Author: Coach Alercio

Time is our most precious non-renewable resource…

One of my biggest pet peeves in coaching is something I observe far too often.  Coaches who do not coach every minute of practice.   In my role as an assistant athletic director, I get the opportunity to observe a lot of practices in a wide variety of sports, during the winter and spring seasons.  Everyone is now doing some type of dynamic warm-up and static stretch cool down, but not everyone takes the time to coach it.  Coaches seem to use that warm-up time to converse about the practice schedule, which should have been finalized long before, or they play catch with each other.  During post-practice stretch, they review the practice that is not yet over.  This sends a clear message…Warm up exercises and stretches are not important.  That festers into players thinking that some parts of practice are important while others are not.  Every minute of practice time is precious. As coaches, we are privileged to be in leadership roles, and our personal example is the single best leadership tool in the kit.

If it is worth doing it, it is worth doing it right.  Coach the proper biomechanics.  If an ankle is supposed to be dorsiflexed, see that every athlete is doing that on every rep.  This will demonstrate to your athletes that attention to detail and strict performance standards are critical to your team.  Further, you expect their best effort in everything they do all the time. If you expect their best effort, you’d better be giving them yours!

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss team building, 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 your time!

This week’s post comes from a guest contributor, Jim Feely, who shares his perspectives on our successful offensive line clinic held at the Hun School of Princeton on March 25th. Jim is a former player and long time colleague of mine who has seen the Alercio OLine Clinic evolve over the years. He’s followed the OLineskills Blog and when he asked to contribute, I was happy to oblige.

Take it away Jim!

More than 200 student-athletes and 50 coaches from New York and New Jersey joined us at The Hun School in Princeton New Jersey for the 17th annual Alercio OLine Clinic. Having taught, coached, and mentored football players for more than 30 years now, I relayed with confidence the challenges young men have in learning the tactics, techniques and procedures essential to success on the offensive line. I’m often frustrated by media personalities who refer to quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers as “skill positions.” Most young men learn the basics of throwing, running, and catching as part of growing up. However, successful offensive linemen begin with fundamentals they’ve never considered and build upon them techniques foreign to nearly all except those who study the game.

 For more than four hours Sunday morning, football players and coaches focussed on foot placement, body position, coordination, balance, vision, and more than a dozen nuanced elements of offensive line play. During conversations between sessions with coaches Jim DeSarno, Westfield HS, and Ed Gurrieri, Manalapan HS, perennial New Jersey state powers, both coaches noted they have been to every one of the seventeen Alercio OLine Clinics we’ve hosted over the years.  It is my sincere hope our clinics have in some small part contributed to the multiple state championships they have won. Regardless of our clinics’ impact,  I think it is more a statement of their commitment to player and team development and a testament to players commitment to the programs.  It is no wonder they have so much success.

Some of the young men who joined us are pictured below:

Special Thanks to my good friend and fellow Coach Todd Zimmerman from Steinert HS, in Hamilton, NJ, for taking pictures of this year’s participants.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss team building, 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 your time!

As we prepare for the 17^th Annual Alercio Offensive Line Clinic, I share how it all started.  In 2001, I was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at The College of New Jersey.  At the end of the season, one of our offensive assistants, Jim Meert, who had great success as the head coach at Hunterdon Central, pitched the idea of hosting an offensive line clinic for players.  He cited that the techniques and schemes we used would benefit all high school players and noted many high schools do not have an OLine Coach capable of teaching them.  I thought it was a great idea until he shared that he wanted me to run it in March…

At first, I thought he was crazy.  These types of player camps/clinics are always run in the summer months.  His thought was that football players and coaches are starved for football in the spring and unlike college, high school players and coaches do not have spring practice.  He then suggested we target a weekend between winter and spring sports and do it on a Sunday so that there are no other athletic related conflicts.  The more he talked the more it made sense.

I created a brochure and began promoting the clinic when I spoke and Glazier and Nike Clinics.  I was thrilled when pre-registration hit 100 players but I was not prepared for what was to come on the day of the inaugural Alercio OLine Clinic.  We had over 200 offensive linemen from all over New Jersey walk up to register.  The day’s attendance totaled 333 players and dozens of coaches.  Jim’s bold idea proved to be a success and I am proud to say that we have coached over 5,000 offensive linemen from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vermont.

Please join us this Sunday, March 25, at the 17th Annual Alercio OLine Clinic where more than 300 linemen and coaches will focus on the fundamentals and teach all of the run and pass techniques and schemes your players need for success.

Click on the brochure image to get your Alercio Oline Clinic application, fill it out, send it in with your tuition, and join us at the Hun School of Princeton on this Sunday, March 25, 2018. We will again discount individual tuition for teams sending five (5) or more players. As in the past, Coaches may attend for free.

Last week amidst all sorts of weather in the North East and Mid-Atlantic, we were fortunate to find ourselves in Florida for our son’s spring training baseball game.  At the end of a great visit, we received a text message from Jet Blue saying “all flights to Boston Logan were canceled due to the storm.” The next available flight was in three days, which was not an option professionally or financially… We were able to get on a flight that night to Newark with hopes of getting a train to Logan where our car was parked.  While in the Orlando airport, we discovered all trains from Newark to Boston were canceled. Further, no rental cars were being let out and all hotels near Newark airport were booked.  It sounded as if we were going to spend a couple of days in Newark airport until we ran into one of my son’s FDU baseball teammates who was also on our flight.  Unfortunately, he was leaving spring training early to attend his grandfather’s funeral.  As coincidence would have it, the funeral was just outside of Boston.  He was driving there the next day and agreed to bring us along.  He also offered us a ride to his home and gave us a place to stay.   This young man just transferred to FDU and joined the baseball team.  We had never met him before.  He just said that he remembered seeing us at the stadium the day before, but when he heard a teammate’s family was in need of help, he stepped up.  These are the relationships so quickly cultivated through athletics…  In developing character and dependability, we teach our student-athletes to “do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason.” This young man clearly is the product of great parents and coaches.  

2018 Alercio O-Line Clinic

Please join us this Sunday, March 25, at the 17th Annual Alercio OLine Clinic where more than 300 linemen and coaches will focus on the fundamentals and teach all of the run and pass techniques and schemes your players need for success.

Click on the brochure image to the right to get your Alercio Oline Clinic application, fill it out, send it in with your tuition, and join us at the Hun School of Princeton on March 25, 2018. Early bird rates are still available and will again discount individual tuition for teams sending five (5) or more players. As in the past, Coaches may attend for free.

Although this is a non-contact camp, we recognize that there is the risk of concussion with the sport of football.  For education materials on concussions please visit the USA Football at www.usafootball.com 

Chalk Wars this Saturday Feb 24th, in Atlantic City, NJ!

While hosting the state semifinal game in 2016, we were faced with a 4^th and 10 on our own 22 yard line with just over a minute to play.  After our 3^rd down play failed to convert, I muttered to myself, “Damn now what”.  It was overheard by our booth coach, John Lovett, who quickly reminded me our Game-sheet says “Quads Power Pass” under Last Plays from just outside the Red zone.  I signaled in the call, we threw the ball to our Tight End in the corner of the end zone and moved on to the state championship game.

Had we not prepared for that situation in the stress-free setting of our football office on Wednesday night, we would never have pulled that play out during the stress of the moment.  Chalk Wars this weekend at the Atlantic City Glazier Clinic will be a time-competitive decision making game designed to simulate the pressure and decision making processes of a real football game.  Therefore, I need to approach Chalk Wars the way I would any other game and consider the circumstances and contingencies for making rapid effective decisions.

In preparing for the “Chalk War” vs Bakersfield HS’s 3-3 Defense, Bergen Catholic’s 4-2-5 Defense and Princeton University’s 3-4 defense, at the Atlantic City Glazier Clinic this Saturday, February 24  I share with you the questions I ask myself and our staff in preparation for any game plan.

• What formation and play do we call on the first play and why?
• What are we running on 3rd & 4th downs by distance?
• What do we run if we are up (4-minute offense) or down (2-minute offense) late in the game or half?
• What do we run on the goal line going in and coming out?
• What is the last play of the game when QB cannot reach the end zone, can reach the end zone, just outside the red zone, in the red zone, at the goal line?
• Do we play for the win or for overtime?
• What is our 2-point play to win the game?

Mental training and preparation are just as important (if not more than) physical training in football for players and coaches. There’s a nearly 3,000-year-old quote from a Greek philosopher Archilochus: “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.”

How do you prepare for challenges? What “pre-game” questions do you ask yourself. Whether in football or in life, looking ahead… thinking through contingencies… asking “What?” and “Why?” matter.

I hope to see you at the Glazier Clinic in Atlantic City this weekend, or back here on Olineskills.com next week!

Click on the brochure image to the right to get your Alercio Oline Clinic application, fill it out, send it in with your tuition, and join us at the Hun School of Princeton on March 25, 2018. Early bird rates are still available and will again discount individual tuition for teams sending five (5) or more players. As in the past, Coaches may attend for free.

I am thrilled to be one of Glazier Clinic’s first “Chalk War” participants.  On Saturday February 24 I will present our spread offense vs Paul Golla’s 3-3 defense at 1:30pm.  Paul is the head coach at Bakersfield HS in California.  At 2:45, Nunzio Campanile will pit his 4-2-5 defense versus our spread offense.  Nunzio is the head coach at Bergen Catholic HS in New Jersey.  We will face will face Mike Mendhenhall’s 3-4 defense at 4:00pm.  Mike is the OLB coach at Princeton University.  I look forward to sharing how we attack those defenses and am equally excited to learn how these great coaches will align and defend our formations and plays.

Click on the brochure image to the right to get your Alercio Oline Clinic application, fill it out, send it in with your tuition, and join us at the Hun School of Princeton on March 25, 2018. Early bird rates are still available and will again discount individual tuition for teams sending five (5) or more players. As in the past, Coaches may attend for free.

There were many highlights during the weekend in Orlando at the USA Football conference but none better than running into Jim McNally.  Coach joined us at the bar for a conversation on Friday night.  Coincidentally, I first met coach bellied up to a bar in the summer of 1992, when I attended his OLine Clinic in Cincinnati with my mentor, Jim Pry, who worked with Coach McNally at Marshall.  The techniques I teach at the Alercio OLine Clinic were developed from what I learned from Jim McNally and Jim Pry.

Coincidentally, they were “taking the head out of football” long before USA Football coined the phrase and supported the cause.  Not only is it safer, I’m convinced it’s more effective! Everything we teach at the Alercio OLine Clinic removes the head from blocking.  It is all about the Feet, Eyes, and Hands.  Our emphasis is on what step to take (Base, Reach, Angle, Bucket, Pull, Kick, Power), what our visual target is (near pec, sternum, far pec) and what are strike points are (near shoulder, sternum, pecs, far shoulder).  We will teach the proper steps, visual targets and strike points for a base drive block, reach block, cut off block, down block and a variety of pulls.  We will also teach the steps, targets and strike points used in pass protection versus an inside alignment, head up alignment, outside alignment and wide outside rusher.

These techniques have led to our teams setting rushing, passing and scoring records as well as win championships at both the high school and college level.  I am also proud to announce that we have seen the same results at the schools who attend the Alercio OLine Clinic.

Click on the brochure image to the right to get your Alercio Oline Clinic application, fill it out, send it in with your tuition, and join us at the Hun School of Princeton on March 25, 2018. Early bird rates are still available and will again discount individual tuition for teams sending five (5) or more players. As in the past, Coaches may attend for free.

This past weekend, I joined thousands of coaches from all over the country in Orlando FL for the USA Football National Conference.  I was honored with the opportunity of presenting a “chalk talk” with my fellow coaches.  My topic was 1 Scheme…Multiple Plays.  In front of a large crowd, I shared our best run blocking scheme (Counter/Dart) and a variety of runs we call with it to both the running back and quarterback. 

Yes.  Counter and Dart are the same scheme for us.  It is a man scheme.  Playside Tackle blocks #2 on the LOS (DE), Playside Guard blocks #1 on LOS (DT), Center blocks Middle to Backside LB (Mike), Backside Guard blocks #1 on LOS (DT), Backside Tackle lead pulls to block 1^st Playside LB (Sam) and Tight End blocks #2 on LOS backside (DE).  All plays run to the side of the Running back are Counter.  All plays opposite the back ‘s alignment are Dart.  By incorporating motions, we shared a dozen of our best plays all blocked the same way by the offensive line.  The philosophy of our run game is to let the OLine play with confidence and the ball handlers have fun.  We ran this scheme 98 times for a total of 763 yards this season.  That does not include the times we called the scheme but threw Bubble, Smoke or an Isolation Route.  We averaged 7.8 yards per run with this scheme.  Moreover, our starting quarterback averaged 9.3 yards on QB Counter/Dart and our starting running back averaged 8.2 yards per carry with the Counter/Dart Scheme.  I shared the Jump Set technique we use when man blocking a defender with an outside alignment (Playside Tackle with a 5 tech or Guard with a 3 tech) to influence him upfield and away from the point of attack.  I showed how the Center combos with the Guard who has an A gap defender and the technique as well as the communication used for the Pulling Tackle.

The discussion carried on long past my allotted time with coaches who had other thoughts on how they could incorporate this philosophy into their offenses.  Later that night, I was invited to join coaches from New Jersey, Ohio, Arkansas, Texas, and California who had also presented.  We shared ideas, plays, and philosophies until late into the night.  We will be incorporating some of those ideas in our Spring practices.

Please join us on March 25th at The Hun School in Princeton, NJ for our 17th Annual Alercio O-Line Clinic. We’ll be talking individual and team techniques, as well as strategies and tactics for teaching and coaching the very same methods and plays that were the foundations of St Johnsbury’s 2017 Vermont State Championship.

Click on the brochure to download yours, sign up, and join us in Princeton.

Although this is a non-contact camp, we recognize that there is the risk of concussion with the sport of football.  For education materials on concussions please visit the USA Football at www.usafootball.com

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss team building, 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 your time!