Wing-T From The Shotgun: Part 1 (8 pages, PDF)

A digitised edition of the printed Gridiron Strategies Special Coaching Report "Wing-T From The Shotgun, Part 1: Winning Plays To Maximize The Wing-T From The Shotgun Formation," by Jim Santomassimo, assistant football coach at St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, Connecticut. Santomassimo built this package as offensive coordinator at Brien McMahon High School, where opponents lined up in an 8-man front and dared a team with a short quarterback and 160-pound guards to throw. Going to the shotgun got the quarterback's eyes clear of the line and turned the offense into a 4-back attack — without teaching a single new alignment or blocking scheme. Every play here is run with the blocking rules the wing-T already uses, so installation costs no extra practice time and the offense keeps its identity. 8 pages, PDF, with a searchable text layer.

What's inside

• The formation and backfield call system — the 1-back "Ace" formation (the alignment Delaware called Red/Blue) with a right or left strength call to the tight-end side, the "Red" variation that moves the wing out to flanker, and what it means when no formation is called at all. One word, "Gray" or "Gold," tells the fullback which side to line up on. Exact depths: fullback's heels at 5 yards with his inside leg splitting the guard's stance, quarterback's toes at 5 yards, unchanged from under center. Only three 1-back formations, and no 2-back sets — deliberately, so no extra defender is invited into the box.
• Sweep Right — Gray Ace Right (Diagrams 1–6). The Buck Sweep, the first play installed: quarterback pokes the ball to the fullback, hands inside to the halfback in front of him and carries out the waggle; the halfback leaves on the snap without going in motion and runs through the fullback's old spot while the fullback fills the backside of the center.
• FB Sweep Right — Gold Ace Right (Diagrams 7–12). The same sweep with the fullback carrying, the quarterback replacing him and then filling backside of the center.
• QB Sweep Right — Gray Ace Right (Diagrams 13–18). Quarterback fakes to the fullback and runs the sweep exactly as he runs the waggle.
• Trap Right — Gold Ace Right (Diagrams 19–24) and QB Trap Right — Gray Ace (Diagrams 25–30). Backside guard pulls inside-out and traps the first man from the center; quarterback hands off and attacks the opposite flank on his waggle track, or keeps and runs the trap course himself.
• HB Trap Right — Gray Ace (Diagrams 31–36) with the HB Trap blocking scheme — influence-pull with the front-side guard, trap with the backside guard, first two steps reading like a sweep to the defense. Santomassimo explains why it is his answer to 4-4 and 4-3 teams, and how the Weak Trap out of the Trap Option Series got the trap game back when even-front tackles started running twist stunts.
• Waggle Right — Gold Ace Left (Diagrams 37–42). The wing-T waggle with one change — the backside routes are switched so the backside end always runs the post and the halfback always runs the crosser. Front-side flag on a 6 cut, quarterback forcing the corner at 6 yards deep with the run/pass option, fullback checking blitz and slipping to the flat on a 2 cut.
• Shuffle Pass Right — Gold Ace Right (Diagram 43). The call for a defensive end who keeps coming up the field to contain the quarterback: waggle action, traditional off-tackle power blocking, a pre-determined pitch, and a fullback who blocks the end only if he does not rush — reading him the way a guard reads a trap.
• The Belly series, sidebar by sidebar (Diagrams A–J) — the series the author calls the best way for his team to run the ball, and faster-hitting than sweep or trap. Belly Right and QB Belly Right from Gold/Gray Ace Left, Belly Iso Right from Gray Ace Left (play-side halfback releases outside, fullback leads through the hole on the linebacker), Belly Down Right from Gold Ace Right with the fullback on a slash course for the inside foot of the tight end, and Belly Bootleg Right — the adjustment that replaced the waggle after the backside guard and fullback kept colliding, with the quarterback pulling up over the play-side tackle 6 yards deep and four receivers releasing quickly into patterns.
• Full 11-man assignments on every play — front-side end, front-side tackle and guard, center, backside guard, tackle and end, quarterback, left halfback, right halfback and fullback, written out in the author's own terms (gap/read down, reach/area, Dog post and lead, married to tackle, able, Houston, Texas, off call – NG).
• 53 diagrams in all — 43 numbered plus 10 lettered — with the core plays drawn against six fronts: 50, 4-4, 6-1, 4-3, Eagle and 6-2, including a 6-2 goal-line look on the waggle.

Who it is for

• High school wing-T coaches who want a shotgun package without abandoning their alignments, blocking rules or terminology.
• Offensive coordinators facing 8-man fronts with an undersized line or a shorter quarterback who cannot see over it.
• Coaches who need the quarterback to become a genuine ball carrier — QB Sweep, QB Trap, QB Belly and QB Belly Iso — without converting to a true option team.
• Staffs who install by position card: every play in the report lists all eleven assignments.
• Anyone building a run-first shotgun attack that still has answers for the 50, 4-4, 6-1, 4-3, Eagle and 6-2.