The Single Wing Offense Vs The Spread Offense In Youth Football

The Single Wing Offense Vs The Spread Offense In Youth Football

Introduction

The success of the spread offense on the collegiate level in the past decade has led many high school coaches to investigate and incorporate its principles into their programs. There is no one "Single Wing," although you might think so, to hear people say somebody is running "the Single Wing." The appropriate response at that point should be, "what version?" The term "Single Wing" is an all-encompassing name given to any one of a wide variety of formations, whose only common feature often is nothing more than a direct snap to a man who is not "under center." Several - but by no means all - of these formations are shown below. At one time, a direct snap to one formation or another was the most popular offensive system.

The Single Wing was last run in the NFL by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1947 (the year Curly Lambeau of the Packers switched over to the T-formation), under famed Coach Jock Sutherland, who compiled a 30-17-1 NFL record with it; and although it lasted into the early 1960s at the college level, it is now all but extinct there. Versions of the Single Wing are, however, still being run successfully by a small but devoted band of high school coaches all over the country, and what is nowadays popularly called the "Shotgun" (a term first given to a formation "introduced" in 1960 by Red Hickey of the 49ers) is related to one or more of the formations below. Bear in mind that the diagrams below are just a representative sample, and bear in mind also that each of the formations shown is capable of several mutations. Coaches with questions, corrections or additions are welcome to contact me. (For anyone wanting to explore the subject in serious depth, the foremost authority on the history of Single Wing football is Ed Racely, of Atherton, California.) (Cavin et. al 1997)

Background

The power spread is an offense that myself and our coaches have systematically created to get the most out of our talent, and utilizing a blend of offenses, schemes, and philosophies to create a system that will not only benefit your program, but drive opposing coaches crazy. Essentially, what the power spread is, is an offense that not only spreads the field, but allows one to use a power game to control the game. To many times in high school football, a team will be able to effectively move the ball, but will not FINISH the drive, game, or season, up to that teams potential. The power spread and our system, Florida, Oregon, Texas and West Virginia are annual national powers behind this offense. In addition, lower level collegiate programs benefit from implementing the spread as it levels the playing field for smaller programs. The surprising upset of Michigan by Appalachian State last September illustrates how the spread allows small schools to ...