Articles

Dave Martin’s Quick Passing Game

At the 2018 National Wing-T Clinic, Dave Martin (recently retired from Stewarts Creek HS) gave a helpful talk on how he runs a quick passing game with hi...

Hancel Phipps Buck Series

Hancel Phipps coaches football at Wake Forest HS in NC. His teams have been on a pretty good run lately. Coach Phipps was at the National Wing-T Clinic in 2...

Jason Strickland’s Trap and Down from the Gun

(This is a follow-up article to Jason Strickland’s Buck Sweep Out of Gun article – you might want to read that one first!) Trap Coach Strickland believes th...

Jason Strickland’s Buck Sweep from the Gun

Jason Strickland was a great speaker at this year’s National Wing-T Clinic. He was dynamic, opinionated, funny, and challenged the audience to be creative i...

Denny Creehan’s Practice Planning and Half-Time Adjustments

I was so excited to see and hear Denny Creehan speak. He’s the author of what I think is the best Wing-T book ever published and I still use his materials a...

Glen McNew’s Rocket Sweep

Glen McNew returned to the National Wing-T clinic to give a few talks, and I attended the rocket sweep clinic. I previously wrote about his Defending the Wi...

Smoke and Mirrors Wing-T with Scott Meadows

My first session at the 2018 National Wing-T Clinic was Scott Meadows talking about his Smoke and Mirrors Wing-T scheme. Scott retired after the 2016 season...

Rich Erdelyi’s Goal Line and Red Zone Offense

The second talk I saw from Coach Erdelyi (the first was was his new thoughts on the shotgun Wing-T) was on goal line and red zone offense. His advice, not s...

Gordon Elliott’s Jet Sweep Offense

Gordon Elliott is the head football coach at Auburn HS in Washington state. He has a Portland metro heritage having coached at Camas and Columbia River HS f...

Denny Diericx’s Double Dive Series

Coach Denny Diericx started coaching at Geneseo High School (IL) in 1983, becoming the head coach in 1991. He remained there until 2004, returning to the st...

Game Planning the Wing-T with Roger Holmes

Get more information on Roger Holmes' systems at his online clinic store. Check out my other two write-ups from Coach Holmes: Roger Holmes’ Wing-T Belly Ser...

Blair Hubbard’s “Faster Than The Fly” Gun Rocket

This article is taken from extensive notes by Donnie Bruchhaus, a friend and football coach from Louisiana. We’ve been meeting up at the past few National W...

Steve Channell Brings Back the Buck Sweep

This is the second article about Steve Channell from the 2017 National Wing-T Clinic – check out the first article here. After talking about formations, shi...

Steve Channell’s Formations, Trades, and Shifts

Steve Channell gave a classic talk on the Wing-T – I say classic, because he is a very old-school coach that focuses on basic, classic Wing-T with an emphas...

Rich Erdelyi’s New Thoughts in the Shotgun Wing-T

Coach Rich Erdelyi probably doesn’t know me from the thousands of other football coaches that he has influenced over the years, but I sure know him. My firs...

Rick Darlington’s RPO Game

Rick Darlington is the head coach at Apopka High School in Florida, and his record there as 151–39. Rick said he adopted the single wing as he entered a sea...

Roger Holmes’ Wing-T Belly Series

Get more information on Roger Holmes’ systems at his online clinic store. Roger Holmes is the head coach at Dublin High School in Georgia, USA. He has 40 ye...

Roger Holmes’ Buck Series

Get more information on Roger Holmes’ systems at his online clinic store. Roger Holmes is the head coach at Dublin High School in Georgia, USA. He has 40 ye...

Rick Darlington’s Single Wing Power Series

Hmmm, a single wing talk at the National Wing-T Clinic? I was intrigued for sure. I first learned the ins and outs of the single wing when I read Dave Cisar...

Summary of 2016 National Wing-T Clinic Notes

Here’s your go-to spot for a summary of all 2016 National Wing-T Clinic notes. Hat tip to Don Jacobs who also posted some collected notes for the clinic. D...

Don Smolyn’s Belly Keep Pass

The last talk I saw from Don Smolyn was on the Belly Keep Pass (this is ISO pass in my playbook). It was a brief talk but contained some great points worth ...

Don Smolyn’s Wing-T Power and Counter Plays

Don Smolyn did a talk at the National Wing-T Clinic focused on how he runs Power and Counter, two plays that could just as easily fit into a power I or pro ...

Glen McNew’s Defending the Wing-T with the 4-4 Defense

Coach Glen McNew ran a different style of Wing-T talk – stopping the (spread) Wing-T with the 4–4 defense. This is a comprehensive subject to cover in just ...

Don Smoyln’s Traditional Wing-T Game Planning

Don Smolyn is the head coach at Lenape Valley Regional High School (Stanhope, NJ), and he's been doing it possibly longer than you've been an adult (or mayb...

Randy Blankenship’s Belly Sweep, Belly Sweep Naked, and Practices

Randy Blankenship is the highly successful high school football coach at Aptos High in California. I dropped into his talk about Belly Sweep, Belly Sweep Na...

Rick Stewart’s No Huddle, Tempo, and RPO Approach

Coach Rick Stewart did a session Friday night at the National Wing-T Clinic on no huddle, tempo, and run-pass options (RPOs). The bulk of the talk was on te...

Glen McNew’s Practice and Game Planning for the Wing-T

Coach Glen McNew ran a very interesting session at the National Wing-T Clinic in 2016 on practice planning and game preparation, specifically focused on the...

Mike Johnson’s Double TE Wing-T Offense

Mike Johnson is the new head football coach at Logansport High School in Indiana. Previously he was at Pioneer HS where he compiled a 214–78 record. He is t...

Rick Stewart’s Reading Unblocked Defenders for the Pistol Wing-T

Rick Stewart conducted several sessions on the opening night of the 2016 National Wing-T Clinic, starting with how he teaches quarterbacks to read unblocked...

Slow and Complex, or Fast and Simple?

My co-head coach Brian and I were driving together to the Portland airport today discussing the upcoming National Wing T Clinic. We've broken out detailed a...

National Wing-T Clinic 2016 Registration is Open

The announcement for the 2016 National Wing-T Clinic just went up. It will be held in Pittsburgh PA on Friday and Saturday, January 29–30. I attended this c...

National Wing T Clinic 2015 Summary

Here’s a summary of the posts I wrote on the 2015 National Wing T Clinic: Hurry Up Wing-T with Bruce Cobleigh Quarterback Fundamentals with Dave McDonald W...

Wing-T Jet and Rocket with Chuck Johnson

I wrote about Chuck Johnson’s approach to practice organization last week but didn’t go into his approach to running Jet and Rocket as that warrants a dedic...

The Belly / ISO Series with Gerry Gallagher

Gerry Gallagher closed out the conference with a deep dive into the Belly XB (ISO) play along with the Belly Keep Pass (our ISO Pass). I love Gerry’s DVD Tr...

Practice Organization with Chuck Johnson

Chuck Johnson has been the head coach at Ridgewood HS in NJ for 37 years. He ran an outstanding clinic on practice organization. Chuck is “old school” and d...

Wing-T Offensive Line with Paul Connor

I attended three hours of Paul Connor’s sessions on teaching the Wing-T offensive line. His approach is very similar to what I’ve been using for...

Quarterback Fundamentals with Dave McDonald

Dave McDonald is the head football coach at Connellsville HS, southeast of Pittsburgh. Dave led a highly interactive overview of Wing-T quarterback fundamen...

Hurry Up Wing-T with Bruce Cobleigh

This is the first in a series of posts about the 2015 National Wing T Clinic held in Pittsburgh in January of 2015. Bruce Cobleigh ran several clinics at th...

Denny Creehan’s Practice Planning and Half-Time Adjustments

I was so excited to see and hear Denny Creehan speak. He’s the author of what I think is the best Wing-T book ever published and I still use his materials a...

Wing-T Power Hour

I’ve had a few coaches ask me about the Power Hour drill. I’m pretty sure I first read about it on the Fear the Wing blog, and the heritage for this drill i...

Incorporating TEs and SEs into your Wing-T Practice

A reader recently asked about some ideas for incorporating tight ends and split ends (wide receivers) more effectively into the Wing-T practice. My short an...

Game Planning the Wing-T with Roger Holmes

Get more information on Roger Holmes' systems at his online clinic store. Check out my other two write-ups from Coach Holmes: Roger Holmes’ Wing-T Belly Ser...

How Do You Get Players to Take Football Practice Seriously?

Coach Sheffer asked: How do I deal with players not taking practice seriously? We are also having discipline issues and low practice turnout. Let’s generali...

Simplifying Play Calling in the Wing-T

If you follow my writing here, you probably know that I’m re-evaluating our system of calling plays for this coming season. Our theme for this season is “le...

7 Things Youth Football Coaches Should Do in the Offseason

In most areas, coaching youth football is different than coaching at the high school level. Most of us don’t get a spring or summer coaching season, which i...

The 5 Worst Mistakes Youth Football Coaches Make in Practice

I’ve been around a lot of youth football practices over the past 12 years, and it still dismays me to see the same mistakes made over and over. These are ea...

Don Smoyln’s Traditional Wing-T Game Planning

Don Smolyn is the head coach at Lenape Valley Regional High School (Stanhope, NJ), and he's been doing it possibly longer than you've been an adult (or mayb...

Randy Blankenship’s Belly Sweep, Belly Sweep Naked, and Practices

Randy Blankenship is the highly successful high school football coach at Aptos High in California. I dropped into his talk about Belly Sweep, Belly Sweep Na...

Rick Stewart’s No Huddle, Tempo, and RPO Approach

Coach Rick Stewart did a session Friday night at the National Wing-T Clinic on no huddle, tempo, and run-pass options (RPOs). The bulk of the talk was on te...

How to Make a Perfect Youth Football Practice Plan

Minimize Practice Injuries in Youth Football by Managing Contact

Coaching football requires a bit of a dance when it comes to managing contact: too little contact and the players will not be ready for game speed and game ...

Using Parent Helpers in Youth Football

Having parents help out with youth football practices and games can be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand there are times when more bodies can help – h...

My Visit with Aaron Scott and Bellefonte Football

About two weeks ago Julie and I drove down to State College, PA for a visit with Aaron Scott, football coach in the Bellefonte program. He has the challengi...

Drills for the Wing-T Running Back

I’ve spent my time as an offensive line coach so I don’t get to be around the backs much unless we are doing team offense. My backs coach, Jack Alley, is a ...

My Football Scouting Approach

I believe there’s a huge opportunity for coaches to gain an advantage for their football team by improving their approach to scouting and game preparation. ...

Web Clinic: Fine Tune your Wing-T Backfield Footwork

I'm running another free web clinic on July 7 at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern and will focus on backfield footwork for the core Wing-T series. We will at least...

Right-size the Wing-T for Your Age Group

You can run the Wing-T at any level of football from the little bobble heads to college. You will even see nuanced versions of Wing-T plays in NFL games fro...

Wing-T Football Academy Week 3 Report

We are just about done with the Wing-T Academy, with session 4 happening this coming weekend and our final session on June 7. You can read and watch my week...

Web Clinic: Effective Practice Planning for Youth Football

I’m running another free web clinic on Tuesday, May 19, at 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific. The topic is “Effective Practice Planning for Youth Football”. I will...

Technology Tools for Coaching Youth Football

Technology has changed the sport of football, even at the youth level. While the biggest change I’ve seen in the last 10 years is with video (we used ...

Preparing to Run a Wing-T Youth Football Clinic

Starting this coming Sunday I’m running a private clinic for local 8th graders, most of whom played in our youth program last year. The idea is to have a sp...

Breaking Down the Oregon Ducks Spring Football Practice

Last Friday, as part of the Oregon Football Coaches Clinic, I attended the first spring practice in pads. This site is focused on the Wing-T for youth footb...

Using Hudl In Youth Football Practice

If you coach football, even at the youth level, chances are you use or have at least encountered Hudl. I first started using Hudl with my youth team in 2011...

Spread the Ball Around

What goals do you have when you start your football coaching season? Is it wins and losses, or getting to the championship game? I think that’s fine, as lon...

Practice Organization with Chuck Johnson

Chuck Johnson has been the head coach at Ridgewood HS in NJ for 37 years. He ran an outstanding clinic on practice organization. Chuck is “old school” and d...

Stop Running Gassers (or, Better Ways to Condition in Youth Football)

I talked a bit about my approach to conditioning in my Installing the Wing-T post and thought it would be helpful to go into more depth on specifics. I’ll a...

Installing the Wing-T - Week 1

One question I often hear about the Wing-T is this: the plays make sense, I understand the assignments, but what is the best way to install it at the youth...

Running Football Conditioning and Evaluations

For the past 5 years I’ve helped organize and run the first week (10 hours) of no-pad workouts for youth football. For the past 2 years this means working wi...

Keeping Mid-Season Practices Interesting

We struggle each year as we enter October to keep our 6 hours of practice each week interesting. By this time the weather is often turning rainy and cold, th...

First two practices complete - what did we accomplish?

We had our first two team practices last week (technically only about 1.5 practices as we did warmups as a big group then announced teams on Thursday night)....

Transition to Full Contact

This morning (Saturday) Jim and I will be running our makeup practice for kids who missed one or more conditioning workouts during the week. Players are limi...

Week 1 - Conditioning and Evaluations

It all starts this week - conditioning and evaluations for the Sherwood youth football teams. Our league requires ten hours of conditioning for each player b...

Breaking Down Army’s Rocket Toss Sweep

I’ve watched more Army football this season than any other college team. I wasn’t a fan until my son became a West Point cadet – in fact, by all reasoning I...

How Can You Make Your Wing-T Line More Aggressive?

A reader recently asked: I would like my offensive line to be more aggressive and quick. What would you do to get them there? I’ll be the first to say that ...

Flipping the Wing-T Line and Backfield

My offensive line has been struggling this season. I take full responsibility for this problem, and over the past two weeks I’ve been taking steps to troubl...

Skip Pull vs. Traditional Pull in the Wing-T

I mentioned in a recent newsletter article that I’m evaluating a number of changes in the coming season, and one that I’m almost certain to make is a switch...

Understanding the Down, Gap, and Cover Blocks

The most fundamental block in the Wing-T is the down block. It is used to block the first man down on the line, usually lined up on or shading near an adjac...

The Wing-T Offensive Line Book You Must Get

I've mentioned this book before in my list of favorite Wing-T books, but I think it is worth a more detailed review. The book is Phil Willenbrock's Complete...

Learn the Basics of the Wing-T Offensive Line

A Better Way to Run the Down Play?

Coach Kroeger from Delphos Jefferson in Ohio sent me a helpful note with some different blocking rules for down that he uses in his program. He is the offen...

Breaking Down the Wing-T Fullback Trap

</p> Header The fullback trap play, part of the Wing-T Buck Series, is an essential core play for any Wing-T team. It is usually one of the first six ...

Wing-T Reader Q&A: Can I Teach an 8 Year Old to Cross Block?

A coach from NJ, USA asked this question: Can I teach an 8 year old to execute a cross block or should I be content to just get them firing out and making c...

Wing-T Reader Q&A: Dealing with Line Stunts and Twists

Coach Burke asked: I’m curious, how do you run block again defensive line stunts and twists? This is an area where I think “less is more” – if you spend too...

Wing-T Reader Q&A: Attacking Even Front 2-Techniques

Coach Brown from Kentucky asked this: If you have any articles or advice on attacking a 4–3 with d-tackles over the guards I would appreciate it. I’ve writt...

Wing-T Reader Q&A: Pulling Both Guards

I had a great question from a coach about the upcoming season: When we ran Wing-T in the past, the head coach did not feel like we could pull both guards on...

Wing-T Football Academy Week 3 Report

We are just about done with the Wing-T Academy, with session 4 happening this coming weekend and our final session on June 7. You can read and watch my week...

Wing-T Reader Q&A: Blocking Rules

I got an email from Coach Mike earlier this month with some great questions on blocking rules for the offensive line. I’ll do my best to answer them here. I...

Giving Offensive Linemen their Due

It is generally accepted wisdom that the offensive line is likely where you will find the most intelligent players on the field. As a coach you won’t get ve...

Blocking the ISO / Belly Sweep

A coach Jim from New York asked me this question: Could you please go into more depth on what the blocking assignment is for the play-side HB/WB on the ISO...

My Wing-T O-Line Drill Routine

If you haven’t already read my article on Wing-T offensive line basics, start there. I thought I’d share my routine drills for the offensive line (aka, Ever...

Wing-T Offensive Line with Paul Connor

I attended three hours of Paul Connor’s sessions on teaching the Wing-T offensive line. His approach is very similar to what I’ve been using for...

Offensive Line Basics for the Wing-T

Player Selection The Wing-T offense relies on offensive linemen that can proficiently execute a small set of blocks with proper footwork and quickness. Gua...

Positions, Formations, and Alignment

Let's talk about the basic positions, formations, alignment, and numbering terminology that I like to use for the Wing-T. Formation and Alignment The tradi...

Wing-T Offensive Line Drills

In addition to materials and instruction I get from the local Sherwood High School coaching crew, I rely heavily on Phil Willenbrock’s Complete Wing-T Offens...

Jason Strickland’s Trap and Down from the Gun

(This is a follow-up article to Jason Strickland’s Buck Sweep Out of Gun article – you might want to read that one first!) Trap Coach Strickland believes th...

Wing-T Power Hour

I’ve had a few coaches ask me about the Power Hour drill. I’m pretty sure I first read about it on the Fear the Wing blog, and the heritage for this drill i...

Fine Tuning the Wing-T Down Play

I made another screencast on the Down play, which is a staple for us this season. We've had some fun running it with some unbalanced formations as well. I g...

Rich Erdelyi’s Goal Line and Red Zone Offense

The second talk I saw from Coach Erdelyi (the first was was his new thoughts on the shotgun Wing-T) was on goal line and red zone offense. His advice, not s...

Rick Darlington’s RPO Game

Rick Darlington is the head coach at Apopka High School in Florida, and his record there as 151–39. Rick said he adopted the single wing as he entered a sea...

Roger Holmes’ Wing-T Belly Series

Get more information on Roger Holmes’ systems at his online clinic store. Roger Holmes is the head coach at Dublin High School in Georgia, USA. He has 40 ye...

Wing-T Film Room: The Down Play

I found a few clips of one of my favorite Wing-T plays: Down.

Don Smolyn’s Belly Keep Pass

The last talk I saw from Don Smolyn was on the Belly Keep Pass (this is ISO pass in my playbook). It was a brief talk but contained some great points worth ...

Randy Blankenship’s Belly Sweep, Belly Sweep Naked, and Practices

Randy Blankenship is the highly successful high school football coach at Aptos High in California. I dropped into his talk about Belly Sweep, Belly Sweep Na...

Mike Johnson’s Double TE Wing-T Offense

Mike Johnson is the new head football coach at Logansport High School in Indiana. Previously he was at Pioneer HS where he compiled a 214–78 record. He is t...

Rick Stewart’s Reading Unblocked Defenders for the Pistol Wing-T

Rick Stewart conducted several sessions on the opening night of the 2016 National Wing-T Clinic, starting with how he teaches quarterbacks to read unblocked...

Learn How to Install and Run the Wing-T Belly Series

Download the free playbook to go along with this clinic.

A Better Way to Run the Down Play?

Coach Kroeger from Delphos Jefferson in Ohio sent me a helpful note with some different blocking rules for down that he uses in his program. He is the offen...

Wing-T Formations and their Purposes

It is mid-season for most of you and you might be starting to experiment with some different Wing-T formations. Any time you introduce a change in your syst...

Troubleshooting the Wing-T Counter Play

Last week I covered troubleshooting the Belly Series Down play so I figured it would be good to take some time to cover the key next play in the Belly serie...

Troubleshooting the Wing-T Down Play

  You can get my free Belly Series playbook to follow along with the specific assignments for the Down play: Download the Free Belly Series Playbook Wh...

Attacking the 6-2 Defense with the Wing-T

In youth football you are very likely to see 8 man fronts like the 6-2 and 4-4 stack. I'll call a defense a 6-2 if their defensive ends (or outside lineback...

Blocking the ISO / Belly Sweep

A coach Jim from New York asked me this question: Could you please go into more depth on what the blocking assignment is for the play-side HB/WB on the ISO...

The Belly / ISO Series with Gerry Gallagher

Gerry Gallagher closed out the conference with a deep dive into the Belly XB (ISO) play along with the Belly Keep Pass (our ISO Pass). I love Gerry’s DVD Tr...

Quarterback Fundamentals with Dave McDonald

Dave McDonald is the head football coach at Connellsville HS, southeast of Pittsburgh. Dave led a highly interactive overview of Wing-T quarterback fundamen...

Start with the Belly Series

While most Wing-T proponents will point (understandably so) to the Buck series as the first series to learn, I’m biased towards the Belly series as the best...

Denny Creehan’s Practice Planning and Half-Time Adjustments

I was so excited to see and hear Denny Creehan speak. He’s the author of what I think is the best Wing-T book ever published and I still use his materials a...

Wing-T Play Call Sheet - 2017 Edition

I’ve made a habit of posting a sample call sheet each season, so here we go with the 2017 season version. You can also check out my 2016 Call Sheet and my 2...

Joe Maddon’s 13 Core Principles of Managing

I recently read The Cubs Way, a great book about the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series championship season. As a Cubs fan it was great to relive the season thr...

Game Planning the Wing-T with Roger Holmes

Get more information on Roger Holmes' systems at his online clinic store. Check out my other two write-ups from Coach Holmes: Roger Holmes’ Wing-T Belly Ser...

Wing-T Play Call Sheet - 2016 Edition

I’m overdue for an update on our play call sheet so I figured I’d share one that we used mid-season this year and explain some of the key elements. This she...

Simplifying Play Calling in the Wing-T

If you follow my writing here, you probably know that I’m re-evaluating our system of calling plays for this coming season. Our theme for this season is “le...

Our Football Pre-Game Routine

I thought it might be helpful to some of you out there to see what has been our pre-game routine for the past few years. Our goal is primarily to get our pl...

Lew Johnston Tells Us 25 Things to Know About the Wing-T

Coach Lew Johnston is one of the steady “old guard” Wing-T gray beards out there, and I'm amazed at how committed he is to teaching the next generation of c...

Don Smoyln’s Traditional Wing-T Game Planning

Don Smolyn is the head coach at Lenape Valley Regional High School (Stanhope, NJ), and he's been doing it possibly longer than you've been an adult (or mayb...

Rick Stewart’s No Huddle, Tempo, and RPO Approach

Coach Rick Stewart did a session Friday night at the National Wing-T Clinic on no huddle, tempo, and run-pass options (RPOs). The bulk of the talk was on te...

Glen McNew’s Practice and Game Planning for the Wing-T

Coach Glen McNew ran a very interesting session at the National Wing-T Clinic in 2016 on practice planning and game preparation, specifically focused on the...

Slow and Complex, or Fast and Simple?

My co-head coach Brian and I were driving together to the Portland airport today discussing the upcoming National Wing T Clinic. We've broken out detailed a...

Wing-T Reader Q&A: Attacking Even Front 2-Techniques

Coach Brown from Kentucky asked this: If you have any articles or advice on attacking a 4–3 with d-tackles over the guards I would appreciate it. I’ve writt...

My Football Scouting Approach

I believe there’s a huge opportunity for coaches to gain an advantage for their football team by improving their approach to scouting and game preparation. ...

An Interview with Alex Kirby - Superbowl Breakdown

Note – I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. Also, the link to the book is an affiliate link and I will be paid a small commissi...

Get Behind the Defense with Wings Hot

I’ve had a few coaches ask about our “Wings Hot” play. This is a very simple 3 or 4 vertical route, 3-step drop pass play which can be handy when teams star...

My Wing-T Play Caller Sheet

I suspect most coaches come up with their own way of having an offensive play caller during games, or had one handed down from a past mentor. I remember my ...

Attacking the 6-2 Defense with the Wing-T

In youth football you are very likely to see 8 man fronts like the 6-2 and 4-4 stack. I'll call a defense a 6-2 if their defensive ends (or outside lineback...

A No-Huddle System for the Wing-T

I’ve been running no huddle with my youth teams for the past two years with success. We mimic what Sherwood High School does so I have to give credit to off...

Blowout Games and Substitution Strategy

We are four games into the season, and in three of the four we’ve been up by four or more touchdowns with clear control of the game. In two of those three ga...

Joe Maddon’s 13 Core Principles of Managing

I recently read The Cubs Way, a great book about the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series championship season. As a Cubs fan it was great to relive the season thr...

Is football safe for my youth athlete?

This is an email I sent to the parents of our youth football association in August 2017. Have you ever noticed that almost every anti-football article you r...

Streamline Football Player Grading with Hudl

Almost two years ago I wrote an article about grading your players. While it is a tedious process to go through, I continue to do it every season (not every...

How Do You Get Players to Take Football Practice Seriously?

Coach Sheffer asked: How do I deal with players not taking practice seriously? We are also having discipline issues and low practice turnout. Let’s generali...

How Can You Make Your Wing-T Line More Aggressive?

A reader recently asked: I would like my offensive line to be more aggressive and quick. What would you do to get them there? I’ll be the first to say that ...

Flipping the Wing-T Line and Backfield

My offensive line has been struggling this season. I take full responsibility for this problem, and over the past two weeks I’ve been taking steps to troubl...

Psychological Principles for Football Coaches

I decided to re-read The Delaware Wing-T: an Order of Football recently, looking to glean new insight into our base offense I prepared for the coming season...

Lew Johnston Tells Us 25 Things to Know About the Wing-T

Coach Lew Johnston is one of the steady “old guard” Wing-T gray beards out there, and I'm amazed at how committed he is to teaching the next generation of c...

The 5 Worst Mistakes Youth Football Coaches Make in Practice

I’ve been around a lot of youth football practices over the past 12 years, and it still dismays me to see the same mistakes made over and over. These are ea...

Using Layered Handoffs in the Wing-T

Thanks to Jake Clark for bringing this up on Twitter a while back, and thanks for the photo of his team executing this. Normally I only like to write about ...

Seahawks Tackling for Youth Football

More and more football coaches I know are employing the Seattle Seahawks tackling approach (aka “Hawk Tackle”). As a defensive coordinator for 8...

Drills for the Wing-T Running Back

I’ve spent my time as an offensive line coach so I don’t get to be around the backs much unless we are doing team offense. My backs coach, Jack Alley, is a ...

Right-size the Wing-T for Your Age Group

You can run the Wing-T at any level of football from the little bobble heads to college. You will even see nuanced versions of Wing-T plays in NFL games fro...

Wing-T Football Academy Week 1 Report

Week 1 of the Wing-T Academy here in Sherwood went off without a hitch, though we only had one quarterback attending because of a baseball tournament champi...

Preparing to Run a Wing-T Youth Football Clinic

Starting this coming Sunday I’m running a private clinic for local 8th graders, most of whom played in our youth program last year. The idea is to have a sp...

Mark Helfrich at the Oregon Ducks Football Clinic

Mark Helfrich was the first speaker at the Oregon Football Coaches Clinic and I thought you might enjoy a summary of his talking points. Coach Helfrich was ...

Giving Offensive Linemen their Due

It is generally accepted wisdom that the offensive line is likely where you will find the most intelligent players on the field. As a coach you won’t get ve...

Advice for Parents of Youth Football Players

Michael Gervais wrote an excellent article list year titled 7 Guides for Parents to Help Their Children through Competitive Youth Football. As a parent of t...

Spread the Ball Around

What goals do you have when you start your football coaching season? Is it wins and losses, or getting to the championship game? I think that’s fine, as lon...

Player Grading: Coach Up Your Team

I’ve been a business leader and a parent for over 20 years, and one common challenge I confront with myself as well as with others I’m coaching or leading i...

2016 Football Season Wrap-up

Overview None of the stats below include a Kansas plan play-in that we had to compete in at the end of the season. While that might have been the most exhil...

An Interview with Alex Kirby - Superbowl Breakdown

Note – I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. Also, the link to the book is an affiliate link and I will be paid a small commissi...

Breaking Down Oregon vs. Ohio State: “Every Play Revealed”

Note - I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. Also, the link to the book is an affiliate link and I will be paid a small commissi...

2014 Season Wrap-Up for Youth Football

I wrote a post back in the late summer of 2014 about the start of youth football. I promised a follow-up and am way overdue. Go read that article if you hav...

Best Football Game I’ve Seen in a Long Time

I had the joy of coaching one of the most exciting football games I've ever seen last night. We played a very good team from West Linn that was locked in a ...

2010 Football Recap

Judging from the traffic this blog still gets I think I owe my audience much more frequent updates than I’ve been providing (here I am talking about blogging...

Week 2 and 3 Updates

I'm behind on game updates – let’s catch up on games 2 and 3. Game 2 – Tigard We played a very strong Tigard team a week ago and came up short, losing the sp...

2010 Season - Week 1 Report

Football season is in full swing which can make it hard to keep up with posts here. I’ll try to at least do a weekly update on how our prior game went and my...

End of Season - Another Championship Game Loss

Our football season ended about a month ago with our third straight championship game loss. We played the same Southridge team that handed us our only regula...

Championship Time!

Obviously I fell a bit behind on posting updates. Time for some serious catchup on what's happened the past few weeks, plus some thoughts on our championship...

Down 6 Players, Heavy Rains Expected

Today we play a tough Liberty team at Sherwood High School at 5pm. It has been raining hard all day and we are down to just 19 players due to illness that is...

Game 5 result: Sherwood 58, Aloha 28

We continued our unbeaten streak last Saturday vs Aloha Gold in a game that felt much closer than the final score. Aloha brought a very strong passing attack...

Game 4 result: Sherwood 32, SEI 0

We kept our season perfect with a resounding 32-0 win on Saturday. Execution was strong but far from perfect, but we were up by 32 by half time and had to ke...

Game 3 Result - Sherwood 45, Beaverton 18

I missed a football game as coach for the first time in two years so that I could attend and host a fundraising dinner for the TechStart Education Foundation...

Game 2 Highlights

I promised to post some highlights from our second game against St Helens. We had some great things happen, but if you watch closely you'll see how a great r...

Game 2 result: Sherwood 33, St Helens 7

We had a much better showing on offense this week, gaining over 300 yards with a decent mix of passing and running. It was nice having our starting fullback ...

Game 1 result: Sherwood 16, Aloha Blue 12

Our first game was a grinding victory that found us needing a sustained drive to score with only 6 minutes left in the game. The defense was extremely solid,...

Jamboree - first scrimmage

We participated in the Tigard jamboree this weekend with mostly positive results. Our defense was stellar and is ahead of where I hoped to be by now - we've ...

Lew Johnston – Perfecting the Wing-T Fullback Trap

This is a guest post from one of the Wing-T gurus, and an important mentor of mine, Lew Johnston. To quote one of the Founding Fathers of the Delaware...

Hancel Phipps Buck Series

Hancel Phipps coaches football at Wake Forest HS in NC. His teams have been on a pretty good run lately. Coach Phipps was at the National Wing-T Clinic in 2...

Jason Strickland’s Trap and Down from the Gun

(This is a follow-up article to Jason Strickland’s Buck Sweep Out of Gun article – you might want to read that one first!) Trap Coach Strickland believes th...

Jason Strickland’s Buck Sweep from the Gun

Jason Strickland was a great speaker at this year’s National Wing-T Clinic. He was dynamic, opinionated, funny, and challenged the audience to be creative i...

Steve Channell Brings Back the Buck Sweep

This is the second article about Steve Channell from the 2017 National Wing-T Clinic – check out the first article here. After talking about formations, shi...

Rich Erdelyi’s New Thoughts in the Shotgun Wing-T

Coach Rich Erdelyi probably doesn’t know me from the thousands of other football coaches that he has influenced over the years, but I sure know him. My firs...

Rick Darlington’s RPO Game

Rick Darlington is the head coach at Apopka High School in Florida, and his record there as 151–39. Rick said he adopted the single wing as he entered a sea...

Roger Holmes’ Buck Series

Get more information on Roger Holmes’ systems at his online clinic store. Roger Holmes is the head coach at Dublin High School in Georgia, USA. He has 40 ye...

Coach Lew Teaches How to Install the Buck Sweep

I’ve got another gem to share gem to share from Coach Lew in Virginia: this time we get to see his detailed approach to installing the Buck Sweep play. I’ve...

Mike Johnson’s Double TE Wing-T Offense

Mike Johnson is the new head football coach at Logansport High School in Indiana. Previously he was at Pioneer HS where he compiled a 214–78 record. He is t...

Rick Stewart’s Reading Unblocked Defenders for the Pistol Wing-T

Rick Stewart conducted several sessions on the opening night of the 2016 National Wing-T Clinic, starting with how he teaches quarterbacks to read unblocked...

Breaking Down the Wing-T Fullback Trap

</p> Header The fullback trap play, part of the Wing-T Buck Series, is an essential core play for any Wing-T team. It is usually one of the first six ...

Wing-T Formations and their Purposes

It is mid-season for most of you and you might be starting to experiment with some different Wing-T formations. Any time you introduce a change in your syst...

Youth Football Starts

I'm coaching 8th grade football again this year, again with my good friends Brian and Jack. This is our 5th year coaching this level together and likely to b...

Youth Football Coaching Tips

Inspired by Coach Parker's tips for coaching youth football, I thought I would share a few of my own. I haven't been doing this as long as many, but I think ...

My Football Video Processing Workflow

Video capture, processing, and publishing are a huge part of my football coaching routine. We film all of our games (Julie being my go-to videographer) and ...

Football Deception and Trick Plays

It seems like we see a play like this every 2 or 3 years. I get the novelty of it, and I bet the coaches have fun teaching it in practice and seeing the kids...

Football Highlights

I put together a highlight film of Matthew’s first three games. He is enjoying being back in the fullback position and getting the chance to carry the ball.

Pre-Season Prep

School is out for the summer, my oldest son has already completed one football camp and is off to Linfield College this weekend for his team full-contact cam...

Draft Night

Tonight is our draft, and it is coming none too soon. Usually after a single day of contact we have a pretty good idea of our desired picks, and through a nu...

Our Draft Process - Impact Player Selection

Our team draft strategy is to ensure that we balance all of the teams at each level as much as possible while taking into consideration each coach's personal...

Sherwood Bowmen Football Camp

A week ago my 7th grade son Matthew participated in the annual Sherwood Bowmen football camp, organized by the high school coaches and largely led by team m...

Preparing for the 2009 Season

Here's my action plan for getting ready for the 2009 football season: Meet with Jacob's defensive coach from last year (he helped lead their 8th grade vars...

What is so special about the Wing-T?

There seems to be an ongoing debate about the usefulness and importance of the Wing-T offense in football, with proponents saying that more division I colleg...

About Me (circa 2009)

My name is Chris Brooks and I coach youth football in Sherwood, Oregon. I have another blog where I talk about boardgames, travel, and family stuff. As of 20...

Coaching Through the Dark Days

It has been far too long since I wrote an article here. Rest assured more will be coming in the next few months, especially after I attend the National Wing...

Hybrid Wing-T Clinic in New Britain, CT on April 8

Coaches in the CT, NY, NJ, PA or New England area might want to check out this one day clinic on  April 8th in New Britain CT. It is a clinic focused on hyb...

2017 Rocky Mountain Wing-T Clinic

Fellow Wing-T coach Steve Pearson, head coach at Hurricane High School in Hurricane, Utah, will be hosting a Wing-T clinic at his high school on April 7–8. ...

2016 Football Season Wrap-up

Overview None of the stats below include a Kansas plan play-in that we had to compete in at the end of the season. While that might have been the most exhil...

My Visit with Aaron Scott and Bellefonte Football

About two weeks ago Julie and I drove down to State College, PA for a visit with Aaron Scott, football coach in the Bellefonte program. He has the challengi...

Head Injuries in Youth Football

The safety of American football is on everybody’s mind these days, and not just with coaches, players, and parents. Chris Borland’s retirement earlier this ...

My Favorite Wing-T Football Books

Note - links to Amazon products in this article are affiliate links and I’ll get a small commission if you purchase any after clicking through. While I’d li...

Available Now: Wing-T Printable Play Cards

As a supplement to my Wing-T for Youth Football book, I’ve created a set of printable play cards 98 full-page play cards that you can print and use ri...

Wing-T Football Academy Week 1 Report

Week 1 of the Wing-T Academy here in Sherwood went off without a hitch, though we only had one quarterback attending because of a baseball tournament champi...

Get a Good Start with Your Youth Football Parents

Back in February I gave some advice to parents of youth football players. Many of you have your seasons starting soon and will begin interacting with parent...

My Pistol Rocket Series

Update on June 8, 2016 – Want to learn how to install and run the Pistol Wing-T? Pistol Wing-T for Youth Football. I go deep into the Rocket series in this ...

Why run the Wing-T in youth football?

I may not be the best person to answer this question. After all, this is the only offense I've coached. But I am a student of football and as a defensive co...

Dave Martin’s Quick Passing Game

At the 2018 National Wing-T Clinic, Dave Martin (recently retired from Stewarts Creek HS) gave a helpful talk on how he runs a quick passing game with hi...

Incorporating TEs and SEs into your Wing-T Practice

A reader recently asked about some ideas for incorporating tight ends and split ends (wide receivers) more effectively into the Wing-T practice. My short an...

Installing the Belly RPO with Justin Dottavio

In this chat with Justin Dottavio we cover tips for installing a run-pass option (RPO) with the Wing-T belly play in either pistol or shotgun formation. Con...

Rich Erdelyi’s New Thoughts in the Shotgun Wing-T

Coach Rich Erdelyi probably doesn’t know me from the thousands of other football coaches that he has influenced over the years, but I sure know him. My firs...

Rick Darlington’s RPO Game

Rick Darlington is the head coach at Apopka High School in Florida, and his record there as 151–39. Rick said he adopted the single wing as he entered a sea...

Add a Quick Passing Game to the Wing-T

My co-head coach Brian and I had several objectives going into the past season, and one of them was to incorporate a stronger non-play-action passing game. ...

Don Smolyn’s Belly Keep Pass

The last talk I saw from Don Smolyn was on the Belly Keep Pass (this is ISO pass in my playbook). It was a brief talk but contained some great points worth ...

Get Behind the Defense with Wings Hot

I’ve had a few coaches ask about our “Wings Hot” play. This is a very simple 3 or 4 vertical route, 3-step drop pass play which can be handy when teams star...

Wing-T Football Academy Week 4 Report

During week 4 of the Wing-T Academy we focused exclusively on the passing game. We went through pass protection skills and group work with all players (usin...

The Wing-T Screen Passing Game

A screen passing component to the Wing-T can be powerful addition. Defenses will often pack the box and bring inside blitzes which can play right into the h...

Add a Quick Passing Game to the Wing-T

My co-head coach Brian and I had several objectives going into the past season, and one of them was to incorporate a stronger non-play-action passing game. ...

Practice Perfect QB and Running Back Wing-T Footwork

Running the Wing-T Wrap-Around Fullback Draw

My favorite Wing-T deception play is the fullback wrap-around draw, or what I call “Hammer Draw” in my playbook. I made up a short video to explain in depth...

Wing-T Reader Q&A: Getting the QB Involved in the Running Game

Coach Quincy asked: What are some plays that you have ran to get the QB involved in the run game? Most offenses benefit greatly when you have the luxury of ...

Using Layered Handoffs in the Wing-T

Thanks to Jake Clark for bringing this up on Twitter a while back, and thanks for the photo of his team executing this. Normally I only like to write about ...

Web Clinic: Fine Tune your Wing-T Backfield Footwork

I'm running another free web clinic on July 7 at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern and will focus on backfield footwork for the core Wing-T series. We will at least...

Wing-T Football Academy Week 4 Report

During week 4 of the Wing-T Academy we focused exclusively on the passing game. We went through pass protection skills and group work with all players (usin...

Quarterback Fundamentals with Dave McDonald

Dave McDonald is the head football coach at Connellsville HS, southeast of Pittsburgh. Dave led a highly interactive overview of Wing-T quarterback fundamen...

Installing the Belly RPO with Justin Dottavio

In this chat with Justin Dottavio we cover tips for installing a run-pass option (RPO) with the Wing-T belly play in either pistol or shotgun formation. Con...

Blair Hubbard’s “Faster Than The Fly” Gun Rocket

This article is taken from extensive notes by Donnie Bruchhaus, a friend and football coach from Louisiana. We’ve been meeting up at the past few National W...

Rick Darlington’s Single Wing Power Series

Hmmm, a single wing talk at the National Wing-T Clinic? I was intrigued for sure. I first learned the ins and outs of the single wing when I read Dave Cisar...

Add a Quick Passing Game to the Wing-T

My co-head coach Brian and I had several objectives going into the past season, and one of them was to incorporate a stronger non-play-action passing game. ...

My Pistol Wing-T Book is Available Now

I’ve promised this for some time, and I can finally say “it is done”. Pistol Wing-T for Youth Football. If you don’t have my original Wing-T book, the best ...

Pistol Wing-T Web Clinic on May 16, 2016

I’m running a free web clinic on May 16 at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern and will focus on the Pistol Wing-T for Youth Football. I’ll cover: how to incorporate...

My Pistol Rocket Series

Update on June 8, 2016 – Want to learn how to install and run the Pistol Wing-T? Pistol Wing-T for Youth Football. I go deep into the Rocket series in this ...

Fine Tuning the Wing-T Down Play

I made another screencast on the Down play, which is a staple for us this season. We've had some fun running it with some unbalanced formations as well. I g...

Using Hudl and Excel to Track Offensive Effectiveness

I made another nerdy screencast. The magic Excel formulas I referenced in the screencast: =[@[GN/LS]]>=MIN(4,[@DIST])

Pistol Wing-T Web Clinic on May 16, 2016

I’m running a free web clinic on May 16 at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern and will focus on the Pistol Wing-T for Youth Football. I’ll cover: how to incorporate...

Practice Perfect QB and Running Back Wing-T Footwork

How to Make a Perfect Youth Football Practice Plan

Learn the Basics of the Wing-T Offensive Line

Learn How to Install and Run the Wing-T Belly Series

Download the free playbook to go along with this clinic.

Breaking Down Army’s Rocket Toss Sweep

I’ve watched more Army football this season than any other college team. I wasn’t a fan until my son became a West Point cadet – in fact, by all reasoning I...

Using Hudl Tagging to Break Down Opponent Scout Film

I made a screencast to show how you can use the Hudl tagging tools (on your smart phone or tablet) to speed up opponent football scout film break down.

Wing-T Reader Q&A: Dealing with Line Stunts and Twists

Coach Burke asked: I’m curious, how do you run block again defensive line stunts and twists? This is an area where I think “less is more” – if you spend too...

My Football Scouting Approach

I believe there’s a huge opportunity for coaches to gain an advantage for their football team by improving their approach to scouting and game preparation. ...

Football Scouting Worksheets

In preparation for scouting in the upcoming football season, I created some scouting tracking worksheets based on those found in Steve Belichek’s book Footba...

How We Scout

In our league coaches are allowed to scout and film their opponents. We first started scouting 2 years ago when we were coaching 5th/6th grade; at the time i...

Coaching Through the Dark Days

It has been far too long since I wrote an article here. Rest assured more will be coming in the next few months, especially after I attend the National Wing...

Joe Maddon’s 13 Core Principles of Managing

I recently read The Cubs Way, a great book about the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series championship season. As a Cubs fan it was great to relive the season thr...

Psychological Principles for Football Coaches

I decided to re-read The Delaware Wing-T: an Order of Football recently, looking to glean new insight into our base offense I prepared for the coming season...

7 Things Youth Football Coaches Should Do in the Offseason

In most areas, coaching youth football is different than coaching at the high school level. Most of us don’t get a spring or summer coaching season, which i...

Mark Helfrich at the Oregon Ducks Football Clinic

Mark Helfrich was the first speaker at the Oregon Football Coaches Clinic and I thought you might enjoy a summary of his talking points. Coach Helfrich was ...

The 9 Essential Habits of Mentally Strong Football Coaches

I read an article last year, “The 9 Essential Habits Of Mentally Strong People”, that I return to frequently. So does my wife Julie and we’ve discussed it a...

Lew Johnston – Perfecting the Wing-T Fullback Trap

This is a guest post from one of the Wing-T gurus, and an important mentor of mine, Lew Johnston. To quote one of the Founding Fathers of the Delaware...

Dave Martin’s Quick Passing Game

At the 2018 National Wing-T Clinic, Dave Martin (recently retired from Stewarts Creek HS) gave a helpful talk on how he runs a quick passing game with hi...

Hancel Phipps Buck Series

Hancel Phipps coaches football at Wake Forest HS in NC. His teams have been on a pretty good run lately. Coach Phipps was at the National Wing-T Clinic in 2...

Jet Series Update for 2018

I made a 25 minute screencast on how we used and improved our jet series last season. Thanks to Wes Elrod over at JetSweep.com for his help in improving our...

Jason Strickland’s Trap and Down from the Gun

(This is a follow-up article to Jason Strickland’s Buck Sweep Out of Gun article – you might want to read that one first!) Trap Coach Strickland believes th...

Jason Strickland’s Buck Sweep from the Gun

Jason Strickland was a great speaker at this year’s National Wing-T Clinic. He was dynamic, opinionated, funny, and challenged the audience to be creative i...

Glen McNew’s Defending the Wing-T with the 4-4 Defense

Coach Glen McNew ran a different style of Wing-T talk – stopping the (spread) Wing-T with the 4–4 defense. This is a comprehensive subject to cover in just ...

Minimize Practice Injuries in Youth Football by Managing Contact

Coaching football requires a bit of a dance when it comes to managing contact: too little contact and the players will not be ready for game speed and game ...

Seahawks Tackling for Youth Football

More and more football coaches I know are employing the Seattle Seahawks tackling approach (aka “Hawk Tackle”). As a defensive coordinator for 8...

Our Defensive Scheme

We've nearly installed our defense for the year as of this week. I'll work on a few minor additions over the next 2 weeks, and we will always make small adju...

Lew Johnston – Perfecting the Wing-T Fullback Trap

This is a guest post from one of the Wing-T gurus, and an important mentor of mine, Lew Johnston. To quote one of the Founding Fathers of the Delaware...

Streamline Football Player Grading with Hudl

Almost two years ago I wrote an article about grading your players. While it is a tedious process to go through, I continue to do it every season (not every...

A Better Way to Run the Down Play?

Coach Kroeger from Delphos Jefferson in Ohio sent me a helpful note with some different blocking rules for down that he uses in his program. He is the offen...

Breaking Down the Wing-T Counter Criss-Cross (XX) Play

A coach recently asked me to explain the backfield footwork for the Counter Criss-Cross (aka Counter XX) play, a staple play in most Wing-T playbooks. I’m g...

Using Hudl and Excel to Track Offensive Effectiveness

I made another nerdy screencast. The magic Excel formulas I referenced in the screencast: =[@[GN/LS]]>=MIN(4,[@DIST])

Using Hudl Tagging to Break Down Opponent Scout Film

I made a screencast to show how you can use the Hudl tagging tools (on your smart phone or tablet) to speed up opponent football scout film break down.

Technology Tools for Coaching Youth Football

Technology has changed the sport of football, even at the youth level. While the biggest change I’ve seen in the last 10 years is with video (we used ...

Glen McNew’s Rocket Sweep

Glen McNew returned to the National Wing-T clinic to give a few talks, and I attended the rocket sweep clinic. I previously wrote about his Defending the Wi...

Blair Hubbard’s “Faster Than The Fly” Gun Rocket

This article is taken from extensive notes by Donnie Bruchhaus, a friend and football coach from Louisiana. We’ve been meeting up at the past few National W...

Jet Series Update for 2018

I made a 25 minute screencast on how we used and improved our jet series last season. Thanks to Wes Elrod over at JetSweep.com for his help in improving our...

Gordon Elliott’s Jet Sweep Offense

Gordon Elliott is the head football coach at Auburn HS in Washington state. He has a Portland metro heritage having coached at Camas and Columbia River HS f...

Kickoff Return - Success!

I mentioned in a prior post that we were installing a new kick return prior to last game (thanks to some outside coach consulting from an old friend). I'm ha...

Running the Wing-T Wrap-Around Fullback Draw

My favorite Wing-T deception play is the fullback wrap-around draw, or what I call “Hammer Draw” in my playbook. I made up a short video to explain in depth...