O Line Skills

Thanksgiving is more than an indulgence in a festive meal…More than Holiday travel… More than cardboard Pilgrims and Turkeys at the grocery store or elementary classroom…

Thanksgiving is a day of unity, appreciation, gratitude, and reflection… A day for families and friends (both old and new) to gather with loved ones and acknowledge the many blessings in their lives…

I encourage all to put some patient thought into their circumstances. While we must all undoubtedly endure uncertainty, adversity, and setbacks, focusing on what we have rather than what we lack fosters a sense of fulfillment and contentment. In preparation for the day, put some thought into a person, place, thing, experience, activity, and blessing you are thankful for. Take some time between turkey legs, pumpkin pies, and casseroles to truly recognize and account for the many blessings we enjoy.

Then… after the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie are put away, let this serve as a reminder to live every day with a heart full of appreciation and gratitude, and seek opportunities to engage, enrich, and empower the lives and success of others.

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!

With the 2023 season behind us, we begin our off-season with 1-on-1 meetings with every player to discuss their reflections on the season, seniors’ plans for the future as well as off-season and next-season expectations for those expecting to return next fall.

The meetings revealed a common thread of communication from many underclassmen when asked why their production on the field was minimal in the first half of the season but maximal in the latter:  “I lacked confidence in the beginning,” was the most common refrain….

In my 35 years of coaching, I have never heard such an epidemic proportion of a lack of confidence… 

In recent years, I have had concerns that student-athletes are overconfident due to so many (helicopter or snowplow) parents telling them how wonderful they are every time they accomplish a minor task.  (Growing up in an era where everyone gets a trophy…) Perhaps I need to reevaluate how I distribute praise to players to make them feel more confident going into the 2024, season.  

In a recent “Knowledge Project” podcast episode, Shane Parrish, the host is speaking with a guest about resilience, and in particular, parenting for resilience. In doing so the conversation turns to how parents (or coaches) characterize a child through feedback. Telling a boy or girl they are “so smart,” “so brilliant,” or “so talented.” Has the potential to sew seeds of overconfidence, and set children up for a shock when confronted with the reality of being “relatively average.” (Remember, on a planet with nearly 8 Billion people, a child who is truly “one in a million,” has 8,000 more kids out there, just like him/her)  

Rather than overcredit some attribute like intelligence, talent, or athletic ability, parents (and teachers or coaches) are much more likely to breed resilience with comments like, “You’re such a hard worker,” “You don’t quit when things get tough,” or “Others may have given up, but not you,” has the potential to instill confidence in a child’s ability to overcome adversity rather than unfounded belief in what may ultimately prove to be less than pure excellence in talent.

To Quote Mahatma Gandhi, “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.  If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it.  On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”

I continue to believe in the potential for football to help inoculate student-athletes and teams against adversity, loss, and fear. Nonetheless, as coaches, we have the responsibility to set the conditions for a player’s and a team’s resilience, and ultimately success on and off the field.

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!

As we discussed in the two previous blogs, a loss in the playoffs ends the season abruptly and without celebration.  During those years when we advanced to the State Championship game, given the obviously forecast conclusion to the season, we planned and executed a celebration of our seniors’ last practice. 

We established a tradition where we would all meet in the middle of our field and invite the seniors to go to their most memorable spot on the field.  The underclassmen make notice of each senior and his/her location.  Then the seniors are asked to return to the team and explain where they went and why it was so meaningful. 

For some, it is the spot of their first start, first tackle, or first score.  This year, one player, who played for us as a freshman then stepped away for two years before returning for his senior year, went up into the bleachers. He later explained that is where he was during games his sophomore and junior seasons.  He shared that he had a lot of fun cheering on the team along with his classmates but that there was something missing.  He needed to be a part of something special… Part of something bigger than himself… Part of a family.

After the last senior shares their story, the underclassmen line up in a gauntlet at the edge of the field so they can have one last hug and share parting words with each senior as they make their way off the field one last time as a football player. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard a senior with tears in his eyes say to an underclassmen, “This team is yours now, and it’s special. Treat it with care and respect. Before you know it, you’ll be passing it on to someone yourself. Make sure they treat it with care and respect too…” 

This tradition is too extraordinary to only do on those years when we reach Championship Saturday, so now we come out to the field on the first Monday after our last game.  Regardless of how far we advance in the playoffs, our seniors are celebrated, their legacy passed on, and the tradition continues.  

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!

Coaching legend, Hal Mumme, recently shared a great post from another great, Hugh Yaughn:

 “If you’ve never played football, you could never truly understand what it means to put those shoulder pads and helmet on for the very last time.  Football can never be duplicated, NEVER.”

While I agree in general with Hugh’s statement about football, I do not think putting them on for the last time is as nearly impactful as taking them off for the last time…

As I referenced in last week’s blog, most players never realize it is their last game.  For me, it was on the field at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA.  I vividly remember everything about that moment when I pulled off the pads for the very last time.  

Over the past three and a half decades, I have played pick-up basketball, Rec league softball, competed in triathlons, played golf, tennis, racquetball and pickleball, enjoyed alpine and Nordic skiing in the winter, and wakeskating in the summer, none of those things will ever replace what it felt like to be a football player; a part of, and belonging to, something so much bigger than myself.

I don’t in any way want to minimize the experiences of those who derive satisfaction or meaning from those (or other) endeavors. I simply want to convey how in my experience as a player, and now observing more than 30 team evolutions as a coach, the dissolution of a team, and the loss of belonging, as the season closes is real. We’ve talked before about Professor Tuckman’s teambuilding steps of “Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing…” and I’ve also heard it suggested a fifth step, “mourning,” could be added to complete the cycle as the team experience concludes.

Players feel something special when they put on the uniform. It’s an overt declaration of purpose, shared vision, shared goals, and shared meaning between those who have endured adversity and enjoyed success. The culture we work so hard to instill and sustain lives on in the team, and will echo in the lives of those who have been teammates. However, when they take the uniform off for the last time, a little bit of their identity dies…  While in most cases, aspects of identity are reborn in new endeavors, the change from saying “I am a football player,” to “I was a football player,” is a loss worth mourning.

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! 

It is playoff time for the high school football season and we are blessed with a home playoff game.  Win and advance.  Lose, and the season is abruptly and unexpectedly over. That is the reality of the playoffs.  As they used to say at the beginning of every Wild World of Sports episode when I was growing up, “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”  Unfortunately, the latter awaits for most.  

We have been very fortunate to have made the playoffs in every season at St Johnsbury Academy, but in only one did we finish with a win, raising the championship trophy.  All others ended with a loss.  In two of those seasons, that loss was the first of the year.  Once again… the reality of the playoffs.  For the great majority of players, their last high school football game will be a loss, as only one ascends to the championship.

Our job as coaches is to prepare them for the win.  The win provides the gift of another week together, another game to play, and another week to be a football player.  If we link enough of those together, maybe just maybe we can be the fortunate ones to finish with a win, once again raise a trophy, and celebrate all we’ve achieved together.  

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This weekend’s game is the focus of effort, and we will take it like we have every other contest this season… one game at a time. Each teammate contributes to the whole… We work together to support one another, shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, and doing so with joy in our hearts because we are a team of character, perseverance, and together, far stronger than any of us would ever 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! 

On Saturday at 1 p.m., St Johnsbury Academy will host Lyndon Institute in the 118th playing of “The Game” as it is known here in the Northeast.  “The Game” dates back to the Fall of 1894, making it one of the oldest football rivalries in the nation.  In 2013, USA Today conducted an online poll to determine the country’s greatest high school football rivalries.  “The Game” easily won the Vermont, New England, and Eastern Regions before finishing fourth in the nation.

This week the campus and the entire St Johnsbury community are filled with Spirit Week activities.  Students will work on class floats for the parade, prepare skits for the Pep Chapel, decorate hallways, and collect cardboard for the bonfire.  There will be dedications to football players in the local media, the light in the clocktower will shine green to reflect our school color and alumni will gather for social activities sharing old stories until late into the night.   Alumni representing many decades fondly recall their contributions to such traditions, and this year’s freshmen through seniors seek their opportunity to contribute to traditions they’ll look back on decades from now.  It is truly the best of small town USA.

Please join me in wishing well all those who have contributed to this great tradition, and best wishes ahead to all who will contribute this Saturday and for years 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! 

29 days and 540 miles driven between home football games…A brutal schedule to start the 2023 season. 

The term “home field advantage” is often used in sports and is a crucial factor.  The comfort and familiarity of the home environment can boost a team’s confidence and performance. Players are accustomed to the routine, field surface, and lighting giving them a sense of comfort and control that can translate into improved focus and execution.  The spirited support of the home crowd can also be a game changer.  The energy and enthusiasm of passionate fans can create an electrifying atmosphere, motivating players and intimidating opponents.  Moreover, logistical advantages such as reduced travel can contribute to home-field advantage.  

When Sir Henry Bishop wrote “ ‘Mid pleasures and Palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble there’s no place like home,” he was undoubtedly not referencing sports teams; but after watching the outstanding performance of our team after all those days and miles, I know exactly how he must have felt the moment he penned those words.

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 top right-hand corner of the whiteboard in my office are the words “Culture Trumps Everything.”  It is a daily reminder of the importance of the people in the program over all else.  Below I share a recent email from a longtime coach:.  

I get asked fairly regularly why this program, or that program, is so much better than others that have the same number of kids or even may have fewer kids.  Inevitably my answer is usually coaching, their feeder programs, and the support from the AD/Admin or the community.  There are exceptions to that rule but good coaching matters.  Reminds me of the plaque we had to memorize when I was a player at Mass Maritime quoting Joe Kennedy Sr.

I’d say the same of football coaches

In his book “Principles,” Ray Dalio, Chief Investment Officer of the world’s largest hedge fund, states, “The WHO is more important than the WHAT.  Focus on being the best person you can be, and surround yourself with like-minded people. That is a formula for success.”

Jim Collins in, “Good to Great,” when analyzing some of the world’s best-performing companies emphasizes “…get the right people on the bus…”

Each of these examples is about “The Team,” and teammates’ and coaches’ commitment to shared values, shared purpose, and shared vision. I find it comforting to see these commonalities across a variety of teams even though they’re focused on widely varying endeavors.

Circling back to football (and tangentially to “the finest ships afloat”), this Friday night Sept 29^th, Alumni teammates from seven different decades will gather in Annapolis, MD to see Navy’s Sprint Football Team take on Mansfield University. (Sprint Football is full-contact varsity football only with a weight limit). When I think about the commonalities of culture and culture’s importance in underpinning success, it’s not surprising to see so many former players who collectively represent so many victories on the playing field, the battlefield, and in life, return to the cradle of their culture and celebrate its legacy.

What kind of culture do you cultivate?

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 weather wreaked havoc with Vermont high school football’s week #2, and the shortage of officials made the situation even more challenging.  

Vermont Teams had three games cut short and not rescheduled.  One of them was declared a tie.  Another game took three days to complete.  It was scheduled for Friday, rescheduled for Saturday, then again on Sunday.  Our team made the 2-hour drive across the state to Colchester and our only time on the field was for pregame warm-up.  Lightning struck just as captains were lining up for the coin toss.  We spent 2 hours in their gym as kickoff was pushed back 30 minutes with every strike of lightning.  One might think this situation would be disappointing, aggravating, or frustrating, but our team’s reaction was just the opposite.  Our players asked if they could bring in a Bluetooth speaker and get the bag of footballs so that they could play music and toss the ball around for as long as it took to resolve.  It became an opportunity for our team to bond, to have fun together, and to just play as friends.  

As lightning continued and 9pm approached, both schools agreed to postpone the game until Sunday at 11am.  Saturday was not an option as we could not secure officials.  Our team remained spirited for the 2-hour return home then showed back up early Sunday morning for Round 2 with the same enthusiasm.  At a time when people traditionally gather for church services, we were taking the field to play a football game.  I was initially concerned with how the long weekend of travel coupled with the early Sunday morning would impact our performance, but my concerns were eased quickly.  This past Friday night’s storm brought us a silver lining: our time bonding and playing together paid off with a cohesive and impressive road win over a good team.  One of the benefits of mutual struggle is that it brings people together.  Sharing privation and being thrown into a difficult situation with others facilitates the bonding process.

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!

Two mottos I have tried to live my life by are “no job is too big or too small” and “leave things better than you found them.”  Both of those were exemplified by a fellow coach after our home opener last year.  After a Week #2 win over Middlebury High School, I walked through both locker rooms to see everyone was cleared out before heading home.  There was one person left in our visitor’s locker room, the Middlebury head coach, with broom in hand, he was sweeping the locker room floor.  We have always tidied up before departing the visiting locker rooms but have never taken it to that level.  

Recently, I started reading the book Legacy and discovered the inspiration for sweeping the locker room.  The book is the story of the New Zealand rugby team the “All Blacks,” a team with three Rugby World Cup victories and one of the most successful teams in match play. I’m amazed by the simplicity of some of their traditions, and the lessons they impart.  After games, their senior leaders pick up a long-handled broom and sweep their shed.  They make sure to do it properly so that no one else has to.  Both personal example, and attention to detail matter. The “All Black,” leaders both believe and demonstrate that if they have personal discipline in their lives, they are going to be more disciplined on the field. In a world of highly paid (and often pampered) professional athletes, no job is too small, and no detail goes unnoticed.

So this weekend as the Rugby World Cup kicks off in France, and we have our first road game of the season,  I will have to add a long-handled broom to our travel checklist so that we can leave Colchester even better than we found it. 

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!