O Line Skills

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! 

Back at it after a week’s break.  I hope you and yours enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know my family and I are so extraordinarily grateful for all the blessings we enjoy.

This weekend we will gather for our annual football team banquet.  We will recognize our seniors, letter winners, and all-conference players.  Then we will turn our focus on our superlatives.  While on the surface, it may appear we just recognize the recipients, most of whom are seniors moving on from our program. We are simultaneously laying the groundwork for the development of our returning players and the years to come.  

We incorporate one of the basic rules of psychology; rewarding the behaviors you want repeated.  Each reward is designed to encourage returning players to achieve peak performance and reinforce cohesion and commitment.  Communicating these behaviors that everyone needs to demonstrate helps the team to achieve success, not just the individual.   The following rewards provide an effective and uncomplicated means for reinforcing quality behaviors: Scout Team Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Most Valuable Lineman, Most Valuable Ball Carrier, Most Valuable Player, Coaches’ Award, and Hilltopper Award.  While the first five are self-explanatory, the last two allow us to showcase those behaviors we most covet. The Coaches’ Award goes to the student-athlete we feel is one of the most coachable and selfless members of the team. The Hilltopper Award recognizes the student-athlete who we think most embodies the attributes of our culture while bringing energy, effort, and enthusiasm to every event.

Although not specifically called out during the banquet, it’s important to note we do not omit awards for scholastic achievement.  The National Football Foundation banquet later in the year honors the combined academic and athletic best of the best from schools throughout the state.  

The vision, values, commitment, and courage we cultivate directly reflect who we hope to be as both individuals and as a team. Recognizing and rewarding those who best represent the Hilltopper culture reinforces the very best of our aspirations on the field, on our campus, and in our community. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, when you reward the right behaviors, you guarantee repeat performance. 

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 previous blogs, I’ve commented a few times on the relative size difference between the rearview mirror and the windshield, and how focusing on what’s ahead is often most important. That having been said, there is value in the occasional look in the rearview, as elements of the past readily inform the future.

Just as we study film after each game, I encourage the coaching staff and me to think about lessons learned over the course of the year. What did we do well? What can we do better? From Winter conditioning, through spring practice, summer OTAs, Camp, and through the season we recently concluded. Each phase of team building contributes to the whole.

There are elements of X’s and O’s, play calling, and scouting, as well as leading, training, and mentoring our players and staff. Assessing the last year’s efforts and experiences enables us to reinforce success and minimize (ideally eliminate) friction. While it is unlikely we’ll find identical circumstances in the coming year, there will be analogous situations and I am reminded of the maxim, “if history doesn’t repeat itself, it sure does rhyme.”

Before we turn to future tasks and begin building the Hilltopper team of 2023, we’ll take stock of the lessons we learned in 2022, and hopefully, they’ll help us sharpen the picture of all that lies ahead.  

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! 

Legacy and tradition underpin many aspects of teamwork. A few weeks ago we played (and won) the 117^th playing of “The Game,” one of the longest-running high school rivalries in the Nation.

Today, November 10^th, marks the 247^th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. I have a few close friends and several former players who are Marines. It’s true there’s something special about the men and women of The Corps, their character, culture and traditions.

In celebrations worldwide, Marines will gather to share a meal and for dessert, a traditional cake. Tradition dictates the oldest Marine present gets the first piece, and he or she then passes on the piece to the youngest Marine present, symbolizing the passing on of knowledge, experience, and legacy. Last week I noted our tradition of senior players relaying their most memorable places on the field, and sharing their legacy with those who will follow.

In 2009, I was fortunate enough to participate in the Marine Corps’ Educators Workshop, traveling to Parris Island, SC., getting a taste of Marine Corps boot camp, participating in training, and learning firsthand about the Marine Corps mission of Making Marines, Winning Battles, and Developing Quality Citizens.

I’d like to think we’ve successfully patterned our program along the same lines, and as coaches, we make teammates, win games, and develop student-athletes who go on to become quality citizens in their own right.  We teach and encourage the same leadership traits and focus on concepts like service and interdependence.

Happy Birthday, Marines! Long live the Corps!

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 4 of our first 6 seasons, prior to the pandemic, St Johnsbury Academy advanced to the State Championship game. Given the forecast conclusion to the season, we planned and executed a celebration of our seniors’ last practice.  While we’ve made the playoffs in every other season, if we don’t make it to the championship, the playoff loss stops the advance, ending things abruptly, and without celebration.  

During those years, when we knew it was our 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. One player went off the field to a spot just inside the stadium where he said he made his first friends after moving here.  Another went behind the goalposts where he used to shag extra points for the varsity when he was only a freshman. One of my all-time favorites was a player who went to where we break down after every practice and say “brothers.”  He went on to explain that location is where he first felt like he was a 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 through the line of players with eyes filled with tears.   

This tradition is too special 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!  

On a rare 70-degree, late October day in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, quotes from Nelson Mandela and Sir Andrew of Scotland provided the pre-game motivation spurring our team to a 48-14 victory over our rivals in the 117th playing of “The Game.”

As we noted last week, these two small towns have one of the longest-standing rivalries in the country, and both communities turned out to continue the legacy of competition and camaraderie.

Two nights before the game during our team’s traditional steak dinner, I shared a quote from Nelson Mandela with our team: “Do not judge me on my successes; judge me on the times I fell down and got back up.”  The quote perfectly describes our season that began with two monster wins against state powers, only then to be derailed by a rash of injuries and subsequent losses. 

I followed by letting our players know that it was during those defeats and not the wins that I saw the true character of our team.  We played hard regardless of the score or time left on the clock.  No one pointed fingers.  Teammates, staff, and fans alike encouraged the back-ups who were thrust into starting positions due to those aforementioned injuries. In some cases, a player’s first experience saw him lined up against a larger and stronger veteran opponent, yet able to muster the courage to meet the task at hand. I told them how proud we all are of their commitment to the team, each other, and our Hilltopper culture.

A father of one of our seniors, who was serving dinner to the players that night and was also inspired by the Mandela quote, shared one of his favorites in an email later that night:  “Fight on my men,” Sir Andrew said. “A little I am hurt, but not yet slain. I’ll just lie down and bleed a while, and then I’ll rise and fight again.”  

The next day, on stage in front of a packed auditorium, I shared both of those quotes with our student body during our pregame pep chapel.  Later that evening at the alumni social, one teacher told me she had never seen the auditorium so quiet and students so engaged as they were during that speech. No phones… no side chatter… just focus.

The words from those two great men inspired our players on the field, but more importantly, I hope they continue to inspire them and their classmates for many years after they leave the Academy.  

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 weekend will be the 117th playing of “The Game.”  St Johnsbury Academy and Lyndon Institute have been playing this football game since 1894.  In 2013, USA Today polled to determine the country’s greatest high school football rivalries.  “The Game” won Vermont, New England, and the East, and took fourth in the nation.  

The week leading up to “The Game” is dubbed Spirit Week. Students decorate hallways and a float for the parade.  On Thursday night, the football team has a steak dinner served by the seniors’ parents at our local Elks Club.  On Friday night, a parade down Main Street returns to campus for a bonfire.  After the fire, everyone in the community is invited to the school cafeteria for a pizza party.  After that, it is adults-only for an alumni reception back at the Elks Club.  

This rivalry not only brings out the best in both football teams but also showcases the best of our schools and communities.  Church steeples in both towns are lit in school colors. Players, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, and others join in the activities and share camaraderie and spirit originating nearly 130 years ago. Deep ties to legacy are alive and well, and this is what high school football in a small town is all about.  

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!