Wishbone formation The wishbone formation , also known simply as the ’ bone , is an offensive formation in American football . The style of attack to which it gives rise is known as the wishbone offense . Like the spread offense in the 2000s , the wishbone was considered to be the most productive and innovative offensive scheme in college football during the 1970s and 1980s . History . While the record books commonly refer to Emory Bellard developing the wishbone formation in 1968 as offensive coordinator at Texas , the wishbone ' s roots can be traced back to the 1950s . According to Barry Switzer , it was Charles “ Spud ” Cason , football coach at William Monnig Junior High School of Fort Worth , Texas , who first modified the classic T formation in order “ to get a slow fullback into the play quicker . ” Cason called the formation “ Monnig T ” . Bellard learned about Cason ' s tactics while coaching at Breckenridge High School , a small community west of Fort Worth . Earlier in his career Bellard saw a similar approach implemented by former Detroit Lions guard Ox Emerson , then head coach at Alice High School near Corpus Christi , Texas . Trying to avoid the frequent pounding of his offensive line , Emerson moved one of the starting guards into the backfield , enabling him to get a running start at the opposing defensive line . Bellard served as Emerson ' s assistant at that time . During his high school coaching career in the late ' 50s and early ' 60s , Bellard adopted the basic approaches of both Cason and Emerson , as he won two 3A Texas state championships Breckenridge in 1958 and 1959 and a 4A state title at San Angelo Central High School in 1966 , using a wishbone - like option offense . In 1967 Bellard was hired by Darrell Royal and became offensive coordinator a year later . The Texas Longhorns only scored 18 . 6 points per game in a 6 – 4 season in 1967 . After watching Texas A & M — running Gene Stallings ' option offense — beat Bear Bryant ' s Alabama team in the 1968 Cotton Bowl Classic , Royal instructed Bellard to design a new three - man back - field triple option offense . Bellard tried to merge his old high school tactics with Stallings ' triple option out of the Slot - I formation and Homer Rice ' s variations of the Veer , an offensive formation created by Bill Yeoman . Introducing the new offensive scheme at the beginning of the 1968 season , " Houston Chronicle " sportswriter Mickey Herskowitz stated it looked like a “ pulley bone ” , while Royal agreed but changed the name to “ wishbone ” . Royal quickly embraced the idea of the wishbone , which proved to be a wise choice : Texas tied its first game running the new offense , lost the second , and then won the next thirty straight games , leading to two National Championships using the formation . The offense was embraced by Bear Bryant , who after seeing Bellard ' s offense run after visiting with Texas ' head coach Darrell Royal installed the offense at Alabama . Bellard later left Texas and – using the wishbone – guided Texas A & M and Mississippi State to bowl game appearances in the late 1970s . At Mississippi State Bellard “ broke the bone ” and introduced the “ wing - bone ” , moving one of the halfback s up to a wing formation and frequently sending him in motion . Another variation of the wishbone formation is called the flexbone . Ironically , the longest running wishbone offense was run not by Texas but by their arch - rivals , the University of Oklahoma , who ran variations of the wishbone well into the mid - 1990s . Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer has been credited by some for having “ perfected ” the use of the wishbone offense and former OU quarterback Jack Mildren is often referred to as " the Godfather of the wishbone " throughout College Football lore . The Oklahoma Sooners wishbone offense set the all - time NCAA rushing average in 1971 of 472 . 4 yds per game , a record which still stands to this day . The wishbone ' s reliance on execution and discipline , along with its ability to eat up the play clock , make it a favorite of programs that routinely play opponents with superior size and speed , such as the three service academies . Air Force saw tremendous success running the option game out of the wishbone . In 1985 , Air Force climbed to # 2 in the country , just barely missing the national championship game , under Head Coach Fisher DeBerry . Army football saw success using the wishbone under head coaches Jim Young and Bob Sutton in the 1980s and early 1990s , leading to the school ' s only bowl appearances ( 10 – 6 win over Michigan State in the 1984 Cherry Bowl ; 31 – 29 win over Illinois in the 1985 Peach Bowl ; 29 – 28 loss to Alabama in the 1988 Sun Bowl ; and a 32 – 29 loss to Auburn in the 1996 Independence Bowl ) and its only 10 - win season . Phil Jack Dawson , then head coach of Westbrook High School in Westbrook , Maine , developed an effective defense against the wishbone offense then in use by Texas , called “ backbone defense ” . Dawson contacted Ara Parseghian , then head coach of the University of Notre Dame , and convinced him to use it against Texas in the 1971 Cotton Bowl Classic . Notre Dame beat Texas 24 - 11 . Running the ' Bone . The Wishbone was designed to run a Triple Option with a Lead Blocker . The purpose of an option is to eliminate one defender without blocking him . Ideally , the defender must make a choice to eliminate one of two offensive players . This is a Double Option . This Option offensive scheme forces a defender to choose one of two offensive players who can advance the ball and then allows the other offensive player to carry the ball , making whatever choice the defender made the " wrong " choice . Because of this aspect of the defensive player taking himself out of the play by his choice , the offensive player that would otherwise block that defensive player can now block a different defender , placing severe pressure on the defense to cover the dive , the Quarterback run , the pitch or the Pass to a receiver . The Triple Option , then , eliminates two defenders without blocking them . This frees two Offensive Linemen to block different defenders , usually Inside Defenders . This isolates the Dive Key and the Pitch Key for the QB to " Read " and should leave only an outside Support Defender ( usually a Safety ) and the Cornerback to cover the End , who is running a deep pass route . As Pepper Rodgers and Homer Smith stated in " Installing Football ' s Wishbone T Offense " , " To run a Triple Option with a lead blocker is the reason for the Wishbone formation . " It is the " Extra Blocker " concept that drives the success of the Wishbone and its derivatives . The Cornerback must cover the Outside Receiver . The support / Safety must support the run defense and ( usually ) covers the Pitch Back . The Defensive End typically attacks the Quarterback and a Defensive Tackle is assigned the Fullback Dive . These assignments must be made before the play begins and that totals eight defensive players to both sides of the ball . As stated above , however , the Offense now has linemen that can be released to block other defenders , usually inside . The play is designed to handle five defenders on either side of the ball . Thus , the defender least able to affect the play , the offside Cornerback or Deep Safety , is not blocked by design . The Offensive Linemen , now free to block inside , can block the First Down Lineman to the Playside and the first Linebacker to the Playside . The great Emory Bellard once said , " If the threat of the Fullback can be applied to the Defense , the Offense is sound . " . Then , the Lead Back Principle takes over . The Lead Back can block the Defensive End or the Safety and there is then a One - on - None possibility for the offensive player with the ball . In order to stop this attack , the defense must defeat blocks or flow defenders to the playside . This makes the Wishbone a " Complete " Offense . The offense expects to get a One - on - None in the running game and a One - on - One in open space with the passing game . The Safety , who must support the run and also defend against the pass , is under tremendous pressure in this attack . The Basic Wishbone Triple Option play accounts for every defender on the field . Every defender is threatened before the Basic Play begins . There is an invitation to overplay or compensate on the Basic Play and overplaying or making a misstep on the Basic Play leaves the Defense open for counters that leave no one to make up for the mistake . The wishbone has the quarterback taking the snap from under center , with a fullback close behind him , and two halfback s ( sometimes called " tailbacks " ) further back , one slightly to the left , and the other slightly to the right . The alignment of the four backs makes an inverted Y , or “ wishbone ” , shape . There is typically one wide receiver and one tight end , but sometimes two wide receivers , or two tight ends . The wishbone was designed to facilitate a running , option offense . It allows the quarterback to easily run the Triple Option to either side of the line . The quarterback first reads the defensive tackle or linebacker who is unblocked . As he reads the tackle / linebacker , he rides the ball in the fullback ' s stomach . If the defensive tackle / linebacker looks to tackle the fullback the quarterback pulls the ball out and runs down the line to his next option read , usually the defensive end / outside linebacker . If the end / linebacker looks to tackle the quarterback , the ball is pitched to the trailing halfback . The lead halfback is a lead blocker usually looking to block the outside defensive player , a safety or corner . The tight end to the option side ' arc ' releases to block the safety .