an eighth grader, I was formally introduced to the single wing formation, although I had seen it used often by Princeton University’s squad countless times as a fan at Palmer Stadium. My father took me to Princeton games as often as possible, and I even attended the historic 100th anniversary game of college football pitting the Tigers against the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers in 1969, which was the last year Princeton used the single wing formation as its primary offensive set. As a budding center in the single wing, I learned how to spiral the snap to the tailback or the fullback with precision, snapping the ball to the back’s right knee or left knee depending upon the direction in which the play was designed to go. The varsity coach, Ken Keuffel, was the leading proponent of the single 24
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wing, having originally been taught its intricacies by Princeton head coach Charlie Caldwell when Keuffel played for the orange-and-black in the ‘40s. Keuffel not only wrote books about the offense, but also consulted scores of college and pro coaches during his long career. If the single wing had been chemistry, Keuffel would have clearly been a mad scientist because of his depth of knowledge and commitment to the offense, which he used to great effect during his 21-year career at Lawrenceville School and six-year tenure at Wabash College. The single wing was once commonplace in both the professional and collegiate ranks until after World War II. The Pittsburgh Steelers were the last in the NFL to use the formation and while other small school programs continued to use it after it died out at Princeton,
® Getty Images Sport/Photographer: Kevin C. Cox
® Getty Images Sport/Photographer: George Gojkovich
The Spread Formation’s Roots Sprouted
from the Antiquated Single Wing the T-, I-, Wishbone, Veer and other more intricate multiple-set formations took over in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s. Today, the spread formations that have become the rage, particularly due to the success of Urban Meyer’s offensive schemes and principles at the University of Florida. When he was at Bowling Green and Utah, his offenses were effective, too, but until he won national championships at Florida few people gave it its just due. Rich Rodriguez’s offense at West Virginia with Pat White at the controls was often unstoppable. Bill Snyder used his own version of it at Kansas State in the late ‘90s to take advantage of the talents of dual threat signal-caller Michael Bishop. Meyer’s offense is a marriage of the spread and single-wing formations. Often the term spread provides the connotation that the offense spreads its 11 players from sideline-to-sideline making it more difficult for defensive backs to cover receivers,
By Carl Danbury
which is often the case with Mike Leach’s offense at Texas Tech and countless others. But, in reality, Meyer’s offense is predicated upon the run, not the pass (see Gators’ Run-Pass Balance), and uses option principles notoriously successful in the wishbone and veer of the late ‘60s and ‘70s. “One of the biggest misconceptions that defensive coordinators have about our offense is that they look at our offense and believe that we want to throw the ball a lot,” said former Florida offensive coordinator and current head coach at Mississippi State, Dan Mullen. “The opposite is true though. We’d rather run than throw.” “All things being equal, anybody can stop the run and anybody can stop the pass,” Meyer said. “But can you stop both?” In a recent interview with Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinel, Meyer explained his rationale. “So how do you take advantage of the guy that’s the extra AUGUSt 09 | SUmag.com |
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