Coach ,

Let’s start this with a simple premise - if you are a wing-t team and want to use RPO, it starts with getting out from under center.  This move by itself will give you a better look at the box.  If you are under center, you see eight or more down in the box.  By going to shotgun and spreading a receiver, you will have a better number count to run the ball.

It’s something that Nick Gerhts, head coach at Canyon View HS (AZ), saw immediately as a benefit.  He illustrates that in this video:

Video: Wing-T and Shotgun Wing-T

So now that we are in the gun, let’s take a look at three RPOs.

“Chevy”

Coach Gerhts like to keep it simple and the “Chevy” RPO gives him the ability to run one of the simplest routes in football, the hitch, with all three receivers.  In this example, they run a Belly play to the right.  If the quarterback likes one of the hitches, he throws it.  If not he hands off Belly.

Video: Chevy

“Buck Out”

The next “easy” route after the hitch is probably the speed out, especially to the boundary.  It’s as effective as hitch is against a soft corner, plus it gets the receiver away from the outside linebacker.  Danny Norris, head coach at Gilbert Christian HS (AZ), pairs that with Buck Sweep.  This player is stretching the defense horizontally in both directions.  Coach Norris explains “Buck Out” in this video:

Video: Buck Out

“Trap Pop”

Trap is always a great run scheme.  Without an RPO tag, it does have the prospect of attracting a linebacker who is disciplined in reading his keys to get that extra hat to the run.  That’s exactly why “Trap Pop” will be a big play off of a simple, short throw.  The guard pull that is keyed and followed by the linebacker opens up a huge seam in the defense.  Coach Mike Morrisey of Moline HS explains the RPO here:

Video: Trap Pop

The beauty of the RPO is that it does not take a lot of arm talent to hurt the defense with the pass.  In all three of these examples, the throws are short, yet they take a chunk out of the defense that is keying the run.

If you haven’t added RPO to your Wing-T yet, these three coaches provide detailed presentations with a variety of RPOs off of the run schemes that you are familiar with.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski

P.S. You can save on these three presentations by getting the bundle here: Wing-T RPO bundle