The Wing-T is an American football offense that focuses on the use of misdirection to execute a rushing attack.
History edit
Origins and predecessors edit
The Wing-T, as an offense, emerged from both the innovations of the T-formation and the single wing.[1]: 3, 8–10 Forest Evashevski and David M. Nelson, writing in Scoring Power with the Winged T Offense, credit the earliest origin of the base Wing-T formations to an offense run by the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team in the 1920s, though they state that the most significant influence that proceeded the development of the Wing-T consisted of the innovations made by the Michigan Wolverines football team's single-wing offense during the 1940s.[1]: 6, 8 Tubby Raymond and Ted Kempski, writing in The Delaware Wing-T: An Order of Football, state that Michigan's offense, as well as the Army Cadets football team's trap scheme under the tenure of Earl Blaik, were the two major sources of inspiration for the Wing-T.[2]: 3
[3] : 5–19
[4]: 11–17
Maine, Delaware, and dissemination edit
While many core aspects of the Wing-T pre-date his tenure, it was not until Nelson served as head coach of the Maine Black Bears football team that the Wing-T itself was invented as a comprehensive offense.[2]: 3 While head coach of the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team, Nelson continued to refine his new offensive system, tweaking blocking assignments and adapting to defenses as they came about[2]: 2–5
[3]: 19–25
Decline at the collegiate level and modern use edit
Offensive scheme edit
[9]: 128–133
Defensive responses edit
References edit
- ^ a b c d Evashevski, Forest; Nelson, David M. (1957). Scoring Power with the Winged T Offense (3rd printing ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown Publishing Company. OCLC 981909213.
- ^ a b c d Raymond, H.R. "Tubby"; Kempski, Ted (1986). The Delaware Wing-T: An Order of Football (1st ed.). West Nyack, New York: Parker Publishing Company. ISBN 9780131983267. OCLC 13582311.
- ^ a b Pena, Michael J (Fall 1995). The history of the Wing-T Offense from the University of Maine to the north section of California (Thesis). California State University, Chico. OCLC 34988305.
- ^ Hoff, Robert Dean (1957). The fundamentals of an original system of offensive play in football (Thesis). University of Iowa. OCLC 148120042.
- ^ Finley, Patrick (September 2005). "The Wing-T: An Offense for the Ages". American Football Monthly.
- ^ Creehan, Dennis (June 2003). "The History of the Wing-T". American Football Monthly.
- ^ Purdum, David (October 2005). "The Wing-T vs. Multiple Defenses". American Football Monthly.
- ^ Bair, Scott (September 7, 2005). "Wing-T offense the great equalizer". The San Diego Union-Tribune.
- ^ Larche, Harry Eugene (1967). A course of study for prospective football coaches (Thesis). Indiana University. OCLC 32743636.
- ^ Proctor, Richard (April 12, 2022). "History of offense, the Wing-T". The Newnan Times-Herald.
- ^ Freeman, Carey (September 3, 1998). "Wing fitting to a 'T'". St. Petersburg Times.
- ^ "Defending the Wing-T Speed Sweep Series". Coach & Athletic Director. 70 (1): 30–33 – via EBSCOhost.