The Miami Dolphins and The Carlisle Indian Industrial School

Two weeks after Miami’s stunning victory over the New England Patriots in Foxboro, a general consensus has been reached. It concerns the question of how good this Dolphins team is.

The formula used by the practitioners of common wisdom is a simple one. The answer to the question lies between Weeks Two and Three. Somewhere between the team that got drubbed by the Cardinals and the team that humiliated New England lies the 2008 Miami Dolphins.

To be fair to this prevailing idea, there are components to the theory beyond the simple contrast between the two performances. There is also the close (winnable, really) game between the Jets and Dolphins in Week One. That same Jets team just got done giving Arizona a sound beating, courtesy of Brett Favre and his six (apologies to those already sick of hearing about this) touchdown passes.

So the Dolphins have played two good teams in a tough manner and humiliated one of them, which was thought to be the class of the division. Sans Tom Brady, of course.

Then there is also the Dolphins’ implementation of an “alternative” offensive formation called the “Wild Hog” or “Wildcat” formation. The Dolphins lone victory, so states the common wisdom, came upon successfully befuddling the New England defense with trick plays. Sure, they beat them fair and square. No one is arguing otherwise. They thumped them though, because of trick plays.

This is where I get off the bus. Conventional wisdom is, well, too conventional to understand what the Dolphins might be trying to do this year. In this case, it is also uninformed.

Let’s get some history first.

The Dolphins’ quarterbacks coach, one David Lee, was the offensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He was one of the chief architects of the “Wild Hog” offense that made Darren McFadden and Felix Jones famous.

It was out of this offense that the Dolphins made all those “trick” plays against New England.

With direct snaps going to McFadden and Felix Jones coming across in motion from the wingback slot, defenses were often in fits to stop Arkansas’ rushing game. The ball could be carried by a viable threat in almost any direction, regardless of strength alignment and personnel.

Sure, there is a halfback pass element to it, too. McFadden did very well with this, as he has experience at playing quarterback. Such a play reeks of being a gadget or trick play. There is the overloaded line, too, which looks somewhat strange.

The left tackle lines up as the tight end on the strong side, and the tight end lines up as the left tackle on the weak. Yes, the quarterback has to block a corner. Or at least slow the cornerback. All these things seem strange, and that’s why they have been labeled as trick plays.

They aren’t though. They’re not even new plays. The formation is a variant of the single-wing offense. Those of you that once donned shoulder pads and helmet will surely remember either running or playing against some version of the single-wing offense. Invented by Glenn “Pop” Warner and originally called the “Carlisle offense,” the single-wing has been around since at least 1907.

Carlisle refers to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, which was located in...you guessed it: Carlisle, PA. The story goes that "Pop" warner crafted he single-wing offense in part because of one particularly gifted athlete that played for him.

That athlete was none other than the legendary Jim Thorpe. As many of you know, Thorpe could run, pass, punt, and do just about anything on an elite level.

The “Carlisle” or single-wing formation evolved over time. Motion was introduced to confuse or put defenses out of alignment. The “wingback” could come across in a hard motion and (possibly) receive the handoff from the quarterback (who has to be a running threat himself).

If the wingback gets the ball, he will have it at full speed because of the motion. They get to hit the hole at a sprint if they so choose.

Otherwise, the quarterback can keep the ball and run it themselves in several different gaps, including off tackle and in a bootleg-style rollout. From this bootleg rollout, the quarterback can throw the ball, typically to a very limited number of downfield targets, or they can keep themselves. Different still, the bootleg can also set up a traditional wide-receiver reverse.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?