O Line Skills

At St Johnsbury Academy, we are in the final days of school.  Senior capstones are behind us and finals are only a week away.  On June 4, we will graduate 14 seniors from our undefeated state championship team.  On June 11, we will begin our summer Organized Team Activities (OTAs).  In Vermont, we have the good fortune of not having too many restrictions on our summer schedule.  We train 3 nights a week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday) for six weeks.  I know it is a lot to ask but we believe that giving players and families weekends and Fridays off, makes it more palatable.  We do not make OTAs mandatory, although our players and their parents understand that the work we do in the summer is what allows us to win in the fall.  As we have said for the 5 years I have been at the Academy, “games are not won on weekends in the fall”.

We also structure every session of the week to be different to keep our players interested.  Mondays are Power days in the weight room followed by OLine practice.  Tuesdays are Speed days on the field followed by 7v7 practice.  Thursdays are Strength days in the weight room followed by 7v7 practice.

We will work our Stance, Steps, Visual Targets and Strike Points at every one of our 6 OLine practices, then do a specific scheme (Zone, Dart, Pin & Pull, Slide, Boot, Sprint) each week.  During the 7v7 practices, we will install a different passing play each night and work our Match Zone coverage concepts vs that play.

At the end of the 6 weeks, we host our weeklong minicamp culminating with our 7v7 tournament and OLine challenge.  Last year we welcomed 10 teams from Vermont and New Hampshire to our campus for the event.  When the event is over, we give our players and their families 2 weeks off before we report to training camp.  Every one of our families knows the first 2 weeks in August are their time for vacation.  By providing families with the weekends off and scheduled vacation time, we get great parental support throughout the summer months and strong attendance at OTAs and camp.

This has allowed us to change our motto from “games are not won on weekends in the fall” to “championships are not won on weekends in the fall.”

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!

How do you perceive Marv Levy and Bud Grant?
As coaches, it is important to realize that we can impact the outcome of games but we cannot control them.  Thus, we cannot let the results of games or seasons define us as coaches or individuals.  During the month of May, I will be recognized at two banquets with Coach of the Year Awards after winning the 2017 Vermont Division I State Football Championship.

Such recognition and reputation can be a fickle thing. We were a play away from me joining Marv Levy (Buffalo Bills) and Bud Grant (Minnesota Vikings) as head coaches who regularly took their teams to championship games but could not win them.  We had earned our way into the championship game in 2014 and 2016 but came up short in both.  In 2017, we relinquished a comfortable halftime lead and had to make a stop late to win the game.  We made our stand on the 11-yard line, with 11 seconds to go, to win the game.  We made the stop… and I am elected Coach of the Year.  If we did not make that stop, I would have lost 3 state championships in 4 years.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m both flattered and thankful to be recognized by my fellow coaches. I’m thankful we had such a tremendous group of dedicated players, coaches, families, and a community who supported us. But I’m most thankful this game and this school give me the opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of our student-athletes and gives me the opportunity to pay forward the investments so many great coaches made in me. Super Bowl wins or not, my guess is Marv Levy and Bud Grant might say the same thing.

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!

I received an email from a coach in Oklahoma last week who had heard one of my podcasts on USA Football.  He was intrigued by the cultural changes we made at St Johnsbury Academy turning a perennial underachiever into a team competing in the Vermont Division I state championship game three of the past four years.  He went on to inform me that he had just been offered the head coaching position of a team that had 0 wins in 2017 and then requested a conference call to discuss his next steps.

After discussing several of the changes we implemented centered around increased self-image and performance standards, we turned our focus to the limited amount of contact we have at practice.  I informed him that on our run to a state championship, we only had two varsity players miss a total of two games due to injury.  We had a running back get a grade one AC separation in his shoulder by landing on the ball while being tackled during our 4-minute offense win in week 3, and we had a lineman miss our first-round playoff game with a mild concussion he received during our last regular season game.  We had NO practice injuries this year.  We never go live and never tackle in practice and we were a very good tackling team.  He was intrigued when I informed him that we only dress in full pads on Tuesdays of game week.  There is no need to wear all your gear when you do not go live and it allows you to practice and play at a much faster pace.

He shared his struggle with the mentality of players, parents and area coaches who insist that they need to go live in every practice and include Oklahoma drill stating that the drill is named after their state for a reason.  This coach recognizes the futility of running drills that benefit only the biggest and strongest players while driving away kids who are not initially prepared for such collisions as they are introduced to the sport.

I suggested such an abrupt change in philosophy might also be a catalyst accelerating his teams’ recognition of a fresh start. I look forward to working with this coach as he changes the culture of his program and hopefully his area of Oklahoma.

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!

I have been blessed to have worked with great coaches in my career who have shown me the right way to do things.  Even after coaching for more than 30 years, I will still consult my mentors from time to time when I am in need of advice or direction.  One of my greatest sources of pride is when I receive calls, emails or texts from former players soliciting advice on something in their lives or with their teams.  Years of speaking at clinics and producing instructional videos have given me the opportunity to be a resource for coaches from all over the country.  Being a resource for others is one of the most rewarding parts of our profession.  I regularly send information and schedule calls or visits with coaches to discuss schemes, concepts, culture, or model something we have done in our program.  If there is something I can help you with, do not hesitate in contacting me.

Finding a  mentor might seem like a daunting task, but it need not be. Odds are you have people in your life with the potential to help you grow personally or professionally.  Think about the aspects of life, work, or a program element you’d like to improve and ask yourself who seems to be doing those things well? Ask them to get a cup of coffee, go for a run, or get on a call and relay their perspective on the topic and some of the lessons they’ve learned. Open-ended questions beginning with “What, Why, and How?” often open the door to perspectives you might not otherwise expect.

Another suggestion this time of year is to find a local college team and get their spring practice schedule.  Most programs are very open to high school coaches visiting their practices, sitting in on staff and player meetings, talking with strength staff and observing practice and game video.  These visits could turn into a member of that college staff being a mentor to you.Although I know many great coaches who take advantage of this regularly, it is far too often I talk to a coach who has never visited a college practice.   The football community’s willingness to share is one of the most valuable aspects of the game. Coaches and staffs commonly open practices, schemes, video libraries, and other resources. Take advantage of the open door and willingness of others in our profession to share knowledge, and when the opportunity presents, do the same for others.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss team building, 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!

Time is our most precious non-renewable resource…

One of my biggest pet peeves in coaching is something I observe far too often.  Coaches who do not coach every minute of practice.   In my role as an assistant athletic director, I get the opportunity to observe a lot of practices in a wide variety of sports, during the winter and spring seasons.  Everyone is now doing some type of dynamic warm-up and static stretch cool down, but not everyone takes the time to coach it.  Coaches seem to use that warm-up time to converse about the practice schedule, which should have been finalized long before, or they play catch with each other.  During post-practice stretch, they review the practice that is not yet over.  This sends a clear message…Warm up exercises and stretches are not important.  That festers into players thinking that some parts of practice are important while others are not.  Every minute of practice time is precious. As coaches, we are privileged to be in leadership roles, and our personal example is the single best leadership tool in the kit.

If it is worth doing it, it is worth doing it right.  Coach the proper biomechanics.  If an ankle is supposed to be dorsiflexed, see that every athlete is doing that on every rep.  This will demonstrate to your athletes that attention to detail and strict performance standards are critical to your team.  Further, you expect their best effort in everything they do all the time. If you expect their best effort, you’d better be giving them yours!

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss team building, 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!

This week’s post comes from a guest contributor, Jim Feely, who shares his perspectives on our successful offensive line clinic held at the Hun School of Princeton on March 25th. Jim is a former player and long time colleague of mine who has seen the Alercio OLine Clinic evolve over the years. He’s followed the OLineskills Blog and when he asked to contribute, I was happy to oblige.

Take it away Jim!

More than 200 student-athletes and 50 coaches from New York and New Jersey joined us at The Hun School in Princeton New Jersey for the 17th annual Alercio OLine Clinic. Having taught, coached, and mentored football players for more than 30 years now, I relayed with confidence the challenges young men have in learning the tactics, techniques and procedures essential to success on the offensive line. I’m often frustrated by media personalities who refer to quarterbacks, running backs, and receivers as “skill positions.” Most young men learn the basics of throwing, running, and catching as part of growing up. However, successful offensive linemen begin with fundamentals they’ve never considered and build upon them techniques foreign to nearly all except those who study the game.

 For more than four hours Sunday morning, football players and coaches focussed on foot placement, body position, coordination, balance, vision, and more than a dozen nuanced elements of offensive line play. During conversations between sessions with coaches Jim DeSarno, Westfield HS, and Ed Gurrieri, Manalapan HS, perennial New Jersey state powers, both coaches noted they have been to every one of the seventeen Alercio OLine Clinics we’ve hosted over the years.  It is my sincere hope our clinics have in some small part contributed to the multiple state championships they have won. Regardless of our clinics’ impact,  I think it is more a statement of their commitment to player and team development and a testament to players commitment to the programs.  It is no wonder they have so much success.

Some of the young men who joined us are pictured below:

Special Thanks to my good friend and fellow Coach Todd Zimmerman from Steinert HS, in Hamilton, NJ, for taking pictures of this year’s participants.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss team building, 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!

As we prepare for the 17^th Annual Alercio Offensive Line Clinic, I share how it all started.  In 2001, I was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at The College of New Jersey.  At the end of the season, one of our offensive assistants, Jim Meert, who had great success as the head coach at Hunterdon Central, pitched the idea of hosting an offensive line clinic for players.  He cited that the techniques and schemes we used would benefit all high school players and noted many high schools do not have an OLine Coach capable of teaching them.  I thought it was a great idea until he shared that he wanted me to run it in March…

At first, I thought he was crazy.  These types of player camps/clinics are always run in the summer months.  His thought was that football players and coaches are starved for football in the spring and unlike college, high school players and coaches do not have spring practice.  He then suggested we target a weekend between winter and spring sports and do it on a Sunday so that there are no other athletic related conflicts.  The more he talked the more it made sense.

I created a brochure and began promoting the clinic when I spoke and Glazier and Nike Clinics.  I was thrilled when pre-registration hit 100 players but I was not prepared for what was to come on the day of the inaugural Alercio OLine Clinic.  We had over 200 offensive linemen from all over New Jersey walk up to register.  The day’s attendance totaled 333 players and dozens of coaches.  Jim’s bold idea proved to be a success and I am proud to say that we have coached over 5,000 offensive linemen from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vermont.

Please join us this Sunday, March 25, at the 17th Annual Alercio OLine Clinic where more than 300 linemen and coaches will focus on the fundamentals and teach all of the run and pass techniques and schemes your players need for success.

Click on the brochure image to get your Alercio Oline Clinic application, fill it out, send it in with your tuition, and join us at the Hun School of Princeton on this Sunday, March 25, 2018. We will again discount individual tuition for teams sending five (5) or more players. As in the past, Coaches may attend for free.

Last week amidst all sorts of weather in the North East and Mid-Atlantic, we were fortunate to find ourselves in Florida for our son’s spring training baseball game.  At the end of a great visit, we received a text message from Jet Blue saying “all flights to Boston Logan were canceled due to the storm.” The next available flight was in three days, which was not an option professionally or financially… We were able to get on a flight that night to Newark with hopes of getting a train to Logan where our car was parked.  While in the Orlando airport, we discovered all trains from Newark to Boston were canceled. Further, no rental cars were being let out and all hotels near Newark airport were booked.  It sounded as if we were going to spend a couple of days in Newark airport until we ran into one of my son’s FDU baseball teammates who was also on our flight.  Unfortunately, he was leaving spring training early to attend his grandfather’s funeral.  As coincidence would have it, the funeral was just outside of Boston.  He was driving there the next day and agreed to bring us along.  He also offered us a ride to his home and gave us a place to stay.   This young man just transferred to FDU and joined the baseball team.  We had never met him before.  He just said that he remembered seeing us at the stadium the day before, but when he heard a teammate’s family was in need of help, he stepped up.  These are the relationships so quickly cultivated through athletics…  In developing character and dependability, we teach our student-athletes to “do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason.” This young man clearly is the product of great parents and coaches.  

2018 Alercio O-Line Clinic

Please join us this Sunday, March 25, at the 17th Annual Alercio OLine Clinic where more than 300 linemen and coaches will focus on the fundamentals and teach all of the run and pass techniques and schemes your players need for success.

Click on the brochure image to the right to get your Alercio Oline Clinic application, fill it out, send it in with your tuition, and join us at the Hun School of Princeton on March 25, 2018. Early bird rates are still available and will again discount individual tuition for teams sending five (5) or more players. As in the past, Coaches may attend for free.

Although this is a non-contact camp, we recognize that there is the risk of concussion with the sport of football.  For education materials on concussions please visit the USA Football at www.usafootball.com