The Notre Dame Box was a variation of the single-wing formation used in American football, with great success by Notre Dame in college football and the Green Bay Packers of the 1920s and 1930s in the NFL. In American and Canadian football, a single-wing formation is any offensive formation having exactly one Wingback and one Tight end American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, United States The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay Wisconsin. Green Bay's coach, Curly Lambeau, learned the Notre Dame Box while playing for Knute Rockne in the late 1910s. Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau ( April 9, 1898 &ndash June 1, 1965) was the founder a player and the first coach of the Green Bay Knute (pronounced "kah-noot" ("noot" is the anglicized nickname Kenneth Rockne ( March 4, 1888 &ndash March 31,
The Notre Dame Box differed from the traditional single-wing in that the line was balanced and the halfback who normally played the "wing" in the single-wing was brought in more tightly, with the option of shifting out to the wing. These two changes made the backs' formation resemble a square (hence the "box") and made the formation less predictable, allowing offenses to run more easily to the "weak" side. Additionally, the halfback became a more viable runner than in the single-wing and the quarterback, normally just a blocking back in the single-wing, could become a passer since the center could snap the ball directly to him. A running back ( RB) is the position of a player on an American or Canadian football team who usually lines up in the offensive backfield. Quarterback ( QB) is a position in American and Canadian football. The Notre Dame Box relied on a great deal of deception, caused by backs shifting frequently, rather than the pure power of the single-wing. Teams would often adopt the Notre Dame Box if they lacked a true "triple threat" tailback, necessary for effective single-wing use. A running back ( RB) is the position of a player on an American or Canadian football team who usually lines up in the offensive backfield.
The Packers, using the Notre Dame Box almost exclusively, won three straight NFL titles from 1929-1931. From 1936 through 1945, Green Bay made use of the Notre Dame Box to exploit Don Hutson's receiving ability. Donald Montgomery Hutson ( January 31, 1913 &ndash June 24, 1997) was the first star Wide receiver in National Football League Bringing the halfback in tight allowed Hutson to split out from the line, making him an even more potent threat. Hutson, impossible to cover one-on-one by any defensive back of his day, averaged a touchdown every five times he caught the ball, a mark that no receiver has rivaled in NFL history. Green Bay added three more championships employing the Notre Dame Box after 1933 (when official championship games began), beating the Boston Redskins 21-6 in 1936, defeating the New York Giants 27-0 in 1939, and beating the Giants again in 1944 by a score of 14-7. The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington D The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York City suburb of East Rutherford New Jersey. Green Bay tailbacks of those years were among the first NFL passers to post "modern" numbers. A running back ( RB) is the position of a player on an American or Canadian football team who usually lines up in the offensive backfield. Arnie Herber was the first NFL player to pass for over 1000 yards in 1936, throwing for 1239 yards and 11 touchdowns. Arnold "Arnie" Charles Herber ( April 2, 1910 &ndash October 14, 1969) was a professional American football Quarterback Of that, 526 yards and 8 TDs were to Hutson. In 1939, Herber and Cecil Isbell combined for 1856 yards passing and 14 touchdowns. Cecil Isbell ( July 11, 1915 - June 23, 1985) was a professional football player for the Green Bay Packers. In 1941, Isbell broke Herber's single season record with 1470 yards passing and 15 touchdowns; he bettered his own marks in 1942 with 2021 yards passing and 24 TDs. 1942 was also the year Don Hutson shattered his own NFL records with 1211 yards receiving and 17 TDs, all in 11 games.
The Chicago Bears's success with the modern T-formation in the 1940's eventually led to the demise of the Notre Dame Box, as well as all single-wing variants. The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. In American football, a T formation is a formation used by the Offensive team in which three Running backs line up in a row about five yards behind The Packers finally switched to the T-formation, after Don Hutson had retired, in 1947. No major NCAA or NFL team has used this formation since and much of the knowledge (i. e. playbooks) associated with this formation are no longer available.
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Modern use of the Notre Dame Box
In the late 1990s, Western Harnett High School of Lillington, North Carolina was featured on ESPN after their program experienced a major turnaround credited to their employment of the Notre Dame Box. Lillington is a town in Harnett County, North Carolina, United States. ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American Cable television network dedicated to [1]
The head coach of that team, Travis Conner, later moved on to Jacksonville High School in nearby Jacksonville, North Carolina and installed the Notre Dame Box there, as well. Jacksonville High School is a free secondary public school located in Jacksonville Arkansas for students in grades nine through twelve Jacksonville North Carolina, is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. [2]
See also
External Links
- A basic overview of the Notre Dame Box offense: http://www.the-endzone.net/The%20Notre%20Dame%20Box%20Offense.doc
References
In American and Canadian football, a single-wing formation is any offensive formation having exactly one Wingback and one Tight end In American football, a T formation is a formation used by the Offensive team in which three Running backs line up in a row about five yards behindDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic