The youth football wishbone offense is a traditional offense. This formation has a long history and is still used by many teams. This offense is used by some teams at the high school level as well (many option teams run out of wishbone). The wishbone is a power running offense, which makes it popular on the youth football level.
The wishbone offense consists of two tight ends, one fullback, two half backs, and the quarterback under center. This is a power based offense, much like the I formation and double wing offense. It uses double teams at the point of attack. Having a three man back field will allow double teams at the line of scrimmage with the lead blocking backs kicking out or trapping unblocked defensive linemen. The wishbone is a running offense, which will allow you to set up a nice play action play. The play-action passing game is solid out of this formation, but only if you are running the ball successfully.
The wishbone offense is a commonly used offense in youth football. Most youth football coaches have used or thought about using it at some point during their coaching career. This offense is easy to implement, and if blocked properly you can really pound the ball.
Coach Jeff
