DC Wing T Question for DC

"What is the 46 quick? I was looking in your manual and did not see it (maybe I just missed it)."

It's Malcolm's play. He runs it with great success. You're running a straight ahead Quick handoff to the "6" hole ("C" gap). The QB runs straight down the line and hands off just past the RT. WB motions to a HB position but at the depth of the FB just outside RT (He'll hit it on "2" automatically) then he comes forward for the Quick Hit. The DE is so freaking far out he can't stop the play. He'll make 4. To get a TD you'll need him to cut back inside and have some blockers cutting off the LBers.

"I really have not been relying on the wing back to win games. I only ran him 2 times in the second half of our game and they both went for long TD runs."

There you go. Just run him when you need him. Use the others first. You need to do this because, when you reach the playoffs, your opponent will remember who scored those two TD's and look to stop him. This is when the other ten have to step up to the line and score without him. You have all regular season to get them to score. Use it.

"I have really been using the 36 toss to set up the wing back. The 36 toss has been averaging about 4 or 5 yards a clip. I still need to work with the pulling right guard on this play. He is having trouble getting up into the hole and blocking backside. Any suggestions?"

Yes (Since I have the same problem). Put your linemen in a pulling race. Line them up, one behind the other, in a straight line, and then have them all race sideways for 8 yards in the same direction you run toss. See who wins.
Teach them proper pulling form. To pull right, a guard starts with feet even, front toes behind the center's heel. Assuming 12 o'clock is straight ahead for a pull right, guard jerks his right elbow back and right foot steps to 3 o'clock. Then run flat down the line. Before running the race, check to make sure all can do this properly. Then run the race. See who you have for pullers. Make sure the selected guard then puts his centerside hand on QB's near shoulder pad. Run again but this time with QB in the race. Guard can keep up because QB has to pivot and toss. As soon as QB gets through the hole, he heads straight downfield, looking first wrong colored jersey to his inside. Many coaches will teach the guard to watch his man "all the way". I doubt this is very easily coached but adding a backside LBer to the drill can't hurt. It certainly doesn't hurt for the guard to know there is a man coming and where to find him. In my case, it was not the guard's "fault". He did not have the playside LBer. He had backside. But not having a hand on QB's back and following too far back left a seam for the LBer to shoot. I could have adjusted but chose not too.

Also, I am not getting nearly the production I should out of the full back position. This appears to be two problems. The full back is not running as hard as he should and the holes are just not opening up on the 23 and 24 cross.

He's probably not running as hard as he should because the hole isn't open and the hole isn't open because the FB is "too far back". Easy to tell. Do you have a lined field or a 15 foot tape measure? If a lined field, set the ball on a line and have the team set. Look where the FB is. Is he on a line too? If so, he's 5 yards off the ball and not 4. Being 5 yards deep will not work and yet the FB's ALL TRY AND SET THEMSELVES AT 5 YARDS DEEP. This is for them to deliberately have the hole close in front of them and to then cut away the defenders in the hole.
They think they're "I" formation TB's. If you don't have lines, use the 15 foot tape measure and measure how far back he is. Adjust his steps backwards from the QB until he is 4 yards off the ball. Now put a tackler right behind him but 3 steps further back. If the FB doesn't run fast, the tackler will get him. Also watch the first 3 steps of the FB. They must be at the outside foot of the OT (also on Toss). If not, your FB will start angling at the QB to take the handoff. That ain't good. Finally, finger train him to look where he's going and not at the QB.
Once you have done all this, you have achieved a 4 yard gain. You have hit the hole before it closed. But you only gained 4. Why not 5? Answer: The LBer will "stand the runner up". Low man wins. If your FB runs high, he is not the "low man" and he will lose, plain and simple. That LBer was selected because he shed a block and stick a runner. So the FB must "stick" the LBer. This is when you run them under poles and between two bag holders and teach them to use their shoulder pads. I have two FB's, both the same weight and height. One goes through the line at 4'-11" and other at 7 feet tall. The 7 footer gets knocked backwards by the LBer. Hence, 4 yards. The 4'-11" puts his pads into the LBer and the LBer gets knocked backwards. Whoever gets hit by the pads gets stopped (Look at how they're designed.). My low runner averages about 16 yards per carry. He gets hit every time at 4 yards. There's this hellatious hit - the tackler's flying in - but the shoulder pad takes the tackler out three out of four times. So my boy keeps going. They only stop him because he's not fast enough to make it to the endzone (He gets caught from behind after a gain of about 20.). When we run "screws to the ball, I let my FB take on TWO TACKLERS. He can stand them both up. When he learns how to do that, ONE TACKLER is not enough. Again, for "cross the bow", let him use his pads. Actually, MAKE him use his pads. Make it an automatic reflex (Lower pads, hit, and keep going.). I'd have had two great FB's last night if I didn't have to spend all my time training the offensive line and fumbling QB the "idiot" sent me (And, of the one that runs right of my two, he was trained by me. The "7 footer" was trained by the "idiot".

"Maybe the FB is not running hard because their is no hole to run through.

That is my guess. But you seldom need to "cross block" if you run "12 Perfect Blocks". That's why I don't have "cross" in (I put it in when I scout a team and see a 5-2). If you run 12 perfect blocks, there is a hole. It just isn't there very long. You can tell by watching if the "D" line goes forward or backwards on snap. If they come forward, you have no blocking. If they stand still or go backwards, you won. Now you just have to get the FB there before they can shed your blockers.

I forsee this as being a problem as the season progresses. We are going to have to find a way to run between the tackles. Our offensive line has not been performing very well. They seem to not come out of their stance low, they hit once and stop and do not drive thorugh their block. Any suggestions?"

Obviously, I had this same problem too this year when I received the idiot's offensive line who clearly believed blocking was UNNECESSARY. I had to bite the bullet and put them through "12 Perfect Blocks", "Sumo", and run them on "air" with "tennis ball". Because of the time lost in other areas (tackling and plays), I will lose tomorrow. But the line is now fixed. They got under the poles for the first time Wednesday night, and they cleaned clock on a very good team last night. Next week I hopefully will catch up in the areas where I'm short.