One of Football's oldest Formations is resurging at all levels. The T formation which is believed to go back to Yale in the 1890's has been seen at various times and various levels including Penn State the past two seasons in short yardage and was used in the Rose Bowl earlier this month. The Jaguars converted a 4th and 1 this past weekend in their comeback win against the Chargers running the Ball out of the T formation.
The T formation has many variations and different focuses through the years but conceptually usually will include 2 halfbacks lined up next to a full back who is aligned in the middle. the QB is traditionally under center. Often seen as a running formation it will often feature two attached tight ends, or occasionally one split out end or receiver or potentially both split out. The backfield align gives the name showing the shape of a T. It's often thought of in a double attached set with a balanced look allowing either side to run the same way, for more advantageous looks. Below is a drawing of the two attached tight ends.
The T-Formation is stated to go back to Walter Camp at Yale when the line of scrimmage came into play. This would make it one of the original formations when football shifted away from scrums and play that resembled rugby. This was a popular style of play especially with the ball handling it allowed in a balanced set. The T Formation's first fall from dominance was due to the invention of the forward pass in leading to more teams favoring a more pass friendly offense like the Single-Wing, Pop Warner's Double-Wing, and the Short Punt.
There was still some teams using it including Notre Dame under Coach Knute Rockne. The Irish would line up in the T to show a balanced look before shifting the backfield into the famous Notre Dame Box.
In the 1940's there was a T formation resurgence. Clark Shaughnessy adapted the T and modernized it as a passing offense known as the "Shaughnessy T." His version of the T formation included the HB's or FB's motioning out to get another vertical passing threat. This passing version of the T also was benefited by passing rules changing not requiring passers to be 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Clark began working on and studying this offense while still working at U Chicago. He worked closely with George Halas of the Bears talking about the T and giving studies that helped them introduce some T concepts including motion to get Red Grange out in more pass concepts. This was not a base offense at the time however more a complement to the Single-Wing. Shaughnessy didn't run a T while at U Chicago as his base offense due to personnel not matching the scheme. When U Chicago dropped football Shaughnessy took a job at Stanford to Coach, and implemented a T which he thought fit the personnel more than the single-wing they had been running. In their first season running the T at Stanford they went undefeated and won the national championship in 1940. This helped silence doubters of the time who thought Shaughnessy's T was a gimmick and a razzle dazzle offense.
This form of the T caught the attention of teams including Notre Dame, Army, as well as the Chicago Bears in the professional ranks. George Halas and Clark Shaughnessy had met before the 1940 NFL championship game for information on Stanford's success with the T formation. Chicago went on to beat Washington 73-0 running the T Formation in that game. The impact of the T and the Chicago Bears can still be heard in their fight song mentioning the formation. The T spread to Army and Notre Dame where they learned the scheme's an techniques by Bear's QB Sid Luckman. Luckman also brought the formation to his alma mater, Columbia.
Another innovator of the T-Formation is Coach Don Faurot. Coach Faurot had implemented his own version of the T formation known as the Split T. In Faurot's version of the T formation it was a much run heavier version. His base play was a dive to the full back with the backs carrying out fakes with a sweep either way of the call resembling todays triple option offenses. As a play off the dive there was an option by the QB to keep it reading the end or pitch it out to the HB opposite the run direction attacking the defense same way a back in pitch phase does now in the option. Off this there was also the option of the back to keep it or pass. downfield to a Tight End. This version also spread as it was adapted by Oklahoma, Maryland, Alabama, Texas, and others. This versions running of the QB, as well as most plays showing different points of attack in one play with deceptive ball handling can still be seen but also can be seen in offenses like the Wishbone, the split back veer, and the Wing-T.
As offenses kept expanding off the T Formation and in two different routes shown people slowly began to adapt it out of their offense as a whole. In both College and Pro football more offenses began to come around and become the norm. Pro sets became more the norm. People began splitting more guys out replacing backs for flankers, split ends, slots, and receivers. Run heavy teams rearranged backs into wishbone sets, split backs, I backs, or moved halfbacks to wings. The T still was occasionally used in situations especially in short yardage or goal line settings but eventually as football spread out even they became less normalized. High School and Youth Coaches kept the T alive as it became a relic at higher levels. That too has still lowered from the time of the original T resurgence in the 40's.
The T Formation's second fall from grace was due to different ways Coaches wanted to attack and stress defenses, but has the stress and issues the T puts on defenses disappeared? Watching Football the last year or so you could make the argument no. Penn State put in a T Formation in 2021 despite not having a fullback on their roster. Players in our day and age are different than they were in the 1940's let alone the 1890's but there are still issues in defending a formation like the T. Especially with the ways many defenses are built to defend the spread RPO game and lighter sets. Penn State put in the T with a Tight End aligned at FB and has a short menu of plays to attack defenses in short yardage situations with run plays that the current generation of defenders, and defensive coaches are often not used to defending. Although not the same conflict as an RPO but a play action out of the T also can create conflicts and open players in similar manners and take some decision making off the QBs plate. Finally another thing is the ability to sneak the ball which isn't as available in gun formations of today. Defenses expecting this also open themselves up to be attacked in different ways in the run or the pass. The Jaguars recent win showed this they lined up in 4th and one in the T and had an advantageous look to run lead because the Chargers played blitz zero to stop the sneak which the Jaguars had been efficient with throughout the game.
We've incorporated a T package in our offense this season as well for situations for these reasons as well. The package has been good to us because it's a short menu with specific plays for what are generally specific looks. Forces defenses we're playing to prepare for something different in critical situations in a game. Similar to what Penn State has done in 2021 and 2022.
A few situational calls from a handful of teams does not indicate a resurgence of an offensive formation but with the success in spots I would not be shocked to see more teams incorporate the T in the future in situations where it could fit.
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