How To Slow Down the ‘Tempo’ Wing-T

During my first year as a Defensive Coordinator in 2006, we were very fortunate to have an excellent team at Merced High School. Making it to the sectional final and nearly pulling off a last-minute win was an exciting way to begin my career as a DC. However, that year was tempered with several doses of humility, mainly at the hands of the wing-t offense (specifically the tempo wing-t). In our second game of the year vs. Madera H.S., coached by wing-t guru Randy Blankenship, and later in the sectional final vs. Vacaville H.S., problems arose that forced us as a staff to take a second look at what we were doing. How could we more effectively defend this multiple-formation offense that snapped the ball within four seconds of the huddle break? Issue number one that needed to be addressed was how to avoid getting out-leveraged. Many wing-t coaches, especially those that employ the