O Line Skills

Our summer training opportunities begin this weekend with the Vermont Alercio OLine Clinic and are followed with 3x/week OTAs (Organized Team Activities) beginning on Monday.  This time of year players will often establish goals.  S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym used as a mnemonic device to establish criteria for effective goal setting.  SMART Goals stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.  The problem with goal-setting is that it is so often heavily outcome-oriented when it should more appropriately be process-oriented.  

Process-oriented goals focus on the actions and behaviors you need to execute to achieve your desired outcomes.  Unlike outcome oriented goals, which are centered on the end result, process oriented goals emphasize the journey and the steps required to get there. 

If you want to be the best Offensive Lineman on your team or be a Lineman on an all-star team, plan to attend an offensive line clinic teaching the techniques necessary to achieve that goal. If you want to bench 300lbs or run a 4.5 second 40yd dash, your goal should be to attend all summer workouts and give your best effort each session.  If you want to be a captain, set a goal to be the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. Alongside best effort and excellence, personal example is the best leadership tool in a student-athlete’s kit.

Whether goals are big or small, short-term or long-term, focusing on the process rather than just the outcome allows you to create a sustainable path toward your goals and ultimately long-term success.  

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! 

Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor U.S. military personnel who died while serving their country. It’s a time for mourning and reflection, and since Congress passed a law in 1971, Memorial Day has been observed on the last Monday of May. Many honor Memorial Day with visits to cemeteries and memorials. Others honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice with their own acts of service, kindness, or meditations on gratefulness for the country and culture we enjoy.

In an effort to preserve the memory and legacy of one special Navy SEAL who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, I (an many others) did the “Murph Challenge” this past  Memorial Day weekend.  The Murph is a fitness challenge consisting of a 1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, and a 1 mile run wearing a 20lbs vest done for time.  It serves as the official annual fundraiser of the LT. Michael P Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation.  Since its inception, the Murphy family has raised over $2 Million to support the educational needs of children.  LT Murphy’s favorite saying was “Education will set you free.”

As teachers and coaches, we hold the keys to freedom through the transformative and liberating power of knowledge.  The education we provide in the classroom, on the field, or in the gym breaks down barriers, opens up opportunities, and empowers children to lead fulfilling lives. There may be little any one of us may encounter that compares to the adversity Mike Murphy endured, but our investment in others has the potential to pay the same kinds of dividends that emerged from the investments of time, attention, care, and learning Mike poured so generously into those who knew him. 

When we invest our time and effort into a scholarship fundraiser or into the education of the youth in our communities, we follow the example of Service Members like Lt Michael Murphy, and invest in a brighter and more equitable future for all.

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 often heard Nick Saban talk about his opening speech to players each year in Training Camp when he shares “if you want to be happy for an hour, eat a steak.  If you want to be happy for a day, go play golf, If you want to be happy for a week, go on a cruise.”  Then he goes on to say, “if you want to be happy in life, ask yourself one question, would it matter if I didn’t show up?”  

Coach is talking about a sense of purpose, being someone who can improve the lives of others, and being a part of something bigger than just yourself.  That is how I feel every time I drive away after the conclusion of one of my OLine Clinics.  This past Sunday I was blessed to be able to have what I hope was a small positive impact on the lives of 60 kids.  As I drove off the campus of West Orange High School in New Jersey for the 5.5 hour drive home, I did so with a profound feeling of personal fulfillment. The same feeling I had last month after coaching nearly 200 kids at the Hun School of Princeton NJ.  The same feeling I have had for over 20 years and 5,000 kids.  I had invested in these student-athletes… poured into them the way my coaches poured into me… That feeling never gets old, and I hope those older coaches who invested in me and are looking down from heaven, do so with a sense of satisfaction that their legacies continue in the works of others. 

Jackie Robinson is quoted as saying, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”  I like to eat a good steak, play a round of golf, and would enjoy a cruise; but those transient pleasures do not come close to the joy derived from positively impacting the lives of others, having a purpose, and being a part of something bigger than myself.

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 preparation for this Sunday’s (May 19^th) bonus Alercio OLine Clinic at West Orange High School in West Orange, NJ, I’d like to share a letter Coach Jim Meert sent following April’s OLine Clinic at the Hun School in Princeton, NJ.  Coach Meert’s sentiments perfectly encapsulate what makes offensive linemen and OLine coaches so special:

“Coach, Once again I wish to thank you and congratulate you on a most successful O-Line Clinic.  It is one of my most anticipated events each year.  Our guys always benefit.  It is most helpful to me by giving me an early opportunity to evaluate our upcoming line candidates.  To see how quickly and effectively they take to coaching.  I have learned a lot about our kids by watching how they do at the clinic.  Most importantly they come away from your clinic with confidence that they have the tools and techniques needed to win.  

Use this QR Code to register for Sunday’s Clinic in West Orange NJ!

I was coached by Joe Moore (the namesake of the award given annually to the best college Offensive Line) when I was in college and he was the head coach at Upper St Clair in Pittsburgh.  He is one of my mentors and I often visited with him when he was at Pitt and later at Notre Dame.  I asked him what separated him from all others coaching the offensive line.  He told me ‘Because I can watch a kid’s feet for 3 hours and never get bored.’  

There are only a few line coaches who have this capacity.  You are certainly one of them.  I’d like to believe I am another.  Coach Moore also taught me the greatest joy that can be achieved in life is, ‘moving an opponent from point A to point B against his will!’ I have found that to be true.” 

Coincidentally, 40 years and 40 lbs ago, I had a photo of Coach Moore and his Pitt OLine, which included my favorite, Bill Fralic, hanging in my home gym.  It served as inspiration for what I wanted to be then and now.

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! 

The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. They bring a rich culture and a long legacy of family, and kinship. The Māori have a saying: “The way the sapling is shaped determines how the tree grows”.  In my blogs, I often reflect on how my mentors have shaped my life and my path, but as we go into this weekend let us reflect and show thanks for our very first mentors in life…our mothers. 

This Sunday is Mother’s Day, and a wonderful opportunity to honor and show appreciation for the love, guidance, and sacrifices the mothers (and mother figures) in our lives so freely give.  It is a day honoring the important role mothers play and the positive impacts they have in shaping our lives. I am who I am today because of the mother I was blessed to have, and my sons are who they are because of their mother.  

Think of all our mothers are asked to do/endure… They are asked to carry us as we develop, give birth to us, and give care during infancy while late guiding and directing us as toddlers, children, and young adults. All the while, they know the end goal of all this effort is to turn us loose into what can be a cold cruel world where we have to fend for ourselves. Though they may rather keep us close and safe, they bet on us to have benefitted from all the love and care they’ve shared over the first two decades, to sustain us over the six (if we’re lucky) that will likely follow.

It’s an incredible ask… and one only our mothers answer and sacrifice to deliver.

Let this be your reminder to mail a card, send a gift, make a call, schedule an outing, or just plan to spend some time together with your first mentor in life.  How do you plan to celebrate Mother’s Day this year?

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! 

While attending the Atlantic City Glazier Clinic this Winter, a coach from Western New York came up and introduced himself saying he saw me speak several years ago and has followed my blog since.  He went on to say that the one he most enjoyed is the blog describing how we draft our own team every year around the same time as the NFL draft. He and his staff implemented the practice and look forward to the annual event.  

This week our coaches are given an alphabetical list of every eligible returning player on our team.  They are then tasked to play Mel Kiper and return the list to me with each player listed in their order of “Best Available Player.”  No other criteria is provided. Coaches are free to use whichever parameters they value to generate their list.  If I have done a good job in clearly defining the shared values of our culture, the lists should not differ drastically.  But coaches are human and they always seem to favor their position players.   

The NFL draft is a crucial part of the building of NFL teams.  It allows them to replenish their rosters with new talent and address areas of need.  For us it allows us to create a “Best 11” list which in turn helps us to determine possible personnel packages on offense as well as fronts and coverages on defense.  

We also address any outliers.  When most of the staff has a player listed within one or two slots of the others but another coach has that player considerably higher or lower, conversations must follow to see why that coach listed the player where they did.  This can clear up or identify any issues with players or staff members with ample time before Training Camp to address and rectify them.   

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 was recently contacted by Darnell Grant, the highly successful Head Football Coach at West Orange HS in New Jersey.  When Coach Grant was the head coach at Shabazz HS in Newark, he and his players regularly attended the Alercio OLine Clinics at Kean University.  He wanted to know what it would take to get me to come down to West Orange to clinic his players.  After discussing some details, he asked if his brother Barris, the equally successful head coach of Hillside HS, and his players could also attend.   He went on to say that there are a lot of other coaches who would love to attend so we decided to host another New Jersey Alercio OLine Clinic.  I will be heading back to the Garden State and West Orange HS on Sunday 19 May for another iteration of the Alercio OLine Clinic.  

Coach Grant who is a Trustee of the New Jersey Minority Coaches Association will be promoting our clinic date at the NJMCA 3rd Annual Coaches Clinic he is hosting this Saturday 27 April from 9am-1pm on the campus of West Orange HS.  To show my appreciation for all the good work Coach Grant does, a percentage of every player’s registration fee at our 19 May clinic will be donated to the NJMCA.   More on the NJMCA Clinic here:

Before we close this week’s post, I’d like to offer a special thanks to my wife, Kim, for giving us the green light on this special Clinic. Kim works the registration desk at our OLine Clinics and is also our staff photographer.  The West Orange Clinic weekend is our anniversary, but she said “Go do what you do best, and I will help you do it.” How lucky am I to have such a loving and supportive “Teammate” for a wife? As I often note about teammates and the kind of culture we hope to create, my Teammate, Kim and I are far stronger together than either of us could be alone.

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 past Sunday nearly 200 young men gathered at the Hun School of Princeton, under sunny skies to learn and train their OLine Skills at the 22nd Alercio OLine Clinic. By all accounts, it could not have been a better day.  These aspiring student-athletes were attentive, focused, hardworking, and enthusiastic.  For four hours they learned new skills in a large group and then trained these tactics in smaller groups allowing their coaches to make any necessary changes in their steps, body positions, visual targets, or strike points.

I often hear in education that the one disadvantage of technology is that it has made the kids of this generation lazier, or at a minimum easily distracted.  With nearly 200 cell phones tucked away in backpacks and gym bags on the sideline, this generation of student-athletes was exemplary and would rival any of the best generations of the past.  The only cell phones seen were those of their coaches taking photos and videos of players for future training reference. I’m sure many will also provide players fond memories of a Spring day in the sun where common goals united a diverse spectrum of talents and backgrounds to prove just how potent teammates can be when they set personal interests aside for the good of the team. Those young men and their coaches have plenty to be proud of.

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 past Sunday nearly 200 young men and their Coaches attended the 22nd Alercio OLine Clinic at the Hun School in Princeton, NJ. Athletes and Coaches from all over the Mid-Atlantic came together to learn, train, and share the tactics, techniques, and procedures for success in the coming season.

In a historic milestone, viewership of the Women’s NCAA Championship surpassed the men’s final for the first time ever. According to CNN, the women’s game attracted an astonishing four million more viewers than the men’s, and the women’s semi-final drew a larger audience than any 2023 World Series game.

Such remarkable success is a testament to both the exceptional quality of play and the dynamic personalities involved. Caitlin Clark, the likely number one WNBA draft pick, delivered record-breaking performances throughout the year, while Dawn Staley, Head Coach of the University of South Carolina, guided her team to the coveted National Championship.

During the post-game interview, Dawn Staley shared her wisdom on nurturing young talent, saying, “You’ve got to let young people be who they are, yet you’ve got to guide them and navigate them in a way to help them find success.”

We’ve discussed how different generations respond to various coaching and motivation techniques. The tactics that resonated with Generation X may not resonate as effectively with today’s Generation Z (and the soon-to-follow Generation Alpha.)

This weekend, as we gather at the Hun School in Princeton, NJ, for the 22nd iteration of the Alercio Oline Clinic, we’ll heed Coach Staley’s advice and guide our players to the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) they’ll need to excel this fall. We’ll delve into the finer points and nuances of feet placement, body position, visual targets, and strike points while explaining how and why these TTPs lead to success. Furthermore, we’ll prepare, explain, show, observe, and supervise physical execution, as well as teach elements of character, resilience, and mental toughness.

Our program aims to develop both physical and mental tools, offering guidance and a vision for future success both on and off the field for years to come.

Come join us this Sunday! Quite literally, decades of Alercio Oline clinics have proven that players and coaches alike benefit from a day on the field together. With a few spaces still available, you can be a part of this enriching experience, too! (Click here to Download this weekend’s Brochure!)

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!