The Northern California and state football coaching great from Grant of Sacramento died this week at age 78. His influence was still obvious at Grant this last season when the Pacers won the CIF D2-AA state championship.
There may not be a coach in state history who has experienced the highs and lows that former Grant of Sacramento head football coach Mike Alberghini did during his 31 years as the leader of the Pacers.

Mike Alberghini from Grant of Sacramento is the last head coach from a public school to lead a team to the CIF Open Division state title . Photo: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.
The highest of highs was an upset win over Long Beach Poly in the CIF Open Division state championship in 2008. The lowest of lows came in 2015 when one of Alberghini’s players, J.J. Clauvo, was shot and killed during a lunch break on a game day. Coach Al knew how to handle all of it and always thought about all of his players, not just the ones who would eventually go on to play in the NFL such as RB Onterrio Smith, WR Donte’ Stallworth, RB Devontae Booker, LB Shaq Thompson and DE Carl Granderson.
Alberghini died on Wednesday at age 78, according to the Sacramento Bee, due to complications that were from a stroke that he suffered in late 2022.
The last season for Coach Al was in 2021 and it took some time for the football program to get back to being among the best in Northern California. That has happened for the past three seasons especially with co-head coaches Carl Reed and Syd’Quan Thompson. Both men played for Alberghini and have continued the motto of “Pacer4Life.”
When Alberghini retired, his reported coaching record of 282 wins was tied for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section record set in 2017 by Mark Loureiro of Escalon. For our state records, however, forfeits are not included and Alberghini has one less win by that count at 281. The 2008 State Coach of the Year and Loureiro have since been passed by Modesto Central Catholic’s Roger Canepa. Alberghini also ended his career with 18 league championships and seven SJS crowns. He is in the Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame, the California High School Football Hall of Fame and SJS Hall of Fame.
Before Mike took over the Pacers’ program in football after it had been run successfully for 15 years by Bob Vukajlovich, he had been the assistant coach and varsity baseball head coach. His baseball teams in those years in the 1980s were prolific. The 1989 team finished 37-7-1, which set a state record for wins and likely will never be broken since teams these days don’t play 37 games. The Pacers of 1984 had a 27-game win streak in a 39-game season and scored 379 runs with 424 hits. The runs total is still an all-time NorCal record and No. 3 in state history. The hits total is still an all-time state record.
Alberghini gave up he baseball head coaching to take over football where he took the Pacers to similar heights, although the records were more set by individuals such as Onterrio Smith for rushing/scoring. He also coached in other sports and was Grant’s athletic director for many years. All in all, he had been an educator in the Twin Rivers Unified School District for 53 years.
“Coach Al had a unique ability to connect with students, see their potential, and inspire them to achieve their very best, not just on the football field, but also in the classroom and in our community,” Twin Rivers Superintendent Steve Martinez said in the statement. “He was a mentor, a role model, and a true champion for our kids. He will be profoundly missed, but his legacy lives on in the many lives he touched.”
As a high school player himself in the late 1960s, Alberghini was part of a great program at Mira Loma High in Sacramento. He’s not the only one from that era of Mira Loma football who became one of the winningest head coaches in state history. Others are Kevin Rooney from Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, Randy Blankenship most recently of Aptos, Terry Stark most recently from Inderkum of Sacramento and Dave Humphers most years at Nevada Union (Grass Valley).
We offer our condolences, peace and love to Coach Al’s family and the greater Grant High community.