SINGLE WING OFFENSE AND ITS STRENGTHS IN YOUTH FOOTBALL

Single Wing Offense and its strengths in youth football

Single Wing Offense and its strengths in youth football

Most youth football teams that run the Single Wing Offense run it out of the traditional unbalanced line set. Many coaches have asked me about using the Balanced Line Single Wing Offense in youth football. For most coaches, they ask because they have “Special Rules” in their Youth Football Leagues that require them to use balanced line formations. From 2-3% of youth football leagues have rules like this. (Warner, Glenn (May 1, 2007)

It is very simple to modify the Unbalanced Line Single Wing Offense to a balanced line set. While most High Schools that run the Single Wing Offense do stick to the unbalanced set, a number of them do have a balanced line set or two as well. Menominee Michigan High School runs nearly its entire Single Wing Offense out of a balanced line set. Menominee won yet another State Title last year as well as blew out the Defending Largest Class State Champion (Wayzata- 3,400 students) of Minnesota. Menominee as most of you know, has just 550 students. It's hard to argue with Menominee head coach Ken Hofer, who has over 250 wins running this offense from a balanced line set. Hofer is a legend in Single Wing circles and is an excellent clinic speaker.

Some modifications required if you run the Single Wing Offense from a Balanced Line Set:

The midpoint of the offensive line is the center, you now wedge on the center. Pull the Left Guard on off-tackle runs to the right. Pull just the Right Guard (not the power tackle also) on reverse runs to the left. The Left Tackle Blocks GD, Gap-Down on traps to the left. (Warner, Glenn (May 1, 2007)

As you can see, moving to the balanced line is no big deal if you are required to do so. If I was forced to run this offense, those would be the changes I would make. I would make my power tackle the left guard, as he would be my second most athletic lineman. We must all play by whatever rules the leagues think makes sense, no matter how silly they may be. Don't dwell or whine about it, just make the adjustments and make it work.

John Benson, coach of a fifth-grade youth football team in Roseville, Minn., isn't going to take chances with his offense. He has decided to teach his players how to play football with the single wing. “We're trying a single wing style, with a direct snap and eliminating handoffs,” he says. “It's an old style, but a few college programs are using it with a lot of quarterback runs.” The new system, which worked its way into the NFL in 2008 - first with the Miami Dolphins "Wildcat" formation - eliminates a lot of the timing issues with the offense and won't waste time with handoffs or dropbacks.

The single wing comes at the right time for ...