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 most of the plays, especially the Buck series. I think he kept the front side guard in place (and pulled back-side only) because the play-side tackle had a hard time blocking all the way down on a guy who was shaded strong on our center (and the center could not “reach” block him). Also the LBs blitzing the B Gap when the front side guard was pulling…they were eating us up. What are your thoughts and what some options to deal with this issue if any?
I think we’ve all faced this, especially with the younger players. I think you need to solve the root cause rather than tweaking other parts of the system, because you are going to continue to trade off problems. Some tips:
- Drill the gap block technique, over and over. Especially with your tackles and TEs. You might split them up and have G/C work on cross block drill while T/TE work on down and gap blocking
- keep your splits at 18–24"
- move your line as far back from LOS as possible. This is very important as it can give your tackle an extra 2–3 feet to work with
- Your tackle may need to step flat on his block if he is slower. Have him expect to use a gap technique (helmet in front of defender, opposite shoulder block) - so if he is blocking down left on buck sweep right, he will step flat with left foot and block with right shoulder
- Make sure your play side guard is pulling with depth for the first to steps: we teach 45 deg, 45 deg, then start to bend
I think the kick out block by the play-side guard is so important on Buck Sweep. Plus, the play side is blocked almost identically to the Down play, so if you make this work you should also have that play ready to run. The main difference is that we have the WB always go to backer on Down, while on buck sweep he will block first man heads up to outside the TE.
Obviously centers need to work on reach technique as well, and I have similar guidance there as well: step flat and get helmet in front.