Known as the Single-Wing or Wing T formation in the early 20’s, legendary coach Glen “Pop” Warner used this formation to turn tiny Carlisle Indian Industrial School into a national power house. The formation was still popular throughout the 30’s as Notre Dame Hall of Fame Coach Knute Rockne ran a variation of this high powered attack with much notable success.
The success of the Wing T came to a crashing halt when teams started running the straight “T Formation” which was popularized by the Chicago Bears thrashing of the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL Championship game (they didn’t have the Super Bowl back then) 72 – 0. Bud Wilkinson’s Oklahoma Sooner’s set a record by winning 47 straight games running the T Formation thus putting the Single-Wing to sleep.
During both the 95’ and 96’ seasons, Kordell “Slash” Stewart dazzled us with another variation of the Single-Wing as he passed, ran and caught his way into renaming the position the Slash Position. Kordell though, hated everything to do with that position and lobbied to everyone who would listen to be considered a Quarterback. He even feared that when he arrived at camp his number would be changed from 10 to something in the 80’s.
During the 2006 and 2007 season, Houston Nutt then head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks tore up the Big 12 Conference as he implemented his version of the Wing T with featured running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. This version was named the “Wildcat Formation” because it was used in the late 90’s by Kansas State University Wildcats with quarterback Michael Bishop running the show.
On September 21, 2008 the Miami Dolphins unleashed it’s version of the Wildcat as plays by Ronnie Brown and Rickey Williams wrecked havoc all over the New England Patriots as they smashed the Pats 38 – 12. New England never knew what hit them. With the Dolphins success and various notable colleges also having success with this offense, owners, GM’s, coaches and offensive coordinators thought, “What if we could pass out of the set too?”
With this in mind, Miami drafted Pat White an athletic quarterback out of West Virginia mainly because he holds the NCAA record for rushing yards for quarterbacks with 4,480 yards on the ground. Not to mention he also completed 507 of 783 pass attempts (64.8 pct.) with 56 touchdowns and 23 interceptions, but I only hear “Wildcat” when his name is mentioned.
Michael Vick while in prison was being mentioned as a “Wildcat” quarterback as well. No one cares about his stats of throwing for 11,505 yards or completing 930 of 1,732 passes thrown or his 3,866 yards gained on the ground. When you heard Mike’s name, “Wildcat” was always mentioned as if it was his new last name. Not to mention that although Mike claims he was the originator of the position. He hates being referred to it.
Is the position killing the development of our young Black quarterbacks? Will this position bring back a stereotype that plagued Black quarterbacks in the 60’s and early 70’s? Will GM’s start to only draft Black quarterbacks for that position and that position only? Will colleges not develop Black quarterbacks because they run this system?
Take for instance freshman quarterback Denard Robinson of the University of Michigan. During a 3 year career as quarterback at Deerfield Beach High School in Deerfield, Florida, Robinson threw for 4,784 yards while completing 262 of 576 passes and 44 touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,132 yards on 217 attempts with 13 rushing TDs too. Rich Rodriquez the Michigan coach was very successful at West Virginia and Pat White as his quarterback and now he has Robinson running a variation of his “Spread” out of the Wildcat Formation.
What are Robinson’s stats through 4 games at Michigan this year? He’s completed only 6 of 11 passes, but he’s rushed for 216 yards on 27 attempts. Including an 80 yard performance on 11 rushing attempts and a touchdown in Michigan’s 31 – 7 blowout of Western Michigan in their first game this season.
Will this new fad ruin the growth of our Black quarterbacks? Only time will tell.
I don’t particular believe that any formation that a team runs should stunt the growth of any quarterback. Any time a team have a lot of success running any formation, most other team will adjust their defense accordingly.To be a complete quarterback in the NFL you must be multi talent and in my opinion must blacks quarterback are naturally gifted to run. So therefore they are more incline to be used running that formation . Just as a boxer can not be one dimensional, but must learn to adjust ,look at Mike Tyson he was known as a knock artist but once other fighters learned his style and they adjusted his career declined.
Joe,
I hear what you are saying, but with Pat White in Miami all I hear when his name is mentioned is the Wildcat. Mike Vick too before and right after he joined the Eagles was the Wildcat. In Mike’s most recent press conference although he was cautious of what he was saying he mentioned he was a QB and wanted to be used more as a QB. Then I see what they are doing up in Michigan with the young boy and I’m like this is going to get out of hand in a minute. Minnesota was talking about running Tavaris Jackson at the Wildcat position because to be honest with a QB back there it will drive defenses nutts. My question is will QB’s only be drafted to play that position like Pat White was or kids be recruited out of high school to run that position like the young’n up in Michigan?
It seems black quarterbacks have taken several major steps forward over the past 10+ seasons only to now potentially start taking leaps back due to the latest Wildcat fad. But a fad is all I suspect it is, one destined to be relatively short lived in the pros this time around. NFL teams will then return to scouting college teams for quarterbacks who excel primarily at throwing the ball, with running ability once again relegated to a bonus rather than prerequisite.
You make an excellent point with this article which is an excellent read by the way. However, I don’t think the system kills our quarterbacks as much as the need for said quarterbacks to choose schools with a spread or option type system. Most black qb’s at the high school level are not given an opportunity to develop a pocket presence. They are allowed to improvise because of their speed. This limits their development and their options once recruiters come calling. A college coach whomis running the pro style offense will look for a guy who has shown he is capable of reading defenses as well as making adjustments on the fly. He will bypass a “wildcat” qb, black or white, because most of those guys can’t read defenses and even if they could, they have a run first philosophy. That said, they are not as versed in standing strong and patient in the pocket and delivering a throw with accuracy and efficiency.
Is it killing the black qb? Maybe. However, in the college ranks today you will find just as many white qb’s playing the wildcat role as you will black. Tate Forcier, Tim Tebow, Jake Locker…all have a run element to their game that makes their success at the next level questionable.
In the end, the player has to choose wisely where college systems are concerned. Choose a good coach with a good system and anything is possible. The wildcat hasn’t ruined the perception of the black qb yet despite recent evidence that may seem to prove the contrary.
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