Episode 203 - Origins of The Wing-T Offense

The Wing-T Offense has always been a fascination of mine. Even though I’ve never really coached the system.

For this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, I’m indulging that fascination by exploring the origins of the Delaware Wing-T Offense.

You might know the story. You probably don’t. I didn’t.

Tubby Raymond is not a major part of this tale. In fact, he marks the end of the story.

Instead, we’ll talk about the true origins of the Delaware Wing-T Offense. A story that begins with Dave Nelson, Harold Westerman and Mike Lude.

And it doesn’t even start at the University of Delaware. Nope.

This story starts in Maine.

A few key resources for this episode…

I’ve had a blast gathering information for this episode. Here are the key pieces so you can read them for yourself:

• Dave Nelson, Tubby Raymond and the Rise of the Wing-T Offense by Doc Bear. Big help in getting started on the right path.
• Mike Lude… An Originator of the Wing-T by Hugh Wyatt. Coach Wyatt has been on the podcast, and this kind of first-hand knowledge was exactly what I was looking for.
• Appendix III: History of the “Winged T” - by Harold S. Westerman posted by Dave Westerman. I think this was posted by Harold Westerman’s son on his personal blog. It was a really good read. No idea what it is the appendix to.
• The Grand Experiment: Dietzel’s Ingenuity Results in National Title by Marty Mule’. Not much related to the Wing-T and most of it is only interesting if you care about LSU football history. Tells the story of LSU’s 1958 season, which got started in part with Paul Dietzel switching to the Wing-T Offense.
• Fritz Crisler’s 1947 Single Wing Playbook is an interesting look.
• And to balance it out, this is a good look at the T Offense from Kyle McElvany. I also found Frank Leahy’s book on the T Formation pretty cheap on Amazon.