is the kick out blocker on the last defender outside our last lineman on the LOS. The backside guard loops around and leads the ball carrier through the hole. Diagram 3 shows the power out of a wing-t and spread formation.
The final play is the base play action pass coming off the buck sweep action - the waggle pass. Some coaches pull two guards and some pull one guard. Personally, I like to pull one guard to lead the QB on the play action and replace him with the fullback who will go out to the flat if there is no defender to pass protect against. Diagram 4 shows the waggle pass out of a wing-t and spread formation.
Hopefully, you can take some of my ideas by introducing facets of the spread offense into your wing-t attack. The “spread wing-t” has been a very exciting offense to run and our players and staff look forward to continued success with this innovative scheme.
About the Author: Coach Jared Van Acker recently completed his first season as head coach at Grafton High School in Yorktown, Virginia. He previously was the head coach at Galax High School (VA) for three years. Van Acker also coached for three years at William Campbell High School where he helped coach the Generals to a state championship in 2005. He played three years of college football at Quincy University and received his Bachelor’s Degree from Western Illinois University.