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Single-wing formation
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==History== {{blockquote|There is no way to improve on football beyond the unbalanced line single-wing.| [[Carl Snavely]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv11/CFHSNv11n2e.pdf |title = CONTENTdm}}</ref><ref name="Power">Jim Campbell, [http://www.profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/14-04-470.pdf "The Power and the Glory: Single-Wing Football"], ''The Coffin Corner'', Vol. 14, No. 4 (1992).</ref>}} [[File:PopatPitt1919Owl.jpg|thumb|[[Pop Warner]] at the [[Pitt Panthers football|University of Pittsburgh]] in 1917]] Among coaches, single-wing football denotes a formation using a long snap from center as well as a deceptive scheme that evolved from [[Pop Warner|Glenn "Pop" Warner]]'s offensive style. Traditionally, the single-wing was an offensive formation that featured a core of four backs including a tailback, a fullback, a quarterback (blocking back), and a wingback. Linemen were set "unbalanced", with two on one side of the center and four on the other. This was done by moving the off-side guard or tackle to the strong side. The single-wing was one of the first formations attempting to trick the defense instead of overpowering it.<ref>{{cite book |last=Warner |first=Glenn |title=Football For Coaches And Players |publisher=Tuxedo Press |date=May 1, 2007 |location=Carlisle, PA |pages=136β170 |isbn=978-0-9774486-4-7}}</ref> Pop Warner referred to his new offensive scheme as the Carlisle formation because he formulated most of the offense while coaching the [[Carlisle Indians football|Carlisle Indians]]. The term single-wing came into widespread use after spectators noticed that the formation gave the appearance of a wing-shape. In 1907, Warner coached at Carlisle, a school for Native Americans, where his legacy consisted of at least three significant events. The first was the discovery of [[Jim Thorpe]]'s raw athletic ability. The second was the use of an extensive passing game that relied on the spiraled ball. Finally, faking backs who started one way, but abruptly headed the opposite way, kept defenses guessing.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/12/AR2007051201395_pf.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |title=Carlisle Indians Made It A Whole New Ballgame |access-date=May 23, 2010}}</ref> Since Jim Thorpe had so much raw talent, Coach Warner more than likely designed much of his single-wing offense around this gifted athlete. Thorpe, the proverbial [[Triple threat man|triple threat]], was a good runner, passer, and punter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chi.scout.com/2/653427.html|title=Chicago Bears NFL Football Front Page|publisher=scout.com}}</ref> [[File:Single wing formation vs5 diagram.gif|thumb|Single-wing formation similar to [[Pop Warner]]'s playbook]] For much of the history of the single-wing formation, players were expected to [[one-platoon system|play on both sides of the ball]]. Consequently, offensive players often turned around to play a corresponding location on defense. The offensive backs played defensive backs, just as the offensive linemen played defensive linemen. Unlike teams of today, single-wing teams had few specialists who only played on certain downs. College football playbooks before the 1950s were dominated with permutations of the traditional single-wing envisioned by Warner. Two-time All-American Jack Crain's handwritten playbook clearly denotes how the University of Texas ran their version of the single-wing circa 1939β1940. University of Texas Coach Dana X. Bible ran a balanced line, which meant that each side of the center had the same number of linemen. The ends were also slightly split.<ref>[http://www.noconacn.net/crain/playbook.htm Jack Crain<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915012004/http://www.noconacn.net/crain/playbook.htm |date=2007-09-15 }}</ref><!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Crain playbook.JPG|thumb|right|300px|University of Texas All-American Jack Crain's single-wing playbook (circa 1939-40)]] --> Slightly splitting offensive ends, called flexing, was in widespread use by Notre Dame's Box variation of the single-wing. Knute Rockne's [[Notre Dame Box]] offense employed a balanced line, which had 3 linemen on each side of the center. Another Rockne innovation was a shifting backfield that attempted to confuse the defense by moving backs to alternate positions right before the snap.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.billsbackers.com/proform1.htm|title=History of Pro Football in Buffalo|website=www.billsbackers.com|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref> Another variation of the single-wing saw the quarterback move out as a wingback on the weak side. Besides adding different blocking angles for the quarterback, the double-wing formation facilitated the passing game. Stanford had a variation on the double-wing in which the quarterback stayed right behind the strong side guard, while the tailback became the wingback to the weak side. The fullback, being the only deep back left, took all the snaps and directed the plays.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> The advent of the [[T formation]] in the 1940s led to a decline in the use of single-wing formations. For example, the single-wing coach [[Dana X. Bible]], upon his retirement in 1946, saw his replacement, [[Blair Cherry]], quickly install the T formation like many other college coaches of the day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2000/landryspecial/landryut.htm|title=''The Dallas Morning News'': Tom Landry - 1924-2000<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=dallasnews.com|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref> [[Wallace Wade]] said he was "not convinced that the single wing is not a more potent formation than the [[T-formation|T]]. The single wing we used caused the defense to spread. It called for more intensive coaching on individual assignments."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19641104&id=FHdPAAAAIBAJ&pg=5845,1069860&hl=en|work=Ocala Star-Banner |title=Wallace Wade Calls Well-Executed Pass the Best New Idea|date=November 4, 1964}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19641104&id=iYljAAAAIBAJ&pg=2306,239472&hl=en|work=The Telegraph |title=Passing Skills Key in Improving Game of Football--Wallace Wade|date=November 4, 1964|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> However, from 1949 to 1957, [[Red Sanders|Henry "Red" Sanders]] elevated a rarely distinguished UCLA football program to an elite level with his precision single-wing system, winning a National Championship at UCLA in 1954. The single-wing style of football is still practiced by a small group of teams across the country, almost exclusively at the high school and youth level.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.johntreed.com/SWO.html|title=Single-Wing Offense for Youth Football by John T. Reed<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=johntreed.com|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref> The [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] were the last [[National Football League|NFL]] team to use the single-wing as their standard formation, finally switching to the T formation in [[1952 Pittsburgh Steelers season|1952]].<ref>[http://media3.steelers.com/tradition/teamhistory/ Official site of the Pittsburgh Steelers β Team History<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In 2008, the [[Miami Dolphins]] utilized a version of the single-wing offense (calling it the "[[wildcat formation|wildcat]]") against the [[New England Patriots]] on six plays, which produced four touchdowns in a 38β13 upset victory, and again two weeks later, defeating the [[San Diego Chargers]].<ref>Stephen Wine, [http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/2008-10-10-3490998596_x.htm "Dolphins help the single wing make a comeback"], ''[[USA Today]]'', October 10, 2008.</ref> In college football, by the early 1960s, the only major teams still relying on the single wing were Tennessee, UCLA, University of Pennsylvania and Princeton. Following 1964, only Princeton, which had been particularly known for the single wing under its longtime coach [[Charlie Caldwell]], still used the formation, finally giving it up in 1969 after the retirement of Caldwell's successor [[Dick Colman]].<ref name="Power" /><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/07/obituaries/dick-colman-former-coach.html "Dick Colman, Former Coach"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 7, 1982.</ref> ===Sutherland single wing=== {{More citations needed|section|date=November 2006}} The Sutherland single-wing was a variation used with great success by Coach [[Jock Sutherland]] of the 1930s and 1940s. Note that coach Sutherland mastered many forms of the single-wing, but the formation described here is the one he invented and was named after him. The Sutherland single-wing differs from the traditional single-wing in that the wingback is brought into the backfield as a [[halfback (American football)|halfback]], flanking the fullback on the other side from the [[running back|tailback]]. This allows a more flexible running attack to the weak-side. Both the tailback and halfback are triple threats in this offense. The weakness of this formation is less power than the traditional single-wing and it requires very talented backs to play tailback and halfback effectively. Sutherland created this formation from the original single-wing he learned from legendary coach [[Pop Warner]] at the [[University of Pittsburgh]] in the 1910s. Sutherland became the [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pitt]] coach in 1924, where he remained through 1938. Sutherland's Pitt teams were named "[[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National Champions]]" by various selectors in nine different seasons,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/bigeast/pittsburgh/all_national_champs.php |title=Pittsburgh Total National Championships |work=CFBDataWarehouse.com |publisher=College Football Data Warehouse |access-date=2011-11-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704202839/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/bigeast/pittsburgh/all_national_champs.php |archive-date=2008-07-04 }}</ref> including five recognized by the university.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hursen |first1=Steve |title=2007 Pitt Football Media Guide |access-date=2011-11-04 |year=2007 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh |page=176 |chapter=Panther History: Pitt Football 2006 |chapter-url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pitt/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/06guide-pantherhistory.pdf |archive-date=2011-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522213706/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pitt/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/06guide-pantherhistory.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sutherland was the avowed master of the single-wing offense while at Pitt.<ref name="NYT-Sutherland Scythe">{{Cite news |title=COLLEGE FOOTBALL; This Pitt Backfield Is Still a Dream |first=William N. |last=Wallace |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01EED9153CF936A25753C1A962958260 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 15, 1994 |page=30, section 1 |access-date=December 10, 2009 |quote=They ran an offense called the Sutherland Scythe after Coach Jock Sutherland, a titan of his time. It was a precision double-wing attack that ravaged opponents. But more distinctive than its offensive power game was the players' decision at the end of the season to turn down an invitation to play in the Rose Bowl.}}</ref> Sutherland brought his coaching skills to the NFL in 1940 as the coach of the [[Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)|Brooklyn Dodgers]]. At Brooklyn, he took over a team that had never finished better than second and had only one winning season since 1930. He implemented his offensive ideas and the Dodgers finished with a record of 8β3 and finished only a game behind the [[Washington Redskins]]. Sutherland's star was [[Ace Parker]], who played tailback and was NFL MVP. The Dodgers also finished second in 1941, with a 7β4 mark. Later, Sutherland coached the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] in 1946 and 1947. In 1947, Sutherland and his single-wing pushed the Steelers to their first playoff appearance, for the East Conference crown. They were soundly defeated by [[Greasy Neale]]'s [[Philadelphia Eagles]], running the [[T-formation]], 21β0. Sutherland died suddenly in 1948, but the Steelers continued to use his single-wing until 1953, when they were the last NFL team to switch to the T. Runningback Austin Horton also rushed for 1,245 yards during the Sutherland season. ===Double wing=== The double-wing is an offensive formation which should not be confused with the Double Wing offense. The double-wing formation is used in many offenses from the youth level through college. The formation was first introduced by [[Pop Warner]] around 1912. Just a few offenses that use the formation are the double wing, [[flexbone]] and [[wing T]] offenses. It was the primary formation used by [[Ara Parseghian]] when he ran the wing T at [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]], winning [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National Championships]] in 1966 and 1973. [[File:Double Wing Formation.png|thumb|Double Wing Formation]] The formation is not necessarily the same in all offenses and is a broad term to describe any offense with two [[Wingback (American football)|wingbacks]]. In the wing T, the double-wing formation is used to refer to Red, Blue and Loose Red formations. The double-wing formation in American football usually includes one [[wide receiver]], two wingbacks, one [[Fullback (American football)|fullback]], and one [[tight end]].
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