Famed Grant High School coach Mike Alberghini talks Pacer Pride and his stroke recovery
Mike Alberghini could work a sideline at a brisk pace. He could, with animated discussion, work over a referee if one didn’t see it the same way. And he could peel paint seemingly by just shouting at it.
In his nearly 30 years as the Grant Pacers head football coach, Alberghini was the red-faced, blue-eyes-bulging head of the monster, leading some of the greatest teams and greatest players in the biggest games. He implored his players to back the Pacers motto of toughness, togetherness and resolve.
Now, the old coach is challenging himself to get back up, to keep fighting, to overcome. Coach Al is coaching himself.
Nearly 14 months after suffering a debilitating stroke, Alberghini, 77, spoke to The Sacramento Bee about gratitude of family and friends and his football legacy. He has one eye on the CIF state championship-bound Grant program he elevated to championship heights all those years ago, now coached by men he mentored, and he has the other eye on a plan to regain his old form.
Alberghini is used to being in charge, but he can only will his body to do so much. Still, he likes his chances to win this game. Old Pacers fear nothing.
“I’m getting a lot stronger every day,” Alberghini said. “I’m walking better, getting around. I’ve got a ways to go, but I’m very fortunate. It could’ve been worse.”
Alberghini called the Grant district home and the Pacers his kids as a teacher and coach for over 50 years. He was the head coach from 1991 through the 2021 COVID spring season in which the Pacers went 2-0, giving him a Sac-Joaquin Section record 282 victories.
Alberghini, of course, was more than just a coach. He was a father figure, a taskmaster, an ear for any student who had a problem. He walked the Grant campus with a wad of keys, a baseball cap on top of his head, his bloodshot eyes making contact with all comers, and he fired off one-liners. He would remind student-athletes they could make anything of themselves they wanted as long as they committed to it.
He gave players rides home. He fed them. He counseled them. When Grant lost a student to gun violence, he consoled others, and sometimes their parents. When Grant team leader and senior JJ Clavo was gunned down before a 2015 playoff game in a mistaken-identity tragedy, it was Alberghini who had to break the news to a heartbroken campus and community. Clavo died in Alberghini’s arms in the Grant parking lot.
Days later, when the playoff game was rescheduled to a Monday night, Alberghini was moved deeply to see the entire Grant football field, which now bears his name, was lined by players and coaches from all across the region. It was a sea of school uniforms and bowed heads, a powerhouse reminder that the region was there to stand with the Clavo family, the Grant community and Coach Al.
It pained Alberghini that the Grant administration turned to longtime assistant and former Grant student-athlete Carl Reed to lead the football program starting in 2021. Alberghini was upset with the administration, hoping for one more season. Grant principal Darris Hinson invited Alberghini to remain on staff as an advisor, but he was adamant that it was “Carl Reed’s time.” The invite to return as an honored guest remains.
Reed went 0-9 in his first season in 2021, which irked people enough that at least one planted a for-sale sign on his front lawn.
But Grant’s return to power was swift and added another chapter to the Pacers’ legend and lore. Alberghini has cheered their run from home, following highlights and reading game stories and profiles. Grant last season won the CIF state 3-AA championship on its own turf in Del Paso Heights, and now the Pacers are back in another state final. This time, they are in the Division 2-AA game on Friday afternoon against La Serna of Whittier.
“I’m very happy for Grant, the coaches and players,” Alberghini said. “That coaching staff is full of former Grant players, and those kids live for that school.”
‘The greatness of Al’
Reed has regularly credited Alberghini for being the one who got this dynasty rolling with section title teams in 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2014, and a lot of near misses. Grant’s 2008 team was the torchbearer for section football, winning the region’s first state championship.
Grant was The Bee’s Team of the Decade — and Alberghini the Coach of the Decade — for the 1990s and 2000s. Coach Al’s greatest impact wasn’t so much on the field on game day. It was helping mold lives. and sometimes saving them from the allure of the streets.
“That’s the greatness of Al,” said Reed, who’s co-coach, Syd Thompson, is also a former Grant player. “I call him the GOAT, and I had to replace the greatest of all time. Year 1 was a struggle for me here, no wins, but we got it going again. Coach Al gave me my shot. I tell new coaches here that not everyone gets to do it like me. Coach Al hired me right away to be on varsity. I didn’t have to pay JV dues.”
Chris Nixon coached against Alberghini as an assistant coach at Elk Grove in the 1990s and then later as head coach. He now leads the Sheldon program.
“If someone told me that Alberghini was the greatest football coach this area has ever seen, I’m not sure I have an argument against that,” Nixon said. “I have a hard time thinking of any coach I’ve coached against who I’ve admired more. You never wanted to speak next door to him at a coaching clinic. DoorDash some burgers and eat because nobody would be in your room. They all went to see Mike.”
Nixon said Alberghini wasn’t just a motivator. He was a superb coach.
“He was an expert at shutting down the Wing-T,” Nixon said. “It literally took an Elk Grove team with guys like Lance Briggs and Ryan Dinwiiddie to beat the Pacers in the last minute of an epic 1997 City Championship game that could have gone either way. I was calling plays into Mike’s brick wall.”
Nixon added: “The respect was always there for how he sustained a great program for so long under sometimes unimaginable circumstances. Elk Grove and what seemed like every other program was there for Mike and his team on that Monday night to honor JJ Clavo. That was how much area communities loved him and Grant High School. There are plenty who thought when Mike walked away the program will fall apart. Then people thought they were right for a few years. But what the dude really did was set the table with the good China and fancy napkins. That’s what the great coaches do — pass it on.”
Tommie Williams was by Alberghini’s side for each of his head coaching seasons, a team pastor, a spiritual coach, a friend and a statistician.
“Coach Al helped so many kids off the field, and people in Del Paso Heights love that man,” Williams said. “But I was so upset that he wasn’t coming back that I stepped away from the program. I called Al, and he told me I was a big part of those kids’ lives, of what we do at Grant on and off the field. I needed that. So I came back last year and I’m loving it.”
Live healthy and pray hard
Alberghini endured grueling seasons and all manner of great expectations in a quest to produce championship teams, but nothing has been as difficult as his recovery. He has regular therapy. He has to mind his diet and get rest. And be optimistic.
“Live healthy and pray hard,” Alberghini said with a slight laugh. “I want my independence back, to be myself. I want to get back to that point. I didn’t know if I’d get better there for a while, and I’ve been back to the hospital three times since the stroke. I didn’t take care of myself as well as I should have all those years, and I never ate well, especially on game day. You just push yourself so hard as a coach. I put too much on myself as a coach and not enough about being healthy. But I’ve got Mary.”
Mary is Alberghini’s wife of nearly 50 years, his rock. For years, he talked of stepping down as Grant’s coach to give more to her as she loyally supported his coaching career. She attended games for years, saw him get doused often with water and ice to celebrate championships. But Mary stopped attending games to prevent herself from the temptation of reaching over and correcting a disgruntled fan barking down at Coach Al.
“Mary, I wouldn’t be here without her,” Alberghini said. “I’m happier than I was (before suffering the stroke). I realize how important Mary is in my life. I still have a lot of things I’d like to do with her. We love going to Carmel. Right now, it’s about getting that quality in my life again. Mary’s had to carry the load. I owe her a lot.”
Alberghini also expressed gratitude to his children, Rob, Kasey, Kelli and Kristen, and scores of friends and old coaches who have reached out to wish him a speedy recovery and to rehash old stories of Grant’s greatness. The well wishers include Bob Vukajlovich, who brought young Coach Al into the Grant football fold in the 1970s. He was the Pacers head coach in the 1980s with Alberghini serving as defensive coordinator.
“Bob is a dear friend,” Alberghini said. “He gave me my opportunity.
Al’s best team and a return to Grant?
Alberghini was a baseball kid at Mira Loma High School who played the sport at Sacramento State in the late 1960s under coach Cal Boyes, a man who had a profound impact on his life. Alberghini thought he’d play baseball forever before reality proved otherwise. Boyes told Alberghini he would make a fine teacher and coach, and to find a place that fits.
“Cal was my mentor,” Alberghini said. “He convinced me that I could graduate, that it would give me something for life. He’s the one who taught me that you’ve got to give to kids if you want kids to give to you. I wanted to be at a school where I could help kids, to make an impact. I loved my time at Grant. I loved how hard we played. We were blue collar, and it’s important that city schools have success. I loved that we did that.”
Alberghini’s finest team? Too many to track, but one that certainly stands out is the 2008 CIF State Open Division championship team. The state format was only in its third year when the Open game — the elite game — was added. But which team would 10 section commissioners vote for that first season? De La Salle, the powerhouse from Contra Costa County?
Pete Saco lobbied hard for Grant. He was the Sac-Joaquin Section commissioner who was instrumental in starting the state playoffs and then expanding them. He got the votes to get Grant in, and the Pacers delivered a game for the ages, rallying to beat famed Long Beach Poly 25-20. Poly was ranked second nationally. Grant finished 14-0.
Grant returned from Southern California to a hero’s welcome. There was a parade. Alberghini was handed the key to the city. People raised money to help players and coaches get gaudy championship rings. Reed, the current coach, was on that coaching staff.
“We all felt great that Grant was the first to win state around here and that Al got his championship,” Reed said.
Alberghini has not attended a Grant game since he last coached. The stroke prevented his return as a fan the second half of last season. But he’s always following progress, the proud Pacer boss of yesteryear.
“Maybe I’ll get out to a game next season if I feel up to it,” Alberghini said as he continues to coach himself back up. “I have to get on with life. I have to keep working at getting better. I’ve been disabled for a while, but I’m getting better. It’s not the end of life. I appreciate what I have, and I found out that I have a pretty good gal in my life.”
This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 5:00 AM.