O Line Skills

The t-shirt design has changed multiple times over the years but the joy of receiving a photo of a player proudly wearing an Alercio OLine Clinic shirt never changes.  Several years ago, while I was speaking at a football clinic, a coach in the audience pulled up his polo shirt to reveal an Alercio OLine Clinic t-shirt underneath.  When I think of the thousands of shirts we have given out over more than 20 years, I hope they bring a sense of joy and pride every time they are worn.  

While having a conversation with another coach about camps and clinics he shared the two schools of thought: “You can make a lot off of a little, or a little off of a lot.”  His example was that if you charge $100 and get 40 kids, it is the same as if you get 100 kids and charge $40. I have always and will always choose the latter.  Most of us coaches get into the profession to impact the lives of players the way that our coaches and mentors impacted our lives.  Zig Zigler, The author/trainer/motivational speaker used to say, “You can have everything you want if you’ll just help others get what they want…” I’d rather help hundreds rather than dozens of players learn and develop. Even if it costs a little more in t-shirts or takes a little longer at registration check-in, it’s worth it to help these student-athletes learn and achieve more.   

I look forward to the next such opportunity; Sunday 11 June on the campus of St Johnsbury Academy for our Vermont Alercio OLine Clinic. Student-Athletes and coaches will travel from all over the Northeast and Canada to learn, work, and play together. They’ll take home a t-shirt, some new skills, new friends, and a belief in their potential as teammates. We’d love to have you join us. The more, the merrier!

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time! 

This weekend marks the “Memorial Day Holiday,” where we remember those who have given their lives in sacrifice for the freedoms we all enjoy. Veteran’s Day (Nov 11) is intended to honor all veterans, but Memorial Day is focused on those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. As you gather with family and friends, light the barbeque, and begin the summer season, please recall those who made it possible.

In 2022, Buzz Bissenger, (Author of “Friday Night Lights,” a book, movie, and TV show, familiar to many football fans) wrote a book called “The Mosquito Bowl,” about a group of college all-star football players who all ended up in a semi-organized football game on the island of Guadalcanal on Dec 24, 1944. Though merely 8 months from the end of the War, they also faced a seeming lifetime of trials and tribulations.

Some of the players included:

— George Murphy, team captain at Notre Dame and the son of a clerk in South Bend, Indiana.

— Tony Butkovich, an All-American at Purdue and one of seven sons of a Croatian coal miner in central Illinois.

— Robert Bauman, a tackle and punter at Wisconsin. As a kid he had gone to work in the onion fields near his hometown south of Chicago after his father died.

— David Schreiner, an All-American end at Wisconsin whose German immigrant grandfather had established a prosperous family in Lancaster.

All were in their 20s when they played in the Mosquito Bowl and ultimately fought in the battle of Okinawa. Their World War II experience changed them just as it would hundreds of thousands of other Americans, their families, and friends.

I wouldn’t expect readers to know the names of these men or the countless other young football players who like them who found themselves fighting and in some cases dying for the freedoms we enjoy today.

However, in reading about them, I also recognize commonalities among the hundreds, perhaps even thousands of players I’ve played with and coached in the last four decades. While the names might be different, the character attributes are the same: selfless, dedicated, dependable, trustworthy, team-oriented… all had seemingly unlimited potential to be husbands, fathers, role models, and mentors. Men of integrity who would have led their community, and led others to greatness. Each name and circumstance could easily be from the hometown or city most familiar to the reader, and it’s exactly this “everyman” characteristic that makes the story so compelling.

While I am saddened by their lives cut short, I am bolstered by their ability to translate both the physical and moral elements of football to become players worthy of mention in Bissinger’s novel. I hope none of our student-athletes find themselves in a circumstance where such a sacrifice would be called for. Yet at the same time, I find myself drawn to the character, integrity, and courage underpinning each of those described in Bissinger’s book.

In the Bible, John, Chapter 15, verse 13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” I salute the men and women who have sacrificed to ensure we have the opportunity to both recognize and honor them by emulating their honor, courage, and commitment. Those we honor this weekend; are the teammates we someday hope to be worthy of. Those we honor years from now are likely young men and women cut from the same cloth. Shaped by family, teammates, teachers, and coaches… We should be so lucky to turn over the responsibility of our society to leaders like those Bissinger describes in his book, and we’re blessed to work with student-athletes like that every day.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time! 

Tomorrow (May 19^th), we’ll hold a team meeting in the campus chapel to kick off the planning and set expectations for the summer training. As we’ve discussed through the evolution of this blog, I believe our culture is an essential and foundational component of both our team and our success.

Hilltopper culture establishes a set of common practices, approaches, and behaviors guiding the team on and off the field. With more than three decades of coaching experience, I’m confident getting the culture right is more important than any offense, defense, or special teams philosophy we may want to employ.

The Team comes first. Individually, we all must commit to putting the interests of the team ahead of our own, and we reinforce those concepts in many ways. Tomorrow, we’ll reinforce elements of attitude and aptitude. I’ll project a 2×2 matrix with “Can & Can’t” on one axis, and “Will & Won’t” on the other.

These axes set up four quadrants and provide visual cues to attitude and aptitude. Coaches work with student-athletes and each needs to know where they fall on this graphic. Obviously, we want teammates and staff in the “Can & Will” quadrant, and not in the “Can’t & Won’t.” The “Can’t but Will” quadrant is ripe for teaching and coaching. The “Can but Won’t” quadrant often requires more assessment and a conscious decision to motivate or in some circumstances recommend an alternative team…

The operative question is to pose the four quadrants and ask each teammate and staff member, “Where are you today?” While considering “where they are…” most will also recognize “where they should be.”

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time! 

I am delighted to share that Quinn Murphy has become the 6th Hilltopper in as many seasons to be inducted into the Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame as a scholar-athlete.  This past season, Quinn scored 42 of our team’s 45 touchdowns and accounted for 93% of our total offense on the ground and through the air while excelling in the classroom.  He joins Collin Urie – in 2017, Jasper Rankin – in 2018, Renwick Smith – in 2019 (also named to the National Team of Distinction), Trey Alercio – in 2020, and Sam Begin – in 2022.  (There were no inductees in 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.)  

The Foundation also honored two other Hilltoppers during that timespan.  Shane Alercio was named the Most Courageous Athlete in 2018 after battling a rare vestibular disorder during his senior season while leading us to a state championship.  In 2019, Jake Cady received the Community Service Award for helping raise over $40,000 to help support families battling cancer through his non-profit called Team Sullycat.

We are immensely proud of the successes of our student-athletes on the field, in the community, and in the classroom.  We trust the examples of excellence in those who have been honored will inspire future Hilltoppers to strive for excellence, overcome adversity, and put others’ interests above themselves. 

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time! 

Every year during the time of the NFL Draft, we have a staff exercise where each coach is sent an alphabetical list of our returning players and asked to return the list with each player in the order they would draft them.  In draft terms, each coach is asked to create their own “Best Available” list.  

Then we put all the drafts in a shared drive so that we can see how each coach’s list compares to the others and mine.  If I have done a good job in communicating the shared vision of our team, the lists should not be all that different.  Then we combine all the lists to have a final staff draft list of our team.  This is the first step in seeing that we put the “Best 11” on the field going into summer workouts.

When Anthony Richardson, the QB from Florida, was drafted, he stated that God blessed him with abilities.  I can only assume he was referencing his physical abilities which are unparalleled at the position. But when I draft our team, I focus on other abilities first: coachability, accountability, reliability, and dependability.  In high school football, the 5’8″ 175lbs player who is “All In”, is of greater value to his team than the more talented 6’2″ 225lbs player whose commitment to the team is lukewarm at best.  According to my son, who was an athletic trainer this past season with the Gators, Anthony checks all of those ability boxes as well.

Lastly, our coaches should know to make evidence-based decisions in creating their lists.  They should list players based on the behaviors they have witnessed from the player on the field, in the weight room, in the classroom, and in our community.   They should not base their evaluation on what they think, feel, or believe.  This is where the Anthony Richardson pick is interesting.  As Tim Hasselbeck stated at the draft, “there is very little evidence that Richardson can play the position at a high level.”  Yet he was the number 4 pick.

How would you draft your team?  Who are your most valuable players and how do you measure that value?

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time! 

On Sunday the 23rd in Princeton, NJ, the rain stopped, the clouds cleared, and the sun came out just in time for the start of the New Jersey Alercio OLine Clinic, and for the many players and teams in attendance, the unofficial start of the 2023 football season. While we worked on the skills, techniques, and schemes associated with offensive line play, we also reinforced the value of the position.  A position like no other in sport.  They are not glorified on gameday.  Their recognition and praise occur within the walls of the locker room.  When their job is done well, their teammates who carry, pass, and receive the ball get all the accolades.  Yet they celebrate their teammates, and fellow linemen in recognition of a job well done.

Teams with bad offensive lines cannot win games. It is that simple.  Just ask the Kansas City Chiefs after Super Bowl LV.  They had the best QB, the best TE, and the fastest receiver in the NFL and they could not score a touchdown.  Just like a house needs a solid foundation to stand, you need to have a good offensive line to win. 

Those players and teams in attendance on Sunday took a huge step toward recognizing both individual and team success by honing their Oline skills.  As the day concluded and the hundreds of people departed, one parent remained in the parking lot to speak with me.  That parent informed me that he had accompanied his son to many camps over the years and that this one was the first that focused on the why as much as the how.  

As I thanked him, I assumed it was because we focus so much on why we take a Base step on one block and a Reach step on another.  Why the visual target is on the near number at times and the sternum on others.  Why the strike points are the sternum and shoulder one block but both pecs on another.  While I drove away, I thought that he may also have been referencing why it is so important to be a well trained offensive lineman, a good teammate, and a person of character.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time! 

New Jersey Alercio Oline Clinic Training Groups follow:

 

I recently saw a promotion for another football camp and on it was the quote “Learn From The Best.”  One can safely assume, they are not the best coaches in the world.  Were they proclaiming to be the best in their region, state, or town?  

When American Football Monthly did an article on me and “the Heel Toe philosophy” of OLine steps I teach, the editorial labeled me as a “guru of offensive line play in the northeast part of the country.”  Did that make me the best?  The best in the northeast?  Maybe one of the best? Satisfying though the thought may be, I’m reminded to be a true “one in a million,” on a planet with nearly 8 billion people, means there are 8,000 more out there just like you!

What is it to be the best?  Surpassing all others in excellence, achievement, or quality?  If so, then I am clearly not the best.  Is being the best giving your all into what you love to do every single day and striving to be the best you can be?  Then maybe I am my best. Each of us in our own way has to contend with the difference between being “the best” or being “my best.” Given the simple statistics, and recalling the serenity prayer and “things I can control…” I think it’s fair to say we have a far greater likelihood of being our own best self rather than chasing some other essentially arbitrary criteria over which we have little control.  

I have spent most of my adult life learning the skills and techniques of offensive line play and simplifying them into ways to teach players.  One of the most flattering things I heard was a comment from Mike Kuchar, co-founder of XandO Labs when he said “The clarity of your teaching simplifies the game tremendously.”  On the campus of the Hun School of Princeton this Sunday, I will teach the complicated techniques of offensive line play in simple terms players can learn.  Having devoted my life to learning, teaching, and guiding student-athletes, I’m committed to being my best, sharing what I’ve learned from so many, and doing so in a way I hope will help others become their best when they square off on gridirons around the Mid-Atlantic this coming fall.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!  

I recently read a blog post from a proud father after his son received an award at the United States Naval Academy Sprint Football banquet.  The award is named after former player Brandon “Bull” Barrett, a Marine Captain who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country in Afghanistan.  Regrettably, I do not know the young man who received the award nor do I know the hero who it is named after, but the description of the award struck me as it so perfectly encapsulates what it is to be a teammate.  This award goes to the individual that plays for neither glory nor accolades but for the men on his left and right flank. A teammate, a brother, and the man we all want in our corner.  

I wonder if the recipient of this prestigious award is an offensive lineman because it so perfectly explains the job description.  There is no glory in the position.  Their reward is when the five work as one for the benefit of the team and the protection of their teammates.  At the end of every Alercio OLine Clinic, we circle up and I remind the players why they are so exceptional.  In a few short weeks, I will share these words with a group of young men who will come together at the Hun School for the Spring 2023 Alercio OLine Clinic. While the preponderance of the day focuses on physical nuances, skills, and the thought processes around execution, we’ll also take the opportunity to reinforce elements of team building, character, and concepts we expect to go far beyond the gridiron. I genuinely hope and pray these student-athletes will take a team-first, selfless approach to the betterment of their respective teams, but even more so, I look forward to them carrying that mindset forward to the families, schools, and companies that make up the teams of their future.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!  

In the Fall of 2001, the head football coach at Hunterdon Central high school, Jim Meert, visited my office at The College of New Jersey to share an idea:  Host a 1-day offensive lineman-only camp and do it in the Spring.  My first thought was, “That’s crazy.”  I wondered, “Who would come to an offensive lineman-only camp in the Spring.”  At the time, no one was running 1-day specialty camps, but the more we talked the more excited I got.  Jim was right.  On a Sunday in March of 2002, 333 offensive linemen and scores of their coaches came to TCNJ to attend the inaugural Alercio OLine Clinic.

Over 20 years later, I have been blessed to work with over 5,000 players hosting clinics in New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.  As I have said in so many previous blogs, one of the most extraordinary things about the coaching profession is the willingness to share with others.  I have had the good fortune of working with and being mentored by some of the greatest OLine coaches in the game.  The Alercio OLine Clinics allow me to pay it forward on a large scale. This spring marks the 40^th anniversary of my graduation from high school and knowing the impacts my coaches had on me at that age, I’m hoping there will be a player (or players) who go on to start their own tradition of service as high school (or higher level) coaches in communities far and wide. 

I look forward to returning to the Hun School of Princeton on April 23 for the New Jersey Alercio OLine Clinic.  With a registration fee of $40 per person for a team bringing 5 or more players, we have maintained a goal of keeping the clinic affordable for everyone.  And as always, we continue to welcome coaches to attend at no cost.  

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!  

I have a good friend who likes to ask thoughtful questions. One of his favorites is “What’s something you’ve changed your mind about, or think about differently than you might have 3-5 years ago. While many of us could come up with some interesting answers, I turned the question back around on him. His answer was, “I no longer ask why something is the way it is, or why people act the way they do,” he said. “I ask what are the incentives?” The point is if we understand the incentives (or disincentives) we typically have the answer to “why?”

As a follow-up to last week’s post about the shortage of officials, many parents speculated on why there’s a shortage? One of the most common comments received reflected on parents and their conduct. In far too many cases, parents’ conduct acts as a disincentive. In fact, Dr. Karissa L. Niehoff, chief executive officer of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHSA) in Indianapolis, Indiana, commented “the shortage of officials continues to be a major issue across the country – and more supportive parents who are encouraging their sons and daughters from the stands rather than questioning the officials’ calls would go a long way toward retaining more individuals to officiate contests.”

Speaking of incentives, I think it’s clear, no one goes into officiating high school sports for the paycheck. In most cases, volunteers are looking for ways to give back to sports and programs that meant so much in their own youth and early adult development. Such mental/emotional capital born of purpose, gratitude, and a desire to pay forward the support offered by predecessors years or even decades before, is the real incentive.

Unfortunately, such incentives can be drowned out by those who in moments of emotion, forget the limits of their perspective, eyesight, and angel of view, and are compelled to criticize and amplify the criticisms launched by others. I don’t mean to suggest there’s never a bad call, but it’s important to remember high school officials are doing their best, volunteering more time than you’d expect, and really are trying to get it right.

When I find myself stuck in traffic, I’ve been known to shift lanes left or right in the hopes of making a little more progress than if I had just sat still. My wife, whose patience is far more a virtue than my own, will sometimes whisper, “stay in your lane…” Though sometimes easier said than done, I know she’s right….

We are all emotionally invested in our children and the sports they/we love. When we combine the two, it is often challenging to inhibit our emotions. However, if the goal is for the children’s development, experience, and fun, we need officials and need them to want to come back. Once again borrowing the highway analogy, if we think of the lanes as Coaching, Playing, Officiating, and Supporting.  We’d probably all do best to follow my wife’s advice, pick a lane and stay in it… And while we’re at it, take a moment to say thanks to an official. Without them, we’d have no game to enjoy in the first place.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!