Defending vs. The wing-t/fly offense

Question
QUESTION: How are you? I play semi-pro football and we run a 4-3 and 4-4 defense. We got absolutely burned by a wing-t offense and the same opponent is coming up on the schedule again. I was wondering if there was a certain defense we should use to stop this offense or any changes we can make with these current defenses....Thank you

ANSWER: Dear Rich:
Here are some simple rules to follow.
1). If the guard pulls inside (towards the center) we have our defensive player stay on the guard's hip. We tell our defender that the pulling guard will take him to the play.

2). If the guard pulls outside (away from the center), we have the defender stay at home, looking for a trap play coming from the inside. The defensive player must plug the hole even if it means sitting in the hole. We do not care how he does, it as long as it gets done.

3). Motion man. The motion man is a big key for most teams. Most single wing teams run motion to the play side, 90% of the time. The only way to be sure is to look at the game film or a good scouting report. Be sure to double check, not all teams are the same.

4). Mirror man. It is important to mirror the trail man on all offensive plays. The trail man is important because he is one of the key players for most counter plays and reverses. We assign a mirror man or someone to trail all plays. It does not have to be the same man; we use whoever is free on the back side of the play.

5). Quarterback is very important! Assign a man to the quarterback. The quarterback must be tackled on every play. The quarterback is the key. If he is being tackled on every play, he will not be able to pass, run the option, or fake. We assign a man to the quarterback. His job is to tackle him and let him know that we are there.

This means, that you can bring 10 men up to stop the run. You might get burned on a halfback pass, but the halfback is not the quarterback and he is not going to win the game for them.

The first teams that I coached, was a single wing team. The next one was the fly offense. I know what works and what does not work to stop them. I also know that when one of my opponents did something to stop us we made the necessary adjustments to counter it. If they do the same let me know and I will tell you how to counter their counter.

If you have any questions please let me know. I will be happy to help you in anyway I can.  

Your friend, Coach Louis



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much. My concern is we will see these guys one more time this season and that is in a few weeks so if they were to counter what would my options be? Just trying to be prepared. Thanks again

Answer
Dear Rich:
The mind set of the Wing -T Offenses.

The Wing -T Offenses Mission is to control the ball.
The Wing -T Offense exists to gain 3-4 yards per run.
This offense uses quick hitting, power running sweeps and misdirection plays to keep the defense off guard.

The Wing -T Offense is very effective at the high school level and has had some moderate success on the college level.
The Wing-T Offense has been around since the early days of football and is still a formidable offense.
The Wing-T Offense is very difficult to defend because all the plays look the same at the snap of the ball. The Wing -T Offense runs well to the strong or weak side but likes to run to the strong side especially
The Wing -T Offense uses all backs in its running game
The Wing -T Offense is not a fast scoring offense but it can hit you for a quick score.

The Wing -T Offenses game plan
The Wing -T Offense, know that the defense will place their best contain man to the strong side. They also know that they will place your second best contain man to the weak side. This is what they are counting on. This is the reason this offense has been around so long.

The wingback is the best blocker on the Wing -T Offense. The wingback, lines-up just off the line of scrimmage and a few yards outside the tight end. He is there to hook block the defensive end. When the defensive end lines-up inside shade of the wingback, the wingback will hook block him and the offense will run the sweep play to the outside corner area. When the defensive end lines-up outside shade of the wingback, the wingback will block him outside and the offense will run off tackle.
It is a no win assignment for the defensive end. Whatever choice he makes, will be the wrong one. What happens next for the defense?

The defense will (in most cases) bring their corner back up, to the line of scrimmage, to help with containment. This is what the Wing -T Offense wants you to do. Think about it!

Your best contain man is being hooked by the wingback, so he is out of the picture. Your second best contain man is on the weak side of the offense. He cannot help you. This means that your opponent will be able to run their power sweeps plays against your third best contain man. A defender (defensive back) that is most likely playing out of position. This is not a good thing.

The Wing -T Offense will do everything in their power to make their power sweep play work. They will use an unbalanced line. Two tackles to one side.

They will place the tailback in motion, away from the play side, to get you to think they are not going to run their power sweep. They will then run the power sweep play with their quarterback acting as tailback.

They will place the tailback in motion, to the play side to, loosen up the corner area. When the contain man see the motion man he starts thinking swing-pass and not power sweep.

They will place a wide receiver to the wingback's side. The contain man will now have to be concern with the look-in pass and or being block by the receiver.
Last but most important, the wingback is used on counters and reverses. After the ball is snapped, if the wingback disappears into the backfield, the defense must be ready to stop the counter play up the middle and or the reverse play to the other side. The strong side end must let the weak side defenders know that there is a possibility of a counter play or reverse coming their way. He must yell counter play to keep the defenders at home.

Remember the Wing -T Offense will hit you in this order;

1.   Power sweeps
2.   Once they feel that they have stretched out the defense they will hit you with their inside running game
3.   Counters and reverses are next in line
4.   Followed by the passing game
5.   Wing -T Offense does not like to pass the ball, keep this in mind.


I hope this not too much information. I am trying to give you only what I think you need to know to stop your opponent. I am not trying to write a book lol.

If you have anymore questions please let me know I will be glad to help you in anyway.

Your friend, Coach Louis

PS They are not a good come back from behind teams. If you can score on them a few times early or late in the game you can take them out of their comfort zone.


PSS
The best advice I can give you to help stop this Offense is, key the guards?block. Place a man head-up on the offensive center. By placing a man head-up on the offensive center, you force the offense to double team the nose guard. Tell your linebackers to read the double team block. If the right guard down blocks on the nose guard, the play is going to the right. If the left guard double teams the nose guard, the play is going to the left. It is that simple.

PSSS
Sorry I knew I had left something out. I know this will be of great help to you. And thank you, thank you, thank you for the top rating points.