O Line Skills

The NFL Combine kicks off this week.  Prospects will be measured for height, weight, arm length, hand length, body fat percentage.  They will be tested for speed, strength, power, and agility with a 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, shuttle, and 3-cone drill.  Then they will take an intelligence test to measure cognitive ability and problem-solving aptitude.  

On the field, football players need to react to ever-changing circumstances, solve complex problems, and make sound judgment calls all under time constraints.  (A great training ground for the events and pressures players will face later in life.) Playing football requires a great deal of concentration, resourcefulness, and spatial reasoning, all tested by the NFL with the Wonderlic test.  The Wonderlic test, created in 1936, contains 50 math, vocabulary, and reasoning questions.  Each question is worth 1 point and a score of 20 is considered average intelligence.  A good score is 26+.  There has been one perfect score; a Punter from, as you might expect, Harvard.

The average scores by position reveal that the Offensive Linemen score the highest on the Wonderlic. Offensive Tackles average a 26, Centers are a close second at 25, Quarterbacks come in 3^rd with a 24, and Guards round out the top four with a 23.   Although it may surprise some, it comes as no surprise to us OLine guys who have for years served as the quiet professionals who consistently deliver performance without pursuit of accolades or attention. 

Come learn more about OLine play and the quiet professionals who excel in these roles at the Alercio OLine Clinics at the Hun School of Princeton (NJ) on 23 April and St Johnsbury Academy (VT) on 11 June.  (Register here: 2023 Alercio O’Line Clinic 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! 

The Golden Rule is to treat others the way you want to be treated.  The biblical pretense to the Golden Rule comes from Mathew  “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”  But there is a better way to treat people.

In celebrating Valentine’s Day this week, I am reminded of a test a life-long friend and high school teammate once shared with me.  The love language test that I encourage everyone to take with their spouse or significant other (link to the quiz follows below). Reviewing your spouse or partner’s results allows you to better understand how they want to be treated.  You will learn despite your best intentions, he or she may want something very different from you. Whether acts of service, words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, or gifts, once you understand their perspective you’re more likely to deliver on the intent behind the golden rule.  

Just such a lesson was reinforced early in my career when I was coaching (in a very loud and direct voice) a player we recruited out of a rough neighborhood.  After practice, he very courageously approached me and said that he had some bad life experiences with males yelling at him and that if I yelled, he would just tune me out.  I was coaching him the way I liked to be coached and not how he wanted to be coached. If I wanted his best, I needed to shift my perspective. 

One of the superpowers I think we as coaches (and many of us as adults) can cultivate is empathy. Empathy starts with believing in the dignity of others. If we believe in others’ dignity, we’re predisposed to giving the benefit of the doubt and investing in their wellbeing. Part of the investment is in getting to know the player, student, mentee, etc., and understanding where and how to engage, motivate, and guide them to achieve more than they ever believed possible.

In returning to the Golden Rule, I think it’s fair to say we’d like to be treated in ways that best help us realize our potential, and we should apply a similar lens to those in our care or influence.  Ultimately, we both end up better for the effort.

More on the Love Language Quiz here: Love Language

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 week’s blog comes as a follow-up to last week’s discussion of Cost Benefit Analysis and how we try to assess the “benefit” of a given play during games vs the “cost” to install and refine plays during practice. I’ve noted on several occasions how fortunate we are as coaches to enjoy a culture of shared knowledge and experience amongst coaching colleagues. The following response once again reinforces my point.

Coach Frank Francisco, a longtime friend, mentor, and author of “Evolution of the Game: A Chronicle of American Football,” responded to last week’s blog offering the following:

Coach,

This is not meant, in any way, to be critical of your recent OlineSkills blog. What you are doing is a great approach.  I’ve always been a strong believer in doing a “post-season self-scout.” A lot of coaches move right on to the next year with only a cursory, subjective evaluation without doing any real cost-benefit analysis. However, I have found the analysis doesn’t always provide an accurate measure of play success vs. input/practice time.  I’m going to give you some things to think about using additional variables that might increase the accuracy when coaches measure play success. 

Measuring Success:  Five yards on third-and-4 are more difficult to get and consequently more valuable than five yards on first and 10; and much more valuable than five yards on third and 12.  Red zone plays are probably worth more than plays in other locations of the field. Certainly, it is easier to gain five yards in the middle of the field.  There are a number of other factors that can differentiate one five-yard run from another.  Are you up by two scores in the fourth quarter (4-minute offense) when the play is called, or are you down by two scores (2-minute offense) and trying to catch up? Also, a play gaining five yards vs. the defending state champions is more difficult and more valuable than five yards vs. a team ranked near the bottom of your league. 

Coach Francisco, a former Division 1 coach, offers a much deeper dive into play analysis.  Referring back to my college statistics class, I have used descriptive statistics for play analysis which summarized data using indexes such as mean, median, and mode.  Coach Francisco’s ideas offer additional value or weight to a given situation and the potential to attribute greater or lesser benefit over the course of a season. Although a more complex and potentially arduous process in play evaluation, his inferential statistics approach should yield more accurate predictions from the data, and offers an interesting point of comparison.  

As February’s arrival signals the heart of winter here in the Northeast Kingdom, perhaps some time perusing spreadsheets and statistics will help us prepare for Spring practice and better reinforce 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! 

As an Economics major in college, I learned to use cost-benefit analysis as a systematic process of evaluating the outcome of a decision by weighing its potential benefits compared to costs.  In business, those costs and benefits are most frequently expressed in monetary units.  In football, and particularly offense, the costs are the investment of time and attention, and the benefits are yards, touchdowns, and ultimately wins.  

Every postseason, I evaluate how many times we called a play, the mean, median, and mode of yards gained per play, and the efficiency of each play.  Efficiency is determined by the play earning 4+ yards, a first down, or a touchdown.  That determines the relative benefit of a play.  The cost is determined by how much time it takes to install or teach the play in meetings and how much time is allotted in practice to work on the techniques and schemes associated with a particular play.  Simply stated, plays that do not yield high averages, efficiencies, or touchdowns are not worth investing time in (particularly if the play is “expensive” costing us a great deal of coaching time.)

This past season we learned that we must evaluate an additional cost:  The investment of time into backup players.  We believe we invest equally in the mental, physical, and emotional development of all of our players in meetings and training sessions, but this season proved we have not invested adequate time to back-up players in practice.  The 2022 season was fraught with injuries at multiple positions forcing us to take a “next man up” approach every week.  The next man may not be as big, strong, fast, or skilled as the starter, but he must be equally prepared.  

In 2023, we need to be more resilient. We need to be able to “take a hit” to the team’s overall ability, yet bounce back and remain competitive. I plan to ensure we invest more time in practice for our backups to get repetitions, build proficiency, and ultimately resilience. Along the way, we’ll also focus on resilience as a character trait, noting that life may require us to bounce back from an unexpected “hit,” and in doing so, continue to help our student-athletes carry lessons from the field into their future.

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 Alercio OLine Clinic dates for 2023 are set.  We will be returning to the Hun School of Princeton NJ on Sunday 23 April and St Johnsbury Academy VT on Sunday 11 June.  Both clinics will run from 9am – 1pm.  

There is a saying in football that games are won in the trenches.  The 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.  A skill, as defined by Wikipedia is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both.  We teach the coordination and execution of learned physical tasks that allow linemen of any size to achieve both individual and team success within a given amount of time and energy.

The 2023 electronic brochure and registration form can be downloaded here: (OLINE CLINIC BROCHURE).  Team discounts are available and coaches are always welcome to attend at no cost.  As stated in last week’s blog. I plan to spend more time leading, teaching, and mentoring student-athletes.  The Alercio OLine Clinics afford me the opportunity to do that for hundreds of high school and middle school-age student-athletes every year.  I feel blessed and honored that so many players and coaches continue to attend my clinics.  

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! 

Many of us are familiar with the tradition of a “New Year’s Resolution.” A quick Google search indicates that more than 90% of resolutions in the U.S. are fitness or weight loss related, and less than 10% last more than 90 days (most in fact, last a month or less).

A close friend shared the notion of an annual review, rather than a resolution, and I’m intrigued by the idea. The review he shared comes from Shane Parish at the Farnum Street blog and encourages us to ask ourselves some questions as a guide to assessing aspects of our lives from the last year and using the assessment to make conscious decisions about things we want to add or reinforce in our daily lives, and things we should consider eliminating (or at least reducing). Some of Shane’s questions help us look at our day(s) from a different angle (If a film crew followed you all day, what would you want the crew to film? What would you definitely not want them to document?) The questions are thought-provoking and introspective.

Tim Ferriss, the author/owner/host of one of the most popular podcasts available, suggests conducting a review by making two columns: Positive and Negative, and then looking through your calendar (by week) and noting the people, activities, and events or commitments triggering peak positive or negative emotions, placing those items in its respective column in order to clarify the things we want more or less of in the New Year. Tim suggests reviewing the Positive column, identifying the 20% of things that brought the most joy or satisfaction, and planning more of those items into your annual calendar right now. Similarly, walling off or refusing the 20% most negative. More from Tim’s blog on Annual Reviews here: Tim Ferriss’ Past Year Review.  

So much of today’s marketing and media communications bombard us with messages of “the new (thing, service, product or practice)” that if we only add, will solve all our problems. Of course, as soon as we pay for and add that new item, we’re reminded of its looming obsolescence and how “version next” is really the answer…  However, the reviews proposed by Parrish and Ferris encourage us not to “add new,” but rather reinforce the goodness we already have, and consciously minimize the negatives.

When I think about my own review of 2022, I clearly want (and am actively planning) more time with family, more time leading, teaching, and mentoring student-athletes, and more personal time outdoors (I’m amazed by the energy and renewal I derive from skiing, hiking, and time in the sunshine!). I’m also looking for ways to minimize time inside behind my desk, time spent worrying about things outside my control, or contending with others whose negativity saps my energy.

What’s in your review for 2022, and what are your plans for ’23?

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 am honored to join an outstanding lineup of college and NFL coaches speaking at Championship Football Clinics Annual Offensive Line Clinic on 16 January (MLK Day) in Bergen County, NJ.  I will share the schemes and techniques used in our Screen Pass Options. While I have shared this presentation at the USA Football National Conference, Nike Coach of the Year Clinic, and Glazier Clinics in the past, I will do a deeper dive into the specific techniques used by our offensive linemen on the plays. It’s often said, “Football is a game of inches,” and I’m excited for the opportunity to cover the nuances giving offensive linemen advantages that can turn inches into yards.

As I have mentioned many times in previous blogs, the most remarkable thing about the coaching profession is the willingness coaches have to share their knowledge.  I have used the analogy that when two people meet who each have a penny and share their pennies with each other, they walk away still possessing only a single penny.  But when two people meet and share ideas, they each walk away with two ideas: each far richer for the experience.  

This clinic also affords me an opportunity to listen and learn from two of my favorite offensive line clinicians, Kyle Flood from the University of Texas, and Pat Flaherty formerly of the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars.  I have learned much from these professionals over the last three decades and anxiously await hearing what they will share on Monday 16 January.  

For more clinic information regarding registration, speakers, topics, and location click on the Link here: Registration

On another note, it’s hard to believe it’s been six years and more than 275 posts on olineskills.com. I’d like to take the time to say thanks for coming along on the journey, engaging in dialogue and discussion, and affording me the opportunity to share with you the same way so many others have shared with me. I wish you all the best in 2023!

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! 

May this Holiday season find you surrounded by an abundance of the Five Fs: faith, family, friends, food, and football.

I look forward to continuing our conversation in the New 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! 

During the season of giving, sometimes the best gifts come at no cost.  They come in visits, phone calls, texts, emails, or in this case a poem. Gifts from the heart, filled as much with creativity as with gratitude.. 

This week I received a framed photo and poem from the mother of one of our players.  We did not win a championship this year.  No rings… No plaques…  No medals. None of the outward-facing things so often attributed to success in this game, but I am so wonderfully reminded of the intangible rewards coaches so often attribute to their love of the game and their role.

This poem, titled “Layers of Coaching“, by Karen Stark is 2022’s trophy.

I’m in awe of the creativity and thoughtfulness Karen shared in her words. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to coach our players and to work alongside a fabulous staff. Karen’s “Layers” analogy holds true whether across the weeks of a season, or nearly four decades of coaching experience. Layers of experience… of games won and lost, lessons learned, teams, players, parents, staff… Most of all layers of gratitude. I remain extraordinarily thankful for the opportunity to be a coach. To lead, guide, and direct student-athletes, and pay forward the investments others made in me.

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! 

At our year-end banquet, we send our seniors out in style and hope to leave memories that last a lifetime.  My favorite part of our football banquet is when I invite our assistant coaches to the podium to recognize the seniors they had the privilege of coaching.  Each coach gets the honor of speaking on behalf of one or two of their seniors and presenting them with their senior gifts.  Each senior receives a replica helmet signed by every player and coach, the banner representing them that hung in our stadium during their Senior Day game, and a Christmas ornament with their name and number they can hang on their tree for many years to come. 

We trust the Coach’s words reinforce the positive impact players had on our program and leave them feeling good about their impact on our team, culture, and teammates. Further, we hope the mementos offer a frequent poignant reminder of the pride they felt being a part of something bigger than themselves.  

Forty years ago, at a very similar end-of-season banquet held in December 1982, I received a golden football player ornament with my name and number on it. For four decades, I have smiled while hanging that ornament on our tree. Almost instinctively,  my kids always knew to leave that one for daddy.  And each time, as I find the perfect spot on the tree, the memories of my time at Toms River North, the friendships forged in the locker room, hallways, and fields; the hard-fought victories earned under the lights, and the sense of pride in being a Mariner all come flooding back…  The years may come and go, but the memories last a lifetime.

Forty years from now, I hope former players across the nation (and perhaps the world) smile, remember, and hang their ornaments amidst a flood of positive emotions and pride in having been a Hilltopper.

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!