O Line Skills

Focus on the Fundamentals…

We begin our summer Organized Team Activities (OTAs) this week.  During the next 6 weeks, my blog will discuss how we teach/train our offensive linemen during that period.  Although we have returning players, we teach OTAs as if it is the first time we are installing it.  While the next few weeks topics are likely a little heavy on X’s & O’s, the focus on fundamentals and establishing a foundation of success is the consistent theme. Back to basics!

During week 1, we introduce our Man Scheme.  Man schemes differ from our Zone and Gap schemes in that we block a particular person regardless of play direction and defender alignment.  In its simplest form, the Guards block #1 on the line of scrimmage (Defensive Tackles in a 4 down front), Tackles block #2 (Defensive Ends).  The Center blocks the middle or backside Inside Linebacker (Mike) often in combination with one of the Guards if their #1 impedes the Center’s path to Mike.  The Running Back blocks the 1^st Linebacker to the playside (Sam).

In Week 1, we introduce QB Iso, Lead, and Draw.  For our OLine, all 3 plays are blocked the same (simplifying the scheme breeds early success and confidence!).  Only the backfield action differs.  Iso is a downhill QB run to the side of the running back’s offset alignment.  Lead is run to the side of the line of scrimmage opposite the running back’s alignment.  The QB rides the running back as he would on inside zone then follows him.  Draw is run to the side of the running back like Iso but is done with a pass set by the running back and a drop step by the quarterback.

Offensive linemen can use drive blocks or jump sets.  The jump set can only be used if the defender has outside alignment (ex. 3 tech on a Guard or 5 tech on a Tackle).  On the Jump set, the offensive lineman takes a base run step with his inside foot but makes a pass set with his upper body.  The step defends the inside gap.  The show of “high hat and hands” in the pass set invites the defender to get into a pass rush and has him remove himself from his gap responsibility opening up running lanes.

Examples follow:

You’ve read here how we reinforce the mantra “Championships are not won on Saturdays in the Fall.” This back to basics approach to teaching fundamentals is the next step in our process of reinforcing who we are and how we think about our roles, responsibilities, and commitments to the team. While understanding and appreciation of individual assignments are imperative to getting the play right, I’m equally focussed on helping teammates recognize their interdependence in pursuit of collective 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 your time!

Seize the Day

There are lots of inspiring quotes from great historical leaders. I came across one years ago that I have on the wall outside the door to my office.  It gives me daily motivation and reminds me of the responsibilities I carry forward.  Another is placed for our players to see as they exit our locker room.  It inspires our team throughout OTAs, Camp, and the season. I hope it gives you and your team the same inspiration:

“This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I do today is important, because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever leaving in its place something I have traded for it. I want it to be a gain, not a loss; good, not evil; success, not failure; in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it…a day of my life.”

Little reminders matter, and reinforcing themes of teamwork, purpose, and sacrifice are daily reminders of who we want to be as teammates, and who we aspire to be as a team. These quotes remind us of our team’s culture, our role, and our privilege to earn a place on this team and carry forth its legacy.

What reminds you to be a worthy teammate in your team, club, job, or family?

Find a quote, an image, or another reminder to reinforce the culture you aspire to be part of and set out each day with a reminder to be your very best!

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!

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!