1. Single-Wing: 1926-1942; 1944-1963
Head coaches who used this formation:
- Robert Neyland: 1926-1934; 1936-1940; 1946-1952
- W.H. Britton: 1935
- John Barnhill: 1941-1942; 1944-1945
- Harvey Robinson: 1953-1954
- Bowden Wyatt: 1955-1963
When Robert Neyland was hired in 1926, his requirement was to even the score with the Vanderbilt Commodores. As part of that, he tweaked his boss M.B. Banks’ offensive system from the Wing T to the single-wing. This is what turned Tennessee football into a national program.
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At the time, thanks to the forward pass, the single-wing was becoming the fashionable system. Another precursor to the shotgun and spread offenses, this system has the quarterback line up behind center where the snap is still tossed. The fullback is behind the quarterback at an angle, and on the same side, the running back is behind the fullback at a further angle.
On the other side, there is a tight end and a wing back. Here’s where the trick comes into play. The defense doesn’t know who will take the snap among the fullback, quarterback or running back. When the snap is taken, all three of them have the option to run or throw, and in some cases hand off. However, most running plays are direct snaps.
There’s not as much reliance on misdirection unless the coaches choose that, and Neyland, always dedicated to defense, didn’t choose it. Well, the system took off. Neyland ran it all three stints on Rocky Top, and his successors in between his stints, W.H. Britton and John Barnhill, also ran it.
In fact, Neyland’s appointed successors after he retired, Harvey Robinson, Bowden Wyatt and Jim McDonald, also ran it. UT ran this system every year from 1926 to 1964, and using it, they won eight conference titles, six of which were in the SEC, along with four national titles.
The program became synonymous with the single-wing. They stuck with it for too long, as it became outdated by the time the program fell apart in the late 1950. But it was even outdated in the early 1940s, and Neyland still returned to run a dynasty in the early 1950s.
Simply put, this system served UT well for a long time and remains the most successful one ever on Rocky Top. There is no debating that the single-wing is Tennessee football’s most successful offensive formation of all time.