ArmyFin7
U cry about the $$$, we do the dirtywork
Since there are so many questions about the wildcat and how it’s used, what it is, etc. I figured I would do a little bit of research and give some facts and my own theories on what we may do.
Lets start with the facts. Most of us know that the wildcat is really just a formation that was created by Glenn “Pop” Warner called the single-wing. Also referred to as an unbalanced line. One of the common misconceptions is that the unbalanced line was created for a “power-running” game. I was actually created to trick the defense instead of overpower them. The whole premise of this formation was to create confusion on the defensive side of the ball.
Warner it is believed created this formation to accentuate the talents of Jim Thorpe. He had an amazing amount of raw skill. He could run, pass and punt. At the same time Warner also created something still widely used today called faking backs who started one way, but abruptly headed the opposite way, kept defenses guessing.
Finally he was the first to widely use an extensive passing game that relied on the spiraled ball. As you can see, some of the things Warner designed are obviously used a great deal in the NFL today. The single wing was not used much in the NFL until our Miami Dolphins decided to dig into the archives and “create more space”. But it never exactly died.
The single-wing has had a successful revival at youth leagues, middle schools, high schools, and some colleges. Here are some examples of single-wing high school teams that have had success all across the country.
In 2006, Virginia saw three teams ride the single-wing to the state playoffs. Two of the three teams, Giles High School and Osborn High School, actually won their division.
In 2001 and 2002, Park View High School in Sterling, Virginia advanced to consecutive state championships using the single wing offense. When Park View coach Mickey Thompson moved to nearby Stone Bridge High School, he took the single wing with him and achieved success in Ashburn as he had in Sterling. Warren County High School in Front Royal, Va. also used the single-wing to moderate success. In Louisa County, Va., the local high school has had similar success by running the single-wing formation since 2003.
Colton California has been a consistently successful single-wing team by reaching the state playoffs on six consecutive seasons.
In 2006 and 2007, The Menominee Maroons won the Michigan high school class B football championship, winning 28 consecutive games over the last 2 years, and reaching the state playoffs for the last 11 years.
Since 1985, Santa Rosa High School has used the single-wing formation under Coach Frank Ortiz. The Lions have made the playoffs every year except 3, won their district title 17 times, won the New Mexico AA State Championships in 1993, 1996, 1998, and 2007, and made a total of 10 State Finals appearances.
Xavier High School's (NYC) Head Coach Chris Stevens recently changed the team's offense to the Single Wing. In 2007 they went 11-1, and averaged 39 points in the New York Catholic High School Football League A Division. They had two 1,000 yard rushers in Seamus Kelly and Jimmy Kowalski, while both also scored 17 TDs. In the championship game trailing by two scores with less than 8 minutes to play, Xavier scored 31 unanswered points to win their first championship in over 10 years. The following week they beat Fordham Prep 20-14 in the annual "Turkey Bowl," a game that dates back to the late 1800s. Running the single wing for the past 2 seasons, they have been at the top of league in rushing. This past season they were the in the top three rushing and scoring schools in New York.
In Nebraska Dave Cisar's Screaming Eagle youth football teams have been running the Single Wing offense for 8 seasons. During that time period those teams have gone 78-5 and averaged over 35 points per contest and won two State Titles. He did this with 6 totally different teams in 4 different leagues in various age groups. His teams even used the famous "fullback full spinner series" along with the other traditional Single Wing plays. Coach Cisar published a book "Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan" in 2006 to help youth coaches install this "old school" offense.
In Colorado, Brian Christensen's Akron Rams (Class A) high school has made running the Single Wing offense a tradition of the program. Akron has won two consecutive state titles in 2006, 2007, and are favored to win a third. The Rams are currently riding a 39-game winning streak going into the 2008 playoffs.
In Iowa, Bob Howard, the coach of the Sigourney-Keota Savage Cobras (2A), has led the Cobras to 3 state championships (1995, 2001, 2005), using the single wing offense. He used the offense when he first started coaching at Sigourney in the 1970s, before Sigourney and Keota conjoined teams. In 2005 the vaulted Cobra single wing offense set a new state record for points in a season with 696, 537 of which coming in the nine regular season games, and in 2007 the Cobras set a new state rushing record racking up 718 yards in a single game. Howard left Sigourney-Keota after the 2006 season to become the new head coach at Webster City High School and was charged with rebuilding a once-proud program that hadn't won over 6 games or made the Class 3A playoffs since 1996. Installing his vaunted Single Wing offense, in 2007 the Lynx led District 2 in rushing by gaining over 2,200 yards on the ground despite their overall record of 3-6. However, in 2008, the Lynx not only made the playoffs for the first time in 12 years, but also finished the season with a final record of 7-4. Tailback John Hill rushed for 1,420 yards--the sixth highest total in school history. To say the least, Howard's Single Wing has made an impact at Webster City.
North Kingstown high school in RI has run the single wing since 2007. In 2008 Tb David Derrico rushed for 2000 yards and passed for 1000 yards earning RI's Gatorade player of the year under head coach Keith Kenyon and offensive coordinator Ray Ciarleglio Jr.
Now I’ll begin with my own theories…
One thing I know to be a fact is that Bill Parcells has forgotten more about football that 99% of us will ever know. I have read it posted here several time that the year he was out of football and was working for one of the networks he asked for all of the game film from the University of Arkansas where they ran the wildcat. I couldn’t find a link anywhere that it was actually reported though. Makes the hiring of David Lee that much more interesting to me though.
I’m wondering if this whole thing wasn’t Parcells whole plan when he got to Miami or if it was just something that evolved. Either way the wildcat is here to stay. Anyone who wasn’t sure about that needs to look no further than our #44 selection in this years draft. I have heard a lot of people talk about Parcells quest for the next LT…what is he decided to try and find his own Jim Thorpe.
Pat White is the exact trigger man you want to run the wildcat offense. The idea of the whole formation is trickery. With Ronnie running it the defense can almost always know it’s a run play. Utilizing White instead gives you a guy who can run or throw. No more blitzing and pulling the safeties up. With 3 guys as dynamic as Ricky, Ronnie, and White the possibilities are endless. You could have White hand off to one of the backs, he could throw it himself or run. Ronnie could take the snap and toss it to White for a run or pass….the list goes on and on.
My whole point in the long write-up is that IMO the days of being able to just line up the big uglies and try to run it down peoples throats are ending quickly. Football is an evolutionary sport. Every team is looking for that edge to beat their opponents. Whether all this actually leads to the phins utilizing a spread offense….none of us will know until it happens. But reguardless it will be fun to watch!!
GO FINS!!!!!!!!
Lets start with the facts. Most of us know that the wildcat is really just a formation that was created by Glenn “Pop” Warner called the single-wing. Also referred to as an unbalanced line. One of the common misconceptions is that the unbalanced line was created for a “power-running” game. I was actually created to trick the defense instead of overpower them. The whole premise of this formation was to create confusion on the defensive side of the ball.
Warner it is believed created this formation to accentuate the talents of Jim Thorpe. He had an amazing amount of raw skill. He could run, pass and punt. At the same time Warner also created something still widely used today called faking backs who started one way, but abruptly headed the opposite way, kept defenses guessing.
Finally he was the first to widely use an extensive passing game that relied on the spiraled ball. As you can see, some of the things Warner designed are obviously used a great deal in the NFL today. The single wing was not used much in the NFL until our Miami Dolphins decided to dig into the archives and “create more space”. But it never exactly died.
The single-wing has had a successful revival at youth leagues, middle schools, high schools, and some colleges. Here are some examples of single-wing high school teams that have had success all across the country.
In 2006, Virginia saw three teams ride the single-wing to the state playoffs. Two of the three teams, Giles High School and Osborn High School, actually won their division.
In 2001 and 2002, Park View High School in Sterling, Virginia advanced to consecutive state championships using the single wing offense. When Park View coach Mickey Thompson moved to nearby Stone Bridge High School, he took the single wing with him and achieved success in Ashburn as he had in Sterling. Warren County High School in Front Royal, Va. also used the single-wing to moderate success. In Louisa County, Va., the local high school has had similar success by running the single-wing formation since 2003.
Colton California has been a consistently successful single-wing team by reaching the state playoffs on six consecutive seasons.
In 2006 and 2007, The Menominee Maroons won the Michigan high school class B football championship, winning 28 consecutive games over the last 2 years, and reaching the state playoffs for the last 11 years.
Since 1985, Santa Rosa High School has used the single-wing formation under Coach Frank Ortiz. The Lions have made the playoffs every year except 3, won their district title 17 times, won the New Mexico AA State Championships in 1993, 1996, 1998, and 2007, and made a total of 10 State Finals appearances.
Xavier High School's (NYC) Head Coach Chris Stevens recently changed the team's offense to the Single Wing. In 2007 they went 11-1, and averaged 39 points in the New York Catholic High School Football League A Division. They had two 1,000 yard rushers in Seamus Kelly and Jimmy Kowalski, while both also scored 17 TDs. In the championship game trailing by two scores with less than 8 minutes to play, Xavier scored 31 unanswered points to win their first championship in over 10 years. The following week they beat Fordham Prep 20-14 in the annual "Turkey Bowl," a game that dates back to the late 1800s. Running the single wing for the past 2 seasons, they have been at the top of league in rushing. This past season they were the in the top three rushing and scoring schools in New York.
In Nebraska Dave Cisar's Screaming Eagle youth football teams have been running the Single Wing offense for 8 seasons. During that time period those teams have gone 78-5 and averaged over 35 points per contest and won two State Titles. He did this with 6 totally different teams in 4 different leagues in various age groups. His teams even used the famous "fullback full spinner series" along with the other traditional Single Wing plays. Coach Cisar published a book "Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan" in 2006 to help youth coaches install this "old school" offense.
In Colorado, Brian Christensen's Akron Rams (Class A) high school has made running the Single Wing offense a tradition of the program. Akron has won two consecutive state titles in 2006, 2007, and are favored to win a third. The Rams are currently riding a 39-game winning streak going into the 2008 playoffs.
In Iowa, Bob Howard, the coach of the Sigourney-Keota Savage Cobras (2A), has led the Cobras to 3 state championships (1995, 2001, 2005), using the single wing offense. He used the offense when he first started coaching at Sigourney in the 1970s, before Sigourney and Keota conjoined teams. In 2005 the vaulted Cobra single wing offense set a new state record for points in a season with 696, 537 of which coming in the nine regular season games, and in 2007 the Cobras set a new state rushing record racking up 718 yards in a single game. Howard left Sigourney-Keota after the 2006 season to become the new head coach at Webster City High School and was charged with rebuilding a once-proud program that hadn't won over 6 games or made the Class 3A playoffs since 1996. Installing his vaunted Single Wing offense, in 2007 the Lynx led District 2 in rushing by gaining over 2,200 yards on the ground despite their overall record of 3-6. However, in 2008, the Lynx not only made the playoffs for the first time in 12 years, but also finished the season with a final record of 7-4. Tailback John Hill rushed for 1,420 yards--the sixth highest total in school history. To say the least, Howard's Single Wing has made an impact at Webster City.
North Kingstown high school in RI has run the single wing since 2007. In 2008 Tb David Derrico rushed for 2000 yards and passed for 1000 yards earning RI's Gatorade player of the year under head coach Keith Kenyon and offensive coordinator Ray Ciarleglio Jr.
Now I’ll begin with my own theories…
One thing I know to be a fact is that Bill Parcells has forgotten more about football that 99% of us will ever know. I have read it posted here several time that the year he was out of football and was working for one of the networks he asked for all of the game film from the University of Arkansas where they ran the wildcat. I couldn’t find a link anywhere that it was actually reported though. Makes the hiring of David Lee that much more interesting to me though.
I’m wondering if this whole thing wasn’t Parcells whole plan when he got to Miami or if it was just something that evolved. Either way the wildcat is here to stay. Anyone who wasn’t sure about that needs to look no further than our #44 selection in this years draft. I have heard a lot of people talk about Parcells quest for the next LT…what is he decided to try and find his own Jim Thorpe.
Pat White is the exact trigger man you want to run the wildcat offense. The idea of the whole formation is trickery. With Ronnie running it the defense can almost always know it’s a run play. Utilizing White instead gives you a guy who can run or throw. No more blitzing and pulling the safeties up. With 3 guys as dynamic as Ricky, Ronnie, and White the possibilities are endless. You could have White hand off to one of the backs, he could throw it himself or run. Ronnie could take the snap and toss it to White for a run or pass….the list goes on and on.
My whole point in the long write-up is that IMO the days of being able to just line up the big uglies and try to run it down peoples throats are ending quickly. Football is an evolutionary sport. Every team is looking for that edge to beat their opponents. Whether all this actually leads to the phins utilizing a spread offense….none of us will know until it happens. But reguardless it will be fun to watch!!
GO FINS!!!!!!!!
