HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: AREA LINEMEN LEARN FROM CHAMPION COACHES (24 PHOTOS) (July 8, 2026)
BY BRIAN FEESSouthern Tier Sports ReportHORSEHEADS — Area linemen got a chance to learn from champions this week as the 2026 Coach Mike D’Aloisio Memorial Lineman Camp, in honor of the legendary Notre Dame coach, was held.
Linemen from a number of area schools learned from Joe Gilbert, the offensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers and Mike Waufle, a former Defensive Line coach in the NFL. Athletes also learned from six-time national champion life coach at the University of Alabama Gary Cramer.
Gilbert won a Super Bowl title as the offensive line coach of Tampa Bay and Waufle earned a Super Bowl ring as the defensive line coach of the New York Giants. Waufle, a Hornell grad, last coached the Buffalo Bills defensive line in 2017, but he still consults around the league. Gilbert and Cramer are both Horseheads graduates.
Gilbert, a 1983 Horseheads graduate, won the Super Bowl in 2021 when Tom Brady was the Tampa Bay quarterback. Waufle won the Super Bowl in 2008 under Waterloo native Tom Coughlin. Cramer, a 1980 Horseheads graduates, was a part of an Alabama program that won six national titles under Nick Saban. He is now in his 22nd season with the Crimson Tide and he finished up the cap by talking to the linemen and focusing on maintaining a high standard and being consistent.
“Having over 40 linemen from the local high schools, it’s amazing,” Waufle said. “Listening to the other coaches, Joe Gilbert, he’s a great offensive line coach with the Carolina Panthers now and he has a Super Bowl ring with Tampa Bay. That type of personality and experiences in the National Football League. Being able to coach the defensive line to those guys, it’s just a great experience. Plus, the experience I’ve had and being able to pass that on to the young en, it’s a great experience for the and they’ll be way ahead when they start playing this year in high school.”
Waufle taught the athletes about more than just the physical parts of football.
“The thing I told them they need to do is they need to read a book a month,” Waufle said. “They cannot experience all the things in life, you don’t have enough time in your lifetime for all the experiences that people experience. You can learn from those others and shape your life. I have read thousands of books and just study, mostly biographies, because I want to learn from other people.
“It’s amazing, people who weren’t even involved in football, something clicked. So, I taught that and challenged the to read a book a month so they could develop as a whole person and I talked to the about spirituality. I told them a story about a spiritual part of it and then I taught them how to build themselves physically and talked to the about how they should weight train and how to get their weight down. I gave the a lot of things to balance mentally, physically and spiritually.”
For Waufle it was great to see some familiar faces and to be able to help work with athletes from his alma mater.
The Hornell grad also was able to share how studying, and reading, pays off. He didn’t come from the background of many NFL coaches, but he studies the game, and worked hard to get to the highest level of the sport.
“It’s great,” he said. I had my defensive coordinator from high school here, he was the coach of Ithaca High School at one time, he lives up there. He was here, it was a great experience to be with him. He asked me how much are they paying you and I said they aren’t paying me nothing. When I was a young coach I went around and visited some of the best coaches in the history of football, whether it was college football or the NFL. They never asked me for a dime. I have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams financially. I went in the Marine Core after the 72 flood. My bedroom had five and half feet of water in it. I went in the Marine Core with a pair of black Converse sneakers that were in the top of my closet, my baseball glove and I had to buy two t-shirts and two pairs of jeans and that’s how I started my life at 17 years old joining the Marines.
“The first thing they (the Hornell kids at the camp) did was give me a Hornell helmet and that was just awesome. Because I have a helmet from every place I’ve coached at and played, I have an Utah State helmet, but I didn’t have a helmet from Hornell, which was really special. The thing is, what I can give to them and be able to help them with, being from Hornell I never had anybody. My family were blue collar railroaders. Guys I coached with, their fathers were coaches, their fathers were players. They had a silver spoon and they had a lot of help. It’s hard to get in that NFL. Through all of my study and research I never stopped studying. Consulting work, I say talking ball, I still talk ball. I talked with the 49ers and with the Jacksonville Jaguars. I still have a system and I taught them my system.”
Over the years Waufle himself learned from the greats in the history of the sport and that’s something he’s been able to share now.
“The person I loved the most when I was coaching was Al Davis of the Raiders,” Waufle said. “We built a special relationship. He was not only a commissioner at one time, he was not only the owner of the Raiders, he was a GM, he was a head coach, he was an assistant coach. He knew football. A lot of those owners do not know football, but he knew football and he taught me so much and he took me under his wing and I loved him so much.”
————
PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES
PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE CAMP:
Print Friendly Version
