T Formation Offense Plays 5 Tested Off-Tackle Run Plays in the T – Part 4
This is part four in the T Formation Off-Tackle play series; T Formation Offense Plays 5 Tested Off-Tackle Run Plays in the T. The T Formation has many variations and this series diagrams 20 different T run plays off-tackle. The T Formation is the oldest football formation so it is not so surprising it has many variants. It was developed by Walter Camp at Yale in 1888 and then modernized in the 1940s by Halas & Shaughnessy at the Chicago Bears and Don Faurot at the University of Missouri with the Split T.
I just finished my Tiger T eBook of Selected Youth Football Plays in the T Formation so you should also check that out too. Over 200 T Formation offense plays in 15 series for youth football. A great T Formation resource.
T Formation Off-Tackle Play Series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4
Below are another 5 T Formation Offense off-tackle T Formation offense plays from Jordan Olivar at Yale, Home Rice at Kentucky, a Split T variant from Coach George from an Oklahoma High School and one of my favorite authors Leo Hand’s Diamond T formation which I will be reviewing more in my upcoming eBook on the Pistol / Diamond T. Many know I run a Diamond formation in the Power Wing Beast Offense called Trig. I love the Trig T Formation offense plays. Great power running formation.
T Formation Offense Plays
This is an Inside Belly T Off-tackle play by the left halfback. This is from Yale’s HC Jordan Olivar’s book Offensive Football. This is old school Tight T Full House formation running the Inside Belly play. In this example the QB quick opens to the FB and HB rather than reverse pivoting around. On the Inside Belly play the FB will dive into the A or B gaps. The Left halfback will usually dive into the C or D gaps and the other HB will lead block or kick out the DE / Contain man. The QB will either drop back or Sweep around the end.
In my opinion the Inside Belly series is very similar to the Power T / Bay City T and or Dead T.
This is an example of an Outside Belly Off-Tackle play run by the FB diving into the C gap and the RHB kicking out the DE and the LHB running a pitch sweep. The QB Bellies up into the FB and continues down the line at the contain man to run a stretch or pitch. This is usually run as an option but for youth football I do not the option but call the individual play. I like both the inside Belly and outside Belly series. Both of these T Formation offense plays are by Olivar from his great book; Offensive Football.
This is an example of the Split T off tackle play from Evan George a Head Football Coach at Ada HS in Oklahoma. This is from his book The Split T in High School Football. As you can see from the Split T the OLM gaps are wider than the T Tight. They are using what I can IQ gaps. The OLM will move in and out of wider or small gaps based on the Defender alignment. In this play the FB is diving off-tackle and the RHB is leading. The 3HB is Sweeping and QB running the option down the LOS around the end.
I do not recommend these huge OLM gaps for young pee wee teams, especially at the recreational level vs Select. Older and more athletic OLM might be able to execute these gaps. We will use the IQ gap scheme at the hole called for older teams, and I do like to Nasty split the backside TE.
Homer Rice’s Short T variant of the T Formation is one of my favorites because of the adjustable sniffer. I’ve been moving backs around the backfield for many years and was excited to see it used at the college level in the Short T from Kentucky.
In this Off Tackle play the RHB / Sniffer moves into the C gap and the TE Nasty Splits. RHB / Sniffer blocks down. QB Bellies up to the LHB and boots out. The FB leads for the LHB running off-tackle on one of the coolest T Formation Offense plays. In my new T eBook I outline some Short T and also review my $niffer adjustable alpha / beta blocker concepts in the T Formation.
Leo Hand is one of my favorite football coaching authors. I have several of his books. This is my adjustment of his Shotgun Diamond T Formation into an under center play for this example. I run a formation I call Trig which is an UC Diamond T Formation which I use for Counters and play action pass in my Power Wing Beast Offense playbook. I will have many more Diamond T Formation offense plays like below in my upcoming Pistol / Diamond T eBook coming soon before Summer 2022.
The example below is a counter off-tackle play. The 4FB runs a fake sweep in the opposite direction of the HB diving into the opposite C gap while the other HB lead blocks. QB reverse pivots out continuing the pitch sweep fake to the 4FB. This is one of my favorite T formation offense plays form the Diamond T. I will sometimes switch the 4 for the 2 in this T formation, especially for Sweep plays to get the speed.
T Formation Offense Plays Resources
- The Modern T Formation with Man-in-Motion – Shaughnessy/Jones/Halas – 1946
- Championship Football – Dana X Bible – Prentice-Hall 1947
- Football: Secrets of the Split T Formation – Faurot – 1950
- Oklahoma Split T Football – Wilkinson – Prentice-Hall 1952
- Coaching Football and the Split T Formation – Tatum/Giese – WMC Brown 1953
- Offensive Football – The Belly Series – Olivar -1958
- The Explosive Short-T – Homer Rice – Prentice-Hall 1963
- 101 Diamond Formation Running Plays – Hand – Coaches Choice 2013
- Coaching Football’s Modern T Offense – Hand – Coaches Choice 2008
- The Split T in HS Football – George – Prentice-Hall 1958
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Do you run youth T Formation offense plays in your youth offense? Is the Off-tackle play your favorite power run play? What youth football offense do you use for your pee wee football team? Is there an offensive formation you would like me to draw up for another youth football plays ebook in pdf? Let me know.
Please leave me a comment below or contact me anytime. I love talking youth football and T Formation offense plays for youth football and of course the about my new Tiger T Formation Selected Youth Football Plays eBook.
Remember to Play for Fun and Winning is Funner!
Coach Parker
Fort Worth, Texas
PS: Stay Safe!!
