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Why I like... The Power T Offense

By
Darrin Sheffer


This past off-season was a bit of a roller coaster for me.  Not only did I lead my schools freshman team to a winless season (see: https://obsessedwithoffense.blogspot.com/2017/07/0-8-how-losing-season-made-me-better.html)  but the HC of our schools varsity squad resigned from his position and moved to a different school.  Our administration took a LONG time to hire a new coach.  There was a point during this time where a good friend of mine was applying for the position, and he tasked me with coming up with new offensive and defensive system for our school.  Long story short he did not get hired, so all of my research was wasted for this year.  

I did keep all of my research though (just in case I ever do get to run an offense or defense in the future) and I recently found an article that I read over and over again (see link below).  I had made the decision that if I were in charge of our school's offense, I would run the Wing-T.  Why? 90% of the schools in our area run some form of the Spread Offense (most of them are pretty generic and very creative) and I feel that if we wanted to put stress on opposing defenses, we really should do something a.) they don't see every week and b.) an offense that is time tested to be successful with less talented players (wing-t).  


However, I did find another offense which I fell in love with (I still like it now, but I'm a wing-t guy).  The Power-T.  OK, if you get down to the nitty gritty details, the Power-T is not so different from the modern, under center wing-t.  The formation is pretty simple (see below image) and anyone who is familiar with triple option offenses will recognize it's similarity to the Wishbone formation.  

Image result for power t offense
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_formation

You might be thinking: "OK coach, what's so special about this offense anyways?  It looks so outdated and old school."  You would be right, mostly.  However, I'm kinda weird when it comes to old school football.  Why do I like the Power T?

First, it's simple.  Most offenses who still run this have a base of 3 plays (FB Trap, Off-Tackle Sweep, and a PA Pass).  Most Wing-T guys would recognize the similarity of these plays to the Buck Sweep Series.  If you want more information about this series please read the article I shared above, the author goes into great detail into the jobs of all the positions.  You could almost coach the offense based on that article.  If you want to see good examples of this offense, watch the video link posted below.


Second reason, No Wide Receivers!  If you haven't read my coaches rant on receivers yet, please follow the link below this paragraph.  Just a refresher on my personal opinions on WR: I hate WR's.  Period.  This offense has NONE.  And it's effective enough to justify not having them as well (see video above).  


Finally, this offense is built for players who are smaller and less talented.  If I could describe this offense with one word it would be: Misdirection.  No one on the defense is going to have a clue as to who has the ball (if run correctly).  I freaking love misdirection offenses.  

If anyone has more information about the Power-T offense that they would like to share please do (I love learning new things).  If you have any questions or comments please comment below.  Be sure to follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DarrinSheffer 

Stay Obsessed 

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