O Line Skills

The principle of Occam’s Razor states that one should not make more assumptions than the minimum needed.  It also states that the simplest solution tends to be the right one.  Although Occam’s Razor is intended to be used to solve a complex problem with competing hypotheses, we use it to determine our summer 7v7 installation schedule.

What could be more complex than a teenage boy trying to decide which of 5 receivers he should throw the ball to while they are being covered by 7 opponents? Even more problematic, we coaches have a funny way of making things more difficult than necessary…

We love to prove (largely to ourselves) how smart we are and how much football we know.  Unfortunately, as I have stated in earlier blogs, it is not about what you know.  It’s is about what you can get your players to understand and execute.

As we prepare our summer 7v7 installation schedule, we need to keep in mind we will have a new quarterback this season.  Therefore, we need to minimize assumptions and simplify solutions.  Regardless of how much we may like a play or pass route combination, if it does not fall into one of our three basic Quarterback read categories, it will not be installed.

Similarly, regardless of the backfield action, we group every route combination into one of three quarterback read categories:

• Triangle Reads
• Curl-Flat Middle Reads
• Level Reads

We have 42 different route combinations that we can lump into these three reads.

42 route combinations are a complex problem for defenses, but we “simplify” them for our Quarterback; tipping a hat to Occam’s Razor.

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.

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We are very proud of our 2017 state championship and our 3 state championship game appearances in the past 5 years.  We are equally proud of our Gatorade player of the year and USA Today Offensive and Defensive players of the year, but what we are most proud of is something very few people know.

On Sunday, May 5 the Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation hosted its annual scholar-athlete banquet.  The foundation provides 6 scholarships to the top student-athletes in the state every year.  They also provide scholarships to the most courageous athlete and the recipient of the Community Service Award.  In the past 3 years, St Johnsbury Academy Hilltoppers have captured 5 of those scholarships.

We have had one of the top scholar-athletes in each of the past 3 years (2016-Collin Urie, 2017-Jasper Rankin, 2018-Renwick Smith).  In 2016, Shane Alercio captured the Most Courageous Athlete scholarship for battling a rare vestibular disease called Dandy’s Syndrome that negatively impacts balance and ocular tracking.  This weekend, Jake Cady took home the Community Service Award for his efforts in creating a non-profit called Team Sullycat which has raised over $40,000 to help support families battling cancer.

Our players are champions on the field, in the classroom, in the community, and in life.

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.

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Last week’s NFL draft allowed teams to pick their Jimmies & Joes for the upcoming season.  Some teams followed last week’s football saying…culture trumps talent.  The Giants clearly prioritized culture over talent when they traded away one of the most talented players in the league earlier this year.  They also went with culture with their #6 pick in the draft.  Not to say that Daniel Jones is not talented, but he is most definitely the best cultural fit of this year’s QB choices due to his relationship with the Mannings.

A year ago, I shared a blog detailing a practice we do at St Johnsbury Academy.  Draft your own team.  You are the General Manager and every player on your roster makes up the list of available players who have declared for the draft.  Create your 15-20 player draft order. After you are done, invite your assistant coaches to do the same; but do not share your draft order with them prior.  Their draft order will tell you a lot about them and what is important to them.

They may go with best available, positional need, cultural fit or all of their position players.  It is also interesting to see how yours differs from theirs, and theirs from each others’.  If all of your coaches understand your culture and their values reflect yours, one should find little difference between all of the draft orders.  Once you and your staff have the draft completed, you may find the opportunity to discuss culture and values, as well as assess positional changes to ensure the best 11 are on 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 your time!

Last week I shared a saying in football “it is not the Xs & Os it’s the Jimmies and Joes.

This week I share another football saying, “culture trumps talent.”  

That is not to say that a good culture can overcome poor talent, but it is most definitely true that poor culture can destroy a team with great individual talent.

Do your players and your team’s values, beliefs and attitudes reflect what is most important to you?  What are you doing to create a strong culture within your team? Our culture hinges on shared perspective around 4 key components:

* A shared understanding of the environment – “We know what we face”

* A shared vision of where we are going – “We know what we have to do”

* A shared set of organizational values – “We are in this together”

* A shared feeling of power – “We can do this. “

We layer lessons about individual character traits; Integrity, Loyalty, Trustworthiness, Selflessness, and others to inspire teammates, foster commitment, and reinforce interdependence.

While you are putting your schedules and practice plans together for summer OTAs, Mini Camp and Training Camp, be sure to include team building activities into your plan and make certain that your coaches are on the same page.

The plays, schemes, and techniques we teach our players will serve them well through the season but will soon be forgotten.  What you teach them about being part of a team and putting others above themselves will serve them for the rest of their lives.

A strong culture will make them champions on the field, and champions in life.

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 your time!

“You’ve blown our minds.  We have been old school blocking up front.  You have caused us to rethink everything. We are changing how we do things starting now.”

This is what a fellow Vermont coach told me after the first hour of the inaugural Alercio OLine Clinic at St Johnsbury Academy.  He was not familiar with the concept of identifying leverage of the defender in relation to the ball, then determining the appropriate step, visual target, and strike points to execute a block.  

We shared these concepts with 47 players and a dozen coaches including our rivals from Lyndon Institute.  Although our two schools have competed against each other for over 100 years, on a Sunday in April, our players worked alongside their players, and our coaches worked with their coaches to make both of our teams better.  For just one day, we all played on the same team.

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 your time!

On Sunday March 24, the Hun School of Princeton will host the 18th annual Alercio OLine Clinic.  For almost two decades, we have taught over 5,000 players from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland the techniques and skills of offensive line play.   We will welcome perennial state powers who bring dozens of players every year as well as individual players who come all by themselves representing some of the smallest schools in the region.  We also open the clinic to any coach at no cost.

Those in attendance will learn the following:

• 2 & 3 Point Stances
• Run Steps:  Base, Reach, Angle and Bucket
• Pass Steps:  Kick and Power
• Run & Pass Punches
• Visual Targets & Strike Points for Run and Pass Blocks
• Run Blocks:  Base, Reach, Combo, Double Team
• Pulling Techniques:  Flat, Lead, Skip
• Run Schemes: Man, Zone, Gap
• Pass Sets
• Slide Pass Protection

It is a pet peeve of mine when my fellow coaches refer to quarterbacks, running backs and receivers as “Skill” players.  I have 3 boys and all of them have been able to throw, catch and run with a ball since they were 2 or 3 years old. Those things listed above are skills that have to be taught, trained and mastered in order to achieve success.  

We’re only days away from the 2019 OLine Clinic in New Jersey and a month from the clinic in Vermont!

Get your brochure here: 2019 OLINE CLINIC BROCHURE.

You can also find an Alercio OLine Clinic brochure on XandOLabs accompanying an article on our Screen Pass Options: SPO Article

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 your time!

“It’s not about what we think or feel… I care about what we see.” 

That is something I have told coaches on my staff for years.  We do not make decisions regarding playing time or position on depth chart based on emotions or personal feelings.  All decisions must be evidence based. As Vince Lombardi said, “Potential is interesting, Performance is everything.”

Our Defensive Line and Tight End Coach, Travis Bugbee, came back from the Boston Glazier Clinic with the term EBD (Evidence Based Decisions).  We are implementing that term during our Spring practices.  It is a much simpler way of stating what I have said for years.  

As teachers and coaches, it is natural for us to feel for those kids in our charge who work the hardest or have endured the most hardships, but we must put those feelings aside when decisions need to be made. Each of us volunteers to put team before self and acknowledges decisions will be made on evidence and in the best interest of the team. Easier said than done, but as a coach, we have the responsibility to establish, cultivate, and reinforce the culture our team espouses. If we tell our players, parents, and staff EBD is the basis for decision making, one can bet all eyes will be on decisions and our actions and personal example must reinforce our words.  EBD will be repeated often in our football office as we come out of Spring Ball and evaluate our current roster.

We’re only one week away from the 2019 OLine Clinic in New Jersey and a month from the clinic in Vermont!

Get your brochure here: 2019 OLINE 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 your time!