Author: Coach Alercio

In Vermont, high school football is allowed six practices with no protective equipment between the end of Winter Sports and the beginning of Spring Sports.  Our practices are scheduled Monday-Friday 11-16 March.  Our focus will not be on Xs & Os but rather on the non-position-specific fundamentals of football performed in a fun and encouraging manner.  

We will also reintroduce an acronym we brought here when we took over the struggling program 10 years ago; S.W.A.T.  It stands for be Smart, Work hard, And be Tough.  There is an endless list of character traits you would want for your players but we felt those three were the ones we most needed to emphasize and the turnaround was astonishing.  

Smart.  We want our players to be able to learn, understand, and apply knowledge effectively on the field, in the classroom, and in our community.  This includes practical, emotional, and societal intelligence allowing them to navigate life’s challenges to make meaningful contributions to the team, school, and community.  

Work Hard.  Working hard requires sacrifices and stepping out of your comfort zone.  Players need to put in the necessary time, effort, and energy into achieving both individual and team success.  As the saying goes, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

Tough.  Toughness can manifest in various forms including physical, mental, and emotional toughness.  Physical toughness allows players to push their bodies beyond comfortable limits through developed endurance, strength, and stamina.  Mental toughness allows players to manage stress effectively in high-pressure situations and maintain their determination to overcome setbacks and failures.  Emotional toughness allows players to remain resilient in the face of adversity as well as composed when facing intense negative feelings.  

I feel good reinforcing these points as they are all characteristics of strong teammates while training and playing together, as well as strong adults who will undoubtedly encounter circumstances requiring the same. Cultivating these character traits will allow us to develop players who can use their minds, bodies, and spirit to overcome obstacles and setbacks and refuse to be defeated by adversity while laying the foundations for decades to come.

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! 

Happy Leap Day!

Every four years we get an extra day added to the month of February.  Since it takes 365.25 days for the earth to orbit the sun, Leap Years keep our calendar in alignment with the astronomical year.  

Use today, this extra day, to do something special.  Perhaps there is something you’ve been putting off because “you just don’t have the time.”  If you do not have something in mind, I would like to share the following suggestions: 

• Take the day to prioritize self-care. 
• Do something special for yourself like taking a hike or getting a massage. 
• Volunteer in your community to do something special for someone else. 
• Use the day for introspection.
• Reflect on your past achievements then plan your future aspirations.
• Visit a place you have always wanted to see or plan a vacation to somewhere you have always dreamed of. 
• Begin learning something new like how to speak another language or play a musical instrument. 
• Begin an exercise regimen or healthy diet. 
• Or do what I did a half a dozen years ago.  Share your thoughts by starting a blog.  

Our Time is our most valuable non-renewable resource. Make the most of today’s Extra Time!

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!

There is a brotherhood amongst football coaches: a camaraderie and mutual respect within the football community regardless of level.  Football coaches share a unique bond spanning passion for the game, the pressures of competition, and their common challenges. We understand the unique demands and rewards of coaching football. Each of us soaks up the concepts, schemes, and traditions of a game played competitively for more than a century and a half. Most are equally passionate about sharing concepts applied, lessons learned, and the collective wisdom of a tribe willing to fight tooth and nail on Friday night or Saturday afternoon, only to teach, encourage, and motivate one another on nearly every other day of the year. This brotherhood plays a vital role in fostering professional development and collaboration. 

I will travel to Atlantic City, NJ this week to attend the Glazier Clinic.  No, I am not presenting at the clinic this year. I am traveling down to interact with long-time coaching friends, make new friendships, exchange ideas, discuss tactics, and build connections through networking within the football community. While presenting in forums like the Glazier Clinics is a privilege, I’m equally excited to participate amongst the audience, comparing notes across all three phases of the game and listening to some of the very best cultivators of student-athlete talent and potential.

Clinic season offers a rebirth and a new start where every team is undefeated and each has the potential to become a champion.

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 honor of President’s Day, we recognize those past presidents who cultivated and honed their leadership skills as football players.  

Gerald Ford was an all-state player in high school and a team MVP at Michigan who had offers to play professionally but chose to attend law school at Yale where he actually coached football making him the only US President to both play and coach college football.

Dwight D Eisenhower was a two-way starter at West Point who had the distinction of once tackling the great Jim Thorpe.  

Ronald Reagan not only played the “Gipper” in the movie “Knute Rockne All American,” he was also a lineman at Eureka College.

Richard Nixon, at all of 5’11” and 175 lbs, was a reserve Tackle at Whittier College. You have to love the undersized lineman!

Donald Trump was a three-sport athlete at the New York Military Academy who played football for one year.   

Football provides a unique environment for developing leadership skills, as it requires individuals to work together towards a common goal, make decisions under pressure, and overcome obstacles as a team.  Players first learn to follow before they can lead. Many of the successful ones often pattern their own personas after the successful players and coaches whose examples they try to emulate. These leadership skills learned on the football field clearly translated to success in other aspects of life for the aforementioned men as it has done for so many who have played team sports in general, and football in particular.

Life is a team sport. (At least it is in my opinion.) The team surrounding any successful individual brings together the complementary characteristics of each individual and unites them for a common purpose. Undoubtedly some fair better than others, and all are subject to the unexpected in life, just as we find unexpected bounces from a ball with two points! Nonetheless, we find ourselves better for our experiences. Better for the teammates who shared in our collective adversity… Better for those who set examples of excellence, held us accountable for performing at or beyond our potential… and better after recognizing that when we play together, we really are capable of extraordinary achievement.

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!

When I attended Super Bowl XXIII in 1989, still one of the greatest Super Bowl games ever, the face value of my ticket was $100.  No one famous sang the national anthem or performed at halftime.  That may have been the last year Super Sunday was just a football game. 

It has become a cultural phenomenon having long ago transcended its status as just a football game, or even a sporting event. With tickets starting at around $5,000, and readily going on the secondary market at more than twice that, I can’t imagine being two years out of college and having such means…  Sunday’s game between the Chiefs and 49ers will draw more than 100 million viewers from all over the world regardless of whether they are football fans. 

Beyond the game itself, Country Music star, Reba McEntire will perform the national anthem, Contemporary R&B star, Usher will put on the halftime show, the most expensive commercials in the history of television will air, and you might even get a glimpse (or way too many) of Taylor Swift.  The halftime shows and commercials have often attracted as much attention as the game and contribute to the overall spectacle of the event.  

The Super Bowl is clearly much more than just a game on the second Sunday in February.  It is a cultural phenomenon, an economic powerhouse, and a symbol of national pride and unity.  In my experience, it serves as a communal experience bringing friends and families together to watch the game, enjoy food, and socialize.  It has become an annual tradition for many fostering unity and camaraderie.

In 1989, Joe Montana led the 49ers on a 97-yard drive, completing 8 of 9 passes in the closing minutes to punctuate one of the most exciting finishes in Super Bowl history. I hope we see as competitive a game this Sunday as I enjoyed 34 years ago, but regardless of the score, I genuinely look forward to sharing the evening with friends and family. I hope you enjoy the same!

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 2 February, Punxsutawney Phil will let us know whether we can expect six more weeks of winter (not a bad thing for us skiers) or if Spring will come early.  In the Bill Murray movie. “Groundhog Day,” he plays a weatherman stuck in a time loop on Groundhog Day, repeating the same day over and over.  Ultimately, he realizes he can use it to his advantage.  Unfortunately, only in Hollywood can you relive the same day over and over again righting the wrongs of the previous day.  In reality, we must make the most of every day.  That movie always reminds me of a quote I keep on the bulletin board outside my office called “Seize the Day.” It goes as follows:

This is the beginning of a new day.

God has given me this day to use as I will

I can waste it, or use it for good.

What I do today is important, because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever leaving in its place something I have traded for it.

I want it to be a gain, not loss: good, not evil: success, not failure: in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it…a day of my life.  

Along a similar thought regarding the value of a day, and as put by the Coach himself in the Apple TV Show “Ted Lasso”:

“Every day is a gift… That’s why they call it ‘The Present!’”

In many ways, our student-athletes are now as we were then, and seemingly “bulletproof” in their own minds… “Young men and women of steel” (as the Superman comic would say…)

We who have lived life a little longer and fuller, recognize there is no guarantee of tomorrow for any of us, and many have seen abrupt and unanticipated changes to our, or friends’ plans for the future.

So make the most of today, enjoy the present, and Carpe’ Diem!

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!

You know your message is hitting home when you send a “Save the Dates” announcement to the president of your parents’ group asking her to share it with the other parents and she forwards it with the following message:

“In the body of this email, you will find the schedule (so far), from Coach, for this winter, spring, and summer. These are important dates! Please add them to your calendar to help you and your player stay on track.

Players should plan on attending the lifts on Thursdays beginning until February vacation. This keeps the guys in the weight room and continues the teambuilding bond. Games are not won on Friday nights or Saturday afternoons – They are won in the offseason working out, learning plays, and building that brotherhood!!“

Last week our blog focused on today’s players needing more extrinsic motivation.  It is a challenge to gather multi-sport athletes and players who work in the off-season, but when they hear the message at school and home, it has a much better chance of sinking in. The essence of “team” is found in a common vision, values, goals, and a common belief in our ability to succeed. Having parents reinforce these messages of unity and express their belief in the value of our objectives is pure gold!

Our upcoming Schedule follows. Our goals are to develop our student-athletes mentally, morally, and physically. Together, we’ll once again find we are more capable, dynamic, and stronger as a team than any of us could ever be alone.

	Day	Date	Location	Time
Team Lifts	Thursdays	18 Jan-22 Feb	Weightroom	3:30-4:30pm
Spring Ball	Mon – Fri	11-15 Mar	Turf/Fieldhouse	3:30-6:30pm
	Sat	16 Mar	Turf/Fieldhouse	9-noon
OTAs	M-W-F	10 Jun-19 Jul	Turf/Weightroom	5-7pm
Mini Camp	Mon – Fri	22-26 July	Turf	TBD
7v7 & Strongman	Sat	27 July	Turf	8am-2pm
Training Camp	Mon – Sat	12 Aug-17 Aug		TBD
	Mon – Sat	19 Aug-24 Aug		TBD
Essex	Fri	30 Aug	Turf	7:00 PM

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!

A New Year’s resolution is a tradition in which a person sets a goal or commits to improve some aspect of their life in the coming year.  For any and all offensive line coaches or anyone who knows a high school or middle school-age offensive lineman, mark your 2024 calendar.  The Alercio OLine Clinic dates and locations are set.  Sunday 14 April at The Hun School of Princeton NJ and Sunday 9 June at St Johnsbury Academy VT.  We’ll give you the tools of the trade, and techniques for the trenches, that will help you be the best offensive lineman or Oline coach you can be!

Alercio OLine Clinics have specialized in teaching techniques for the trenches for over 20 years.  We believe that the true “Skill Players” in football are the offensive linemen.  We teach the coordination and execution of learned physical tasks that allow linemen of any size to achieve both individual and team success.

Come see why American Football Monthly stated “Rich Alercio, a guru of offensive line play in the Northeast part of the country” and X&O Labs wrote, “The clarity of your teaching simplifies the game tremendously”.  

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!

Last weekend, our coaching staff gathered for an early Christmas dinner.  Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.  But beyond the holiday’s religious significance, it is a time of togetherness and shared joy bringing families, friends, and communities together in festive spirit.  It is a time of giving, gratitude, and creating cherished memories with loved ones.  

Regardless of religious belief or affiliation, rituals, and relationships have been part of the human experience for millennia. Whether amongst teams, families, or friends, I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy the season, and its celebrations, and reflect on the blessings we all encounter and enjoy.

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!