Defending
the DW -Personnel
In
choosing personnel for defending the Double Wing, the coach must look at a lot
of different variables the when choosing a normal defensive team.
Many skills of the normal defensive team are over looked for Team skills
of sacrifice, team play and each position doing their responsibility.
Aggressive is needed, but flow to the ball gang tackling type players
usually does not work as smart, do your job types. The personnel needed for
Defending the Double Wing needs to be evaluated before you can start to stop
this potent offense.
Nose
Guard
The
NG needs to be a quick reaction player and is the most vital position in
defending the Double Wing. The Double Wing team tends to put their biggest,
slowest, worst linemen at the center spot.
This is huge advantage in defending the Double Wing team as this mismatch
can be exploited. The NG must also
be an unselfish, Team player. Many
of the NG's techniques will cause disruptions in the Double Wing scheme but will
not show any statistics for the NG.
Example
The
best game I saw a NG play against the Double Wing he ended up with 0 tackles but
he was voted MVP of the game. The
NG rammed the center back, causing three fumbled snaps.
He was constantly getting double team from the guard leaving the LB
untouched. The LB that game made 18
tackles. His biggest asset was he
stopped the backside pulling G/T 8 times and had 4 hits on the QB on their buck
sweep. The center was called for
holding 4 times as he started to tackle the NG on every play.
I have used a 300-pound Division 1 player to a 119-pound wrestler at NG.
The great thing about the 119-pound wrestler was he was line up across
from a 300-pound center. Most of
the time you could not see him on the film but he was creating piles and keeping
the pulling linemen from getting to the POA.
The best NG types are 190 pound quick, fast LB's
Defensive
Tackle
The
DT spot has to be an aggressive type. I
like the "Rudy" type of undersized player with a huge heart.
Many times I have put in a back up who does not play much and will do
what you ask 100%. A lot of the
times a normal DT wants to pursue and try to make reads but this does not work.
The DT position takes an unselfish player who will make the cut and will
give up his body for the rest of the team.
The DT main goal is to cut his OT every time causing a pile at the POA or
stopping his OT from pulling. Either
way he has taken away a hole or someone from the Double Wing attack.
Example
The
best game at this position was a guard who did not play defense ever but was
very coachable. He cut his DT and
crabbed through him every play. He
did his job in giving up his body and made 6 tackles in the 4th
quarter. Another great game was
played by a 175 pound back up who made his cut ever time. His CB to his side had game high 25 tackles.
My 300-pound stud that would not cut played worst game.
He was the best blocker for the Double Wing team as he was constantly
being pushed back on the double team. He
was eventually benched for the rest of the game as he told me "he could not
cut every play and had to play normal defense "
Defensive
End
The
DE has to be a kamikaze, contact player. He
has to "shorten the neck" of the FB and not get kicked out on the
play. The DE must make the play
bounce outside so the CB can make the play.
He cannot be too over aggressive and crash so hard inside that they run
the Toss outside of him. The DE must make huge disruptions on the Toss and
Reverse plays. He has to be
disciplined and not go up field or he will give a huge lane for the reverse
play.
Example
The
best game at this position was our short, squatty 5'5 195 DE.
His wrong shouldering to a cut of the FB bounced the play or caused a
pile so many times his CB to his side had 25 tackles.
Worst game was the same over aggressive kid who started to bite on the
misdirection and was getting up field too much.
This left a huge lane for the Reverse.
He also was crashing so hard inside that the FB logged him in and the
backside G/T/QB pulled around him and triple team the CB on the Toss play.
Linebacker
The
LB position needs to have discipline players who will read their keys and not
the backfield motion. They have a
lot of misdirection and deception to dechiper and needs to be smart, heads up
players. Quickness and toughness
are also needed, as they will take on many blockers.
Example
The
LB's over the years have been pretty consistent in their play.
They make their reads and flow to the ball. The worse case was I had two
LB's who were reading the backfield flow and were totally lost. The Double Wing
team we played ran 22 reverses that game and almost every time my two-LB's run
into each other as one read the flow and the other read the reverse.
That game the Double Wing team kept the ball the entire 4th
quarter on us.
Cornerback
The
CB position needs to be played by your best open field tackler.
The CB spot will be in a position to make every tackle as everyone is
funneling the ball carrier to the CB position.
The
CB can be any type of position as long as he can shed blocks and make tackles.
This is the glory position as this player averages about 20 tackles
against Double Wing teams
Example
The
best CB I have seen was our leading tackler SS who was a 145-pound wrestler.
He made 25 tackles and only missed 2 times in a 1 on 1 situation.
His DT and DE to his side were unstoppable in their job of sacrificing
themselves for the CB. Many of the
tackles the CB had were one on one situation and he made them most of them for
no gain or a loss. Worst case was when I had a cover CB plays here and he either
missed the tackle or was run over. Most
times he was avoiding contact and looked like he was playing two-hand touch.
Free
Safety
The
FS needs to be a smart player who can make a tackle one on one like the CB.
The FS must be able to come up quick and be a force and contain player
but does not get caught in the play action and gives up the home run pass play.
Speed or size is not really an issue as heads up or smart play is more
desirable. Normal DB's or even
displaced LB in the Defending the Double Wing Scheme can man the FS position.
Example
This
position has been pretty consistent for me through the years.
I have had weaker cover CB and outside backers play here along with
normal safety types. They all have done a good job of making tackles and
covering the Play Action. Their pursuit was good and the made many Touchdown
saving tackles. The Worst case was
a hard hitting SS who kept coming up and making big hits on the Toss play.
Even though he was doing a great job in stopping the Toss he gave up
three huge play action passes with two of them going for scores.