Defending the Wing-T Offense

The Wing-T is a great offensive system that challenges defenses at both the high school and collegiate levels. Many of today’s one-back and spread offenses can trace their roots back to the Wing-T.We defend the Wing-T by being as simple as possible. We try to play one front and one coverage the entire game vs. Wing-T sets. We take an “Over” front concept and slide the front to the TE/Wing. We want to take away or limit the Wing-T’s ability to run to the TE surface (Diagrams 1 and 2).Diagram 1.Diagram 2.Here are some rules for both defensive fronts and linebackers in playing the Wing-T:Defensive Fronts:The nose guard plays head up on the center and runs through the back door of all reach blocks.The defensive end (5 technique) plays head-up on the offensive tackle (4 technique) and controls the B gap.The defensive tackle (3 technique) widens and plays the 5 technique.The rushing