You ever looked at Coach Cox's Power Pistol? It is good stuff.

Our QB is usually under center for the exact reasons you mentioned.  We want to hide the ball and use misdirection to get our holes.  When we look to pass, we go gun, but with a different QB (our BB) so that we have that pass/run look. 

Run them both like I did....

It's an extremely simple system......  You can have your cake and eat it too...

Have all of Coach Cox's stuff, like Murphy's better.

I have done both, but I guess I need to be convinced that it's worth doing other than for a particular reason (one QB is a runner, one is not, or I want to pass out of one look, etc.).  I have used a direct snap Beast series when U/C, and I usually have a U/C series (simplified) when in gun.  I haven't "committed" to both, although by the end of this year I kind of was due to snap issues.

I belive in both!!!!! Would never go in to a season just one dimensional anymore.

Next year I don't believe my QB will be one of my top 3-4 runners. Not sure I want to go gun.

So why not use your 4th best runner as the QB? I have not been under center in a few years and it has been great. Now the D needs to worry about another kid carrying.

You might try Coach Kopecky's version of double wing, which he resorted to with Great Neck HS's varsity after a player's academic disqualification made Kopecky's usual single wing practically inoperable.  It was a shotgun double wing, but with the FB angled & close to the snapper, able to take a hand-to-hand snap.  You could also think of the FB as QB & vice versa.  Anyway, the deep back did very little running.

Have all of Coach Cox's stuff, like Murphy's better.

I have done both, but I guess I need to be convinced that it's worth doing other than for a particular reason (one QB is a runner, one is not, or I want to pass out of one look, etc.).  I have used a direct snap Beast series when U/C, and I usually have a U/C series (simplified) when in gun.  I haven't "committed" to both, although by the end of this year I kind of was due to snap issues.

Honestly I have yet to run Coach Cox's stuff but I have all of it. I might finally get the chance soon. I will let you know how it goes if I do.

Honestly I have yet to run Coach Cox's stuff but I have all of it. I might finally get the chance soon. I will let you know how it goes if I do.

I have followed it, think it's a good system, in fact I've stolen a few things here and there from Coach Cox.  Had the good fortune to meet him/see him speak at the DWS, got a bunch of useful tidbits there. As a system, I just prefer my version of Murphy's stuff.  Just fits my eye better, I suppose.  But I still have some Cox influence with what I do.

So why not use your 4th best runner as the QB? I have not been under center in a few years and it has been great. Now the D needs to worry about another kid carrying.

Likely will be my 4th best runner.  Again - just not sure that's a good reason to be in gun and lose the benefits of being U/C. Can still run the QB from U/C as well - in fact my QB led the team in rushing and probably in carries from U/C this year, but man it was a simple offense doing that, LOL.

I guess it's just a cost/benefit thing.  I have always treated gun as something to use for the QB to run or for passing. If I'm not going to run the QB or pass much, why be in gun? Why spend the time on/risk a bad snap to run a play from gun that you can run from U/C?  I do believe in having the capability to be in gun, so perhaps it's just degrees I'm talking about, if that.

I think it just comes back to my underlying thought that to be in a different formation, it has to give me something that I don't get from my base formation. Maybe I shouldn't put much stock in that. I just don't like cluttering up my own mind with formations just for the sake of formations...

I believe using both is way to go this day and age. Staying DTDW invites to many people to the party just by alignment. I feel having the flexibility to get into something that will back them off makes those type offenses more dynamic. Having a multiple attack gives you a chance against teams that are flat out better. So to me having a variety is needed in today's youth game.

I believe using both is way to go this day and age. Staying DTDW invites to many people to the party just by alignment. I feel having the flexibility to get into something that will back them off makes those type offenses more dynamic. Having a multiple attack gives you a chance against teams that are flat out better. So to me having a variety is needed in today's youth game.

Or you could be like us and have almost a different offense every game, lol. Not by design of course.

I have done both, but I guess I need to be convinced that it's worth doing other than for a particular reason (one QB is a runner, one is not, or I want to pass out of one look, etc.).  I have used a direct snap Beast series when U/C, and I usually have a U/C series (simplified) when in gun.  I haven't "committed" to both, although by the end of this year I kind of was due to snap issues.

ADVANTAGES of the DOUBLE WING & EFFECTS of the GUN

The best thing about the DW is the stress it creates for the defense by overwhelming the point of attack with more blockers than the defense can deal with.  Most defenses assign 1 or 2 defenders to each gap in the offensive front, but we lead through the hole with 2 – 5 blockers on each play and that is just trouble for the bad guys.
One thing that most defenses would do to combat this is crowd the line and add more defenders to the ‘box’.  And sometimes this would cause problems getting everyone blocked.  But defenses are less likely to crowd the box when we are in the GUN because the formation appears to threaten the edge more than our ‘under center’ formation did.
Another great thing about the DW is being almost blitz proof.  Our tight splits keep bad guys out of the backfield.  Even when we do a poor job of blocking, we will rarely lose yardage because it is almost impossible to penetrate our line.
So when we get in the GUN we get the same blitz proof front line but now our backs are deep enough that when someone along our front line gets moved back or stalemated it no longer causes a domino effect that kills the play.  Less congestion and more space means the lead blockers & ball carrier can read the kick out block at the POA and adjust when necessary.  We can also adjust the depth of our pullers on different plays or even have the second puller take a deeper path than the first to avoid multi car pileups.
The DW is a 4 back offense.  You can run either of your Wings, the FB or even the QB to create a situation where everyone is a threat.  The only real issue was the FB was pretty much stuck running between the Tackles and the Wings were usually just running POWER, COUNTER or SWEEP to the opposite side.
From the GUN we can actually run 3 different backs on just about every play in our playbook so not only is each player a threat to get the ball but each player is a threat to get the ball headed to any point of attack we choose.  The only real limit is using one of the Wings to run SWEEP to his side but we can now run SWEEP with the other Wing or the QB or even the FB.  And being a little deeper when they get the ball means the Wings can get the ball and take it inside to attack the A or B gap.
The DW has always had the ability to get 4 receivers vertical at the snap but the QB usually has to turn his back to the line for play fakes and to get depth before turning back around mid-play to see the receivers and decide where to throw the ball.
Now the QB is deep enough to make a throw by alignment and play action fakes look exactly the same as the run plays they are mimicking.  He starts a few steps farther away from the pass rush and facing forward so he can see the routes develop quicker.  No matter the offensive system the GUN is much better for QBs when they throw the ball. 
And I mentioned before that there were a few drawbacks with our old DW Offense.  Well here is how our new DW GUN solves those issues.
1. Difficult Footwork – shotgun spacing in the backfield eliminates this issue.
2. Superior Teams Loading The Box - we may still get dominated up front by superior athletes but the threat of our QB running & throwing can keep those teams from loading the box as much as they did against our old DTDW.
3. Scrum Offense - the traditional double wing has a stigma around it because it’s not something you see on Saturdays and Sundays. But the GUN looks like the football you see on TV and this translates to more fan support and players having more fun and at the end of the day youth sports is about kids having fun.

There are a few other advantages to running from the GUN.
1. Trap Play – because the cramped space makes it difficult to install and perfect, a lot of DW teams give up on TRAP.  Not only does the GUN make it easier to run TRAP but we can run it with all four backs.  This renewed ability to threaten between the Tackles really helps open up the off tackle area for POWER and CUT.
2. Punting … yeah, yeah, I know … we never punt and we don’t even install a punt but we can install a QUICK KICK from the GUN that would act as a punt if we ever chose to use it.  It works from any of our formations and can be run on 3rd down and 25 after some calamity or mishap in officiating. LOL
3. Only got 1 stud and you really want the ball in his hands every play?  Well you can now put your best kid at QB and let him run or distribute the ball without the ‘middle man’.  This really doesn’t work from under center unless you are running an option offense.
4. The formation is a more UP TEMPO FRIENDLY.  By that I just mean it is easier for the players to get lined up and look at the sideline for the play call when you are running the next play 10-15 seconds after the last play gets finished.

So JJ, do you still do UTC? Or primarily gun now?

JJ,
For what it's worth:

We installed the Gun DW from a true double wing, using our offense that was based on the Calande system, which we ran from under center from 2006 thru 2012.

I agree with just about all of your observations, and I'll add a few of my own:

It looked, as you mention, "more contemporary" which makes it easier for the fans and players to accept (this is High School level- on the lower levels, I could care less what the parents think.)

The Gun alignment allows you to use the QB to control the backside rush by "reading" the DE, just like the "Spread " guys do. You lose the QB as a frontside blocker, but with the kids we have had at QB lately, it wasn't much of a loss. This was our Power Boot read. We haven't been allowed to cut block with our backside TE since 2009, so this helped us on the backside.
We tried to pull the TE, ala Murphy, but out backs were getting to the POA too fast, and I was not about to slow the backs down. We seldom pulled the tackles for the same reason. Our motion was fast! 75%.

We still ran just about our entire DW inventory of plays. Counters, Traps, Rocket Sweep (looked like a Speed Option but it wasn't), etc. Blast became a much better choice than Power for some reason. Obviously, our passing game was enhanced. I liked being able to run a Wing -lead Trap. It kills a 4-4.

We gained the ability to run the Power / Jet Read (Inverted Veer) to the front side just like the Spread guys, too.

The biggest disadvantage was losing the FB as a runner. We tried a direct snap to the FB for Wedge, which was a disaster, the center would hit him in the face mask and it was an instant fumble. The offset FB provided a directional key, although we ran Counters away from his alignment. We did have a FB Counter Trap, which wasn't horrible. I missed being able to reverse out and have the FB run the "Down" play (Dog in Calande terminology-End Trap in our terminology).  The QB has to be willing to run occasionally between the tall trees inside, in his place.

It is also not as deceptive as far as concealing the ball, as the under center version can, rather, it depends more on flow and misdirection. (Power Boot Read and  Inverted Veer are examples of this)

The biggest concern I had with this was the timing. We taught our wing to go in 3 step quick motion aiming one step deeper than the QB's hip, then sticking his foot in the ground at the snap to get sharply downhill to the POA. If there was the slightest bobble or bad snap, we had issues. One of our backs changed his footwork on this, and rounded off his approach, which caused some mechanical problems with the QB mesh, the QB has to be turned at about a 45 degree angle to read and attack the DE.