Westlake Dusts Off Wing-T for Raccoon-Coat Football

While many college and high school football teams have gone to quick-hitting, newfangled passing attacks in recent years, Westlake High Coach George Contreras has dusted off a run-oriented, so-old-you’ve-never-heard-of-it offense.

Something called the Delaware Wing-T.

This is, more or less, raccoon-coat football. The way Knute Rockne liked it. Four yards and a cloud of dust.

The wing-T is so old, Contreras said, that it’s confusing to many modern-day defenses. “Especially our non-league opponents,� he said. “If you are not used to defending it, the Wing-T is difficult to prepare for in four days. Our league teams are a little more used to it. But it is confusing.�

Certainly to anyone born since, say, the Korean War.

If you’ve never seen the wing-T, then see if you can keep this straight: The wing-T formation has the fullback positioned behind the quarterback, a split end to one side, a tight end to the other. A wing back sets up a few yards off the line to the outside of the tight end. The halfback positions himself behind the tackle, generally away from the wing.

Once motion is added, the defense tries to figure out not only what’s going on, but where they are supposed to be positioned in relation to their offensive counterparts.

Once the ball is snapped, the immediate defensive challenge before tackling the ball carrier is discovering who has the football: the quarterback, the fullback, the halfback or an end.

It’s back to the future for the defense.

“You see teams who flip-flop their whole defense against the wing-T,� Contreras said. “We just shift two guys and they have to move their whole defense. Sometimes defenses move 10 guys around.�

Said Westlake running back Gary Wellman, who last week rambled for 173 yards on 12 carries against San Marcos: “Because of all our misdirection, the defense doesn’t really know if I have the ball until I get to the line of scrimmage.�

And by then, of course, Wellman is well on his way.

Predictably, Wellman said, “It’s a fun offense.�

Then he added, “You’re always involved in every play. If you don’t get the ball--you either block or play act.�

But the best part, according to Wellman, is that linebackers end up scratching their heads instead of busting his.

Contreras installed the offense seven years ago, before Westlake’s first season. The step was really an act of desperation by the coach, since he had only 36 varsity players that first year, none of which were seniors.

“We had to come up with something that would give us a chance,� Contreras said. “We were afraid we’d get wiped out.�

Contreras, who had moved to the new school from Thousand Oaks, studied various offenses and eventually decided on the wing-T.

“We saw Delaware play on TV and after watching them I thought, ‘What the hell was that?’ �

Contreras traveled to the University of Delaware to get a closer look. He’s been back several times since to better understand what he’s teaching his players.

“I’ve been running it since I was a freshman,� said senior quarterback Brad Goffen, “so I’m starting to feel comfortable with it. It takes at least three years to begin to understand it. It would take a couple more years to get it all. I haven’t mastered it.�

Said Contreras: “Whenever I go back to Delaware and see all the things they do. Wow. I’ve got to pull in the reins because of all the possibilities.�

Delaware Coach Tubby Raymond, who continued the use of the wing-T after its creator, Dave Nelson, retired from coaching in 1965, has the best winning percentage of all Division I-AA coaches. The Blue Hens have won three small college national championships under Raymond.

“The wing-T is becoming more popular, especially among high schools,� said Ben Sherman, sports information director at Delaware. “We do a clinic every year and we have around 800 coaches attend annually.�

The wing-T gained some attention in 1977 when Notre Dame, under Ara Parseghian, used the offense to win the national championship. Before that, other than causing some havoc in the early 1950s, the offense had been hidden away at the university where it was created.

Oddly, the offense is now becoming more popular among Southern California high school coaches. According to Contreras, 15 to 20 schools in Southern California are using the wing-T. Among them is Riverside Poly, which won the Big Five Conference last year. The year before, they won the Eastern Conference.

“The word is getting out,� Contreras said. “We’ve formed a secret society among us. As people see it and get beat by it, then coaches start to go to it. A lot of people are incorporating parts of the offense.�

Even though the wing-T is a rushing offense, big offensive yardage numbers still result. Contreras rarely passes but, he is quick to point out, when he does go to the air, he’s usually successful. In 1982, Westlake completed close to 70% of its passes. That same year, the Warriors managed 944 yards passing on 40 completions and won the Marmonte League title.

Westlake has won three league championships in seven years and has been shut out only once.

Although the Warriors fell to a 2-8 record last season, Contreras believes his team will rebound this year. Last week, Westlake beat San Marcos, 42-7, in its opener.

“The offense is looking good,� Contreras said. “The kids really enjoy the wing-T. Their favorite part is watching the films on Monday, seeing the confusion in the defense. We get a kick out of that.

“It’s funny. Just the word Delaware gets the guys fired up. But, if they’d ever been to Dover, Del.--and I never tell them this--they’d see that there’s nothing exciting there.�