Coach Alercio

Strengthening the Brotherhood: Honoring the Team Behind the Team

December 18, 2025December 18, 2025 Coach AlercioLeave a comment

After all the varsity letters and pins had been distributed, after the post-season awards were announced, and after our seniors were recognized for their contributions, we closed our annual football banquet with a moment of gratitude. Our captains offered thanks to the heads of our Friends of Football Booster Club—Bea and Len Harden—whose quiet, consistent service strengthens the fabric of our program.

Bea and Len open their home to our players for pre-game meals, creating a positive and welcoming environment where student-athletes can gather, share time together, and celebrate their brotherhood. They organize fundraisers, steward our resources with care, and keep the lines of communication open with every family in our program. Their efforts ensure that parents feel informed, involved, and invited into the shared work of supporting the team. Just as importantly, they have helped build a system that can be handed down year after year, allowing the organization to thrive even as players graduate and families move on.

Their tireless work lifts a tremendous burden from my shoulders as head coach and gives me more time to focus on preparing our players—not just for Friday nights, but for the challenges that await them beyond the field. Our coaching staff helps turn a group of individuals into a team. Our parents’ group helps turn that team into a family.

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!

Please enjoy some additional photos of the 2025 Hilltoppers, a group of exceptional teammates!

Celebrating the Season: Showcasing Achievement and the Behaviors That Build Champions

December 11, 2025 Coach AlercioLeave a comment

This weekend, we will gather the 2025 Hilltopper Football Team one final time for our annual banquet—a moment to reflect, to honor, and to celebrate the season we built together. After watching our highlight video, sharing a meal, awarding varsity letters, acknowledging post-season honors, and recognizing the contributions of our seniors, we conclude the evening with our Superlative Awards.

These awards matter for reasons that go far beyond individual achievement. Each one reinforces a standard of behavior we want carried forward. They illuminate the habits, mindsets, and daily choices that shape a championship culture, offering returning players a clear path to follow.

Our Most Improved Player embodies our belief that games are not won on weekends in the fall. His relentless commitment to self-improvement—through the off-season and in every practice—was matched by his energy, effort, and enthusiasm. His growth elevated both himself and the team.

The Scout Team Player of the Year represents the purest form of selflessness. Operating in near anonymity, he approaches each day with a singular mission: to push his teammates to be better prepared for game day. His contribution is measured not in headlines, but in the competitive edge he gives everyone around him.

In a program full of heroes—where many players earn media attention and postseason accolades—the Unsung Hero stands apart. He does everything asked of him, without expectation of praise, and in doing so becomes indispensable to the team’s success.

Our Most Valuable Player is not simply the one who scores the most points or fills the stat sheet. He is the player whose presence most profoundly shaped our season—as a performer, as a leader, and as a standard-bearer for what it means to be a Hilltopper.

These awards remind us that success is built on behaviors worth repeating. By elevating those examples, we offer every returning player a roadmap for what comes next.

Time Well Spent

December 4, 2025 Coach AlercioLeave a comment

It takes a lot of hours over multiple days to meet 1-on-1 with every player on a 50-man roster, but it is time well spent and an exercise I enjoy every year.

This year’s meetings were held in our newly designed athletics conference room. I sat in one of four chairs surrounding a 4-foot round table. Interestingly, after several meetings, I noticed that more veteran players sat in a chair closest to me while younger players sat across the table in the chair furthest from me. It was a stark reminder of how uncomfortable a teenager can be in that type of setting with an adult.

Before the meetings, I messaged all players to be prepared to discuss their reflections on the season, their role on the team, how they were treated on the team by teammates and coaches, their plans for the off-season, their plans for next year, and finally, I asked them to be prepared for what I might say about them.

Providing them with an outline of how the meeting would go, I hope to better prepare them as well as allow us to be efficient with our time. Regardless of what was said during the meeting, the goal is to end every meeting on a positive and motivating note, reinforcing my belief in their potential so that they feel encouraged to work hard in the offseason and look forward to returning to the team for Spring Ball.

Until the Last Whistle — And Beyond

November 20, 2025November 19, 2025 Coach AlercioLeave a comment

“Let the sun go down on you like King Harold at the battle of Hastings — fighting gloriously. Maybe a loser but what a loser.”

We set a goal to go 1–0 every week this season—and we did that in nine of our eleven contests. Each time we stepped onto the field, our players and staff fought the warrior’s fight, shoulder to shoulder, until the final whistle. The state championship trophy wasn’t ours to raise this year, but effort, unity, and heart were never in question.

As we’ve often said throughout these conversations, football mirrors life. Adversity will always find us. What matters is how we meet it—and how we rise the next morning. The ending wasn’t the one we imagined, but the opponent was worthy and the battle was real. Over four decades of playing and coaching this game, I’ve seen some seasons end with cheers and confetti and others end in quiet reflection—but in both cases, the sun still rises. And with each sunrise comes a new responsibility, a new chance to grow, lead, and serve.

This coming weekend, five of our seniors will wear the green helmet with the white STJ one final time as they represent St. Johnsbury Academy in the Vermont North vs. South All-Star Game at Norwich University. Kickoff is Sunday at 12:30. When the clock runs out, they’ll take that helmet off for the last time—but the lessons learned, the brotherhood formed, and the growth they’ve earned will travel with them wherever they go.

It may be the close of a chapter, but it is far from the end of the men this game helped shape. I hope the bonds and friendships formed this season last for decades like the ones I formed more than 40 years ago.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

November 13, 2025November 12, 2025 Coach AlercioLeave a comment

Less than twelve hours after punching our ticket to the Vermont Division I State Championship game, our players were back on campus — not for film study or another practice, but for something just as important. They reported for active recovery, a quick walk-through, and an opportunity to support a group that so often supports us and our entire community.

Our local Elks Lodge is always quick to lend a hand to our team and to countless others in town. So when they needed help setting up tables and chairs for their annual Super Bingo event, our players jumped at the opportunity. Sure, we took a moment to celebrate Saturday’s victory and the chance it earned us — but we never lose sight of the fact that we’re just one part of a larger community. Giving back is part of who we are.

The Elks are neighbors helping neighbors. Their mission is to strengthen communities through caring, sharing, and service. They support veterans, help local families, encourage young people, and celebrate the spirit of patriotism and friendship that binds people together. They live by the mantra Elks Care – Elks Share, and we’re grateful for all they do. We value every opportunity to support their work.

Now, on to the championship.

It would be easy to read the headlines, scroll through the praise, and start believing we’re everything those stories suggest. While we’re thankful for the recognition and encouragement, we know better than to dwell on it. From the first week of the season, our focus has been simple: go 1-0 this week. That mindset hasn’t changed — and it won’t.

Any success we’ve enjoyed has been built on effort, cohesion, interdependence, and belief — in each other and in what we can accomplish together. This week, we’ll continue to strengthen the foundations of our culture, appreciate the blessings of both victory and community, and once again set our sights on the same goal that’s guided us all season:

Go 1-0!

Setting A Personal Example

November 6, 2025November 6, 2025 Coach AlercioLeave a comment

It was a great weekend for football in St Johnsbury, VT. The Hilltoppers advanced to the state semifinals, and our youth team captured a state championship for the second year in a row. The weekend was made even better when the head of our youth program shared the following letter she received:

My son plays QB & LB for BYSA. I just wanted to reach out to express my gratitude and ask if you could please pass along a message to the families of players 59 and 50. At a few different points during the game, both of these boys came up to my son, gave him a hug and told him he was a great athlete and to keep fighting. Their kindness and sportsmanship truly meant so much to him and to me as well. Please let them know how much we both appreciated their encouragement. Congratulations on your win and thank you again for raising such remarkable young men.

Football may at times be a violent sport, filled with hard hits and fierce competition, but being a good sport is still essential. Players must learn to compete intensely while keeping control and showing integrity. Good sportsmanship turns a rough game into a test of character as much as skill.

I am proud of all of our youth coaches, many of whom played for us, and all of the players, but especially these two young men who I watched grow up over the past dozen years as they are the sons of two of our coaches. We look forward to welcoming them and their teammates into our Hilltopper football family in 2026.

Masks, Capes, & Friday Night Lights

October 30, 2025October 29, 2025 Coach AlercioLeave a comment

We host a first-round playoff game on Friday night — Halloween.

A fitting night for us to play.

For more than 2,000 years, dating back to the Celts who wore costumes on October 31 to disguise themselves from wandering spirits as they celebrated the end of harvest and the beginning of winter, people have been dressing up.

We tell our players they get to wear costumes every week. We ask them to walk the halls of our school and the streets of our community, mild-mannered and humble — like Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Peter Parker. But on Friday nights under the lights, when they don that helmet, strap on those shoulder pads, and pull over that jersey, they become Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man — or any other hero they choose to be.

In some ways, we ask them to personify an ideal — an ideal athlete, teammate, and version of themselves. Not as they are, but as they could be at their very best: a servant-leader who lifts others, puts the team before self, and competes with integrity.

This Friday, children and adults alike will dress as witches and ghosts, sports heroes, and movie characters. But for us, the helmets are our masks and the jerseys our capes. We’ll step onto the field as superheroes, measuring ourselves against the ideal versions of who we could be — this Friday night, and for as long as we keep playing.

Keep The Main Thing, The Main Thing!

October 23, 2025October 23, 2025 Coach AlercioLeave a comment

This weekend marks the 120th playing of “The Game” — St. Johnsbury Academy versus Lyndon Institute. The rivalry dates back to the fall of 1894, making it one of the oldest high school football rivalries in the nation. In 2013, USA Today conducted a national poll to determine the greatest high school football rivalry in America. The Game swept the Vermont, New England, and Eastern regions before finishing fourth in the nation overall.

The week leading up to The Game is Spirit Week — a celebration that transforms the entire school. Teachers and students dress according to daily themes, classes decorate hallways, floats are built for the parade, pep-chapel skits bring energy to the auditorium, and the bell towers in each town are illuminated with school colors. This year, for the first time in history, The Game will be played under the lights on Saturday night. Add to that the fact that we’re competing for the #2 or #3 seed in the state tournament, and it’s easy to see how distractions can multiply.

I have a former high school teammate, lifelong friend, and retired Marine LtCol who often reminds me that when life pulls in too many directions: “Focus on the mission.”

From a leadership perspective, personal example matters. As coaches, we have to model the focus and discipline we expect from our players. Our actions should reflect the same attention and composure we ask of them. We reinforce that focus in the words that follow our actions — and by publicly recognizing those student-athletes who lead by example. And when necessary, in quieter moments, we take time to counsel those who drift from the mission and our collective goals.

In football, academics, or in life, remember to keep the main thing, the main thing!

Seeing More Than They See In Themselves

October 16, 2025October 15, 2025 Coach AlercioLeave a comment

Sometimes you need to storm into a locker room at halftime and light a spark!

We were trailing by eight after a flat first half. The effort wasn’t terrible, but the energy was gone. Maybe it was the third straight week on the road, maybe the long bus ride — whatever the reason, we weren’t playing to our potential. The X’s and O’s weren’t the issue; our mindset was.

There are games where halftime adjustments to blocking schemes or coverage concepts change the outcome. This wasn’t one of them. What we needed was belief. We needed players to look in the mirror and see more than they thought they were capable of. That’s part of a coach’s job — to help young men catch a glimpse of their own strength before they believe it themselves.

So we challenged them — not with anger, but with conviction. We reminded them of who they were, what they’d prepared for, and what it meant to play for each other.

When we re-took the field, something clicked. We scored 20 unanswered points to start the second half and never looked back.

Halftime speeches fade, but belief sticks. Sometimes the most important adjustment isn’t drawn on a whiteboard — it’s drawn out of your players’ hearts.

National Coach’s Day

October 6, 2025October 6, 2025 Coach AlercioLeave a comment

Today, Monday October 6^th, is “National Coaches Day.” It’s not a scheme to get you to buy a greeting card, nor some food promotion promising free tacos or burgers… It was first proclaimed by President Nixon in 1972, to acknowledge the influence coaches have on young people through sports. The day is dedicated to honoring and appreciating coaches of all sports and levels, from volunteers to professionals, for the positive impact they have on athletes and communities.

My first job after college was as a teacher and coach at Admiral Farragut Academy, a military (Naval) based preparatory school with all the traditional trappings of a military hierarchy. I was given the option of receiving a pseudo-military rank/title or being called “Coach.” I chose Coach, and that is all I have ever wanted to be called. My coaches were my mentors…the examples I wanted to follow…At the time, I questioned whether I was actually worthy of the title, but I resolved to earn the trust and respect of my players, the same way my coaches had earned ours: one day at a time.

As coaches, we play a profound and lasting role in shaping kids’ lives, acting as mentors, role models, and even parental figures while we coach them, and those relationships last for years to come. Our influence goes beyond teaching skills, schemes, and plays. We help shape character, values, and outlooks on life. For nearly four decades now, I’ve considered coaching as a privilege. A privilege I cherish, and one that serves as an homage to all the great coaches who have supported and invested in me over the years.

Today, I encourage you to reach out to a current or former coach of yours, or perhaps your child’s, and simply say, “Thank you.” We do not need anything more than that. Our reward comes in the celebration of successes as players on the fields and courts near and far, in the lives they build with their families, and the positive impacts they make on their communities for years to come.