At the start of this season I posted this question and nobody knew the answer. I was a little surprised but not totally. Eddie Robinson's career mark of 408 college wins will be likely tied this weekend and broken before the end of the season. The coach is a treasure for the state of Minnesota. His name is John Gagliardi. HE coaches at St. Johns University near St. Cloud MN a Division III school. The state lost another coaching legend this summer with the passing of Herb Brooks. Before some of you dismiss this as not a real record, anybody could do it, division III, who cares, I Challenge you to read this article and Ill post some other interesting stuff on Coach Gagliardi next week leading up to breaking the record. I also think TONIGHT on the Direct TV channel for college sports(610?) at 5pm central (hurry) Minnesota will be featured and stuff on Coach Gagliardi. I happen to know the coaches family and can speak to the quality of this man and what he stands for. He is very unique, very very unique in his approach to coaching, and the right kind of role model for men and women. A great speaker, inspirational, and funny too!
The following is from a Colorado newspaper where the coach started coaching his own high school team!
At brink of record win, Gagliardi leaves imprint on college record
BY MERI-JO BORZILLERI
The Gazette
(KRT) - John Gagliardi is the most successful college football coach you've probably never heard of, which is just the way he likes it.
That's why this season has been something of a trying one for Gagliardi, 76. This is his 51st at Division III St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn., a top liberal arts college about 75 miles from Minneapolis.
With a victory Saturday, Gagliardi (Gah-lar-dee) would tie the all-time record for career college coaching wins, 408, set by Grambling State legend Eddie Robinson. Gagliardi will also turn 77 that day.
Neither milestone, he'd be quick to remind you, is a sure thing. Gagliardi, born and raised in Trinidad, Colo., and who went to Colorado College, has made a career of not counting chickens.
"People keep saying, `I've got to be there for the game,' " said Gagliardi, who at times speaks so softly you have to turn up the phone. "Well, what game is that? My God, I've seen baseball, where they've got the champagne ready and have to put that away. You tell me what game it's going to be. My God, it's not easy. That part I don't like."
Gagliardi is far happier about his team's 7-0 start than any record pursuit. He'd rather have a national title than a national name.
"He talks about the next game and that's about it," said Gagliardi's wife, Peg. "That's the way it's always been."
The secret's about out. If Gagliardi's team also wins Nov. 8, he'll have more victories than Robinson. He's already long passed the game's most famous coaches. More than Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden, Knute Rockne and Lou Holtz.
Among the coaching fraternity, Gagliardi is an independent.
"Joe Paterno, it's not like we're buddies," Gagliardi said. "I've heard of him. I'm not sure he's heard of me. We don't travel in the same circles."
Those who played for Gagliardi at St. Mary's High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., couldn't have predicted this in 1947, when he was hired to coach football while attending Colorado College as an undergraduate. It was his first job outside his hometown of Trinidad.
Nobody knew him then, either. But in two years at St. Mary's, they knew he was something special.
Today, Gagliardi's St. John's squad is Division III's No. 2 team, behind national champion Mount Union. Division III does not offer athletic scholarships. In a tradition-bound sport, Gagliardi wins despite bucking convention.
At the heart of his coaching philosophy is one rule - the Golden Rule - and a list of more than 70 "Nos."
As in: No tackling in practice. No high-stepping through tires or hammering tackling dummies. No blocking sleds. Instead of calisthenics, they have something called the Nice Day Drill, where players flop on the ground, roll on their backs and say, "Nice day, isn't it?" Or they might do a couple Mary Catharine Gallagher Superstar lunges, named after the spastic Catholic school student on "Saturday Night Live".
At practice, the Johnnies run plays, over and over, and watch lots of film. Gagliardi says the no-contact rule helps cut down on injuries.
"You'd better win with that style," Gagliardi told the Boston Globe. "Otherwise, they'll think you're nuts."
Gagliardi wins. On the brink of college football history, Gagliardi's past gave hints to his future.
Gagliardi started coaching as a 16-year-old when his Holy Trinity Catholic high school coach got drafted into the military. Gagliardi, the team captain, and his friends convinced the school's principal to let them coach.
"It all started in Trinidad, when I'm coaching my buddies," said Gagliardi, who last visited Colorado Springs this summer when St. Mary's inducted him into its Pirates Hall of Fame. "We had a coach before that who was big on all types of traditional methods, the duck walks, running through tires. I'd ask, `Do you guys want to do that?' They'd say `Nah.' I said, `Well, OK.' "
The St. Mary's teenagers who played for him more than a half-century ago echo what St. John's players say about him now.
Gagliardi prepares and frets with equal intensity. He can't stand losing. He can't stay mad long. He squirms in the spotlight and deflects praise.
He was like that from the beginning. Gagliardi, a star quarterback in high school, did not play at Colorado College. Instead, he coached football, basketball and baseball at St. Mary's, then located at 18 W. Kiowa, not far from the CC campus.
Father Michael Kavanagh, St. Mary's athletic director, knew Gagliardi from playing against Trinidad. The son of a blacksmith who later ran a body shop, Gagliardi assumed he'd enter the family business.
Then Kavanagh offered him the job at St. Mary's and the prospect of attending CC. Gagliardi was the first in his family to attend college. Kavanagh got Gagliardi a room at the nearby YMCA in downtown Colorado Springs and arranged for him to eat meals at the Blue Spruce Restaurant, owned by a parishioner. St. Mary's would practice at Monument Valley Park and play games at Colorado College.
Gagliardi has a way with kids. Gagliardi made such an impression on St. Mary's player Bob Proffitt that, 55 years later, Proffitt's shoes bear proof.
Now 70 and retired, Proffitt remembers getting dressed up for a school function. His family didn't have much money. He wore scuffed shoes.
"I came to the banquet and thought I looked pretty good," said Proffitt, now living in Arvada.
Gagliardi took him aside.
"You need to pay more attention to your shoes," Gagliardi said, "because when you walk up to girls, they're usually shy and they'll have their head bowed. The only part they see is your shoes.'
"To this day," said Proffitt, who married a St. Mary's graduate, "I always polish my shoes."
Gagliardi also had a soft spot for benchwarmers.
"If the guys turned out for practice and worked hard and hustled . . . at least you could get into a few plays," said Joe Nolan, owner of Nolan Funeral Home. "He seemed to remember everyone's name."
Nobody called him "coach." He preferred John, and still does. Jealousy among coaches is common everywhere, but he's thought of highly enough in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference that they've named the league MVP award the Gagliardi Trophy.
Retire? Not a chance.
"Unless his health goes, he isn't going to retire," said his wife, a retired nurse who answers the phone in the St. John's athletic department. "He doesn't play tennis or golf or any of those things. . . . He really loves what he's doing."
It's no surprise to Richard Bonelli that Gagliardi wins so much.
"He always had us well-prepared," said Bonelli, who played quarterback for Gagliardi at St. Mary's and lives in Denver. "We always had a scouting report. He would have friends in these little towns and scout."
He brought the St. Mary's kids plays and formations they'd never seen before. The T-formation. The audible. The flea-flicker.
He hated to lose. Before one game against Pueblo Catholic, the players dedicated the game to Gagliardi on his birthday. The team played horribly, trailing 12-0 at halftime.
On the team bus at halftime, a furious Gagliardi gave a 13-word halftime speech: "If this is your idea of a birthday present, I don't want it."
It was enough. St. Mary's scored 21 unanswered points to win.
John is one of nine Gagliardi kids. Three sisters live in the Colorado Springs area: Anna Anselmo here, Roseanne Icabone in Canon City and Helen Concialdi in Pueblo. St. John's games are hardly ever on TV, so the Gagliardis network by phone and computer, listening to radio broadcasts on the Internet.
"Roseanne watches on the computer," said Anna. "She will call Helen and give her updates. Helen calls me. . . . She calls Marie in Raton (N.M.). Gene calls her too, from San Jose." Halfway across the country, Patsy, in Spokane, Wash., gets a call from Roseanne.
"We're a pretty close-knit family," Anna said.
In Minnesota, Peg and John Gagliardi have their hands full with all the attention. "Our homecoming was about all we could take," Peg said. They have to hang on for a little while longer.
The St. John's media guide has Gagliardi on the cover. The No. 409 marketing campaign is in full swing. There's a pennant with his profile, a clock showing his face, even a requisite bobblehead doll.
"I was against that," he said. "My wife - she talked me into that." Maybe in the next couple of weeks, even Paterno will recognize his name. Either way, Gagliardi doesn't mind. Nice day, isn't it? "We're not big time," said Gagliardi. "I'm happy to be where I am."
The following is from a Colorado newspaper where the coach started coaching his own high school team!
At brink of record win, Gagliardi leaves imprint on college record
BY MERI-JO BORZILLERI
The Gazette
(KRT) - John Gagliardi is the most successful college football coach you've probably never heard of, which is just the way he likes it.
That's why this season has been something of a trying one for Gagliardi, 76. This is his 51st at Division III St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn., a top liberal arts college about 75 miles from Minneapolis.
With a victory Saturday, Gagliardi (Gah-lar-dee) would tie the all-time record for career college coaching wins, 408, set by Grambling State legend Eddie Robinson. Gagliardi will also turn 77 that day.
Neither milestone, he'd be quick to remind you, is a sure thing. Gagliardi, born and raised in Trinidad, Colo., and who went to Colorado College, has made a career of not counting chickens.
"People keep saying, `I've got to be there for the game,' " said Gagliardi, who at times speaks so softly you have to turn up the phone. "Well, what game is that? My God, I've seen baseball, where they've got the champagne ready and have to put that away. You tell me what game it's going to be. My God, it's not easy. That part I don't like."
Gagliardi is far happier about his team's 7-0 start than any record pursuit. He'd rather have a national title than a national name.
"He talks about the next game and that's about it," said Gagliardi's wife, Peg. "That's the way it's always been."
The secret's about out. If Gagliardi's team also wins Nov. 8, he'll have more victories than Robinson. He's already long passed the game's most famous coaches. More than Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden, Knute Rockne and Lou Holtz.
Among the coaching fraternity, Gagliardi is an independent.
"Joe Paterno, it's not like we're buddies," Gagliardi said. "I've heard of him. I'm not sure he's heard of me. We don't travel in the same circles."
Those who played for Gagliardi at St. Mary's High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., couldn't have predicted this in 1947, when he was hired to coach football while attending Colorado College as an undergraduate. It was his first job outside his hometown of Trinidad.
Nobody knew him then, either. But in two years at St. Mary's, they knew he was something special.
Today, Gagliardi's St. John's squad is Division III's No. 2 team, behind national champion Mount Union. Division III does not offer athletic scholarships. In a tradition-bound sport, Gagliardi wins despite bucking convention.
At the heart of his coaching philosophy is one rule - the Golden Rule - and a list of more than 70 "Nos."
As in: No tackling in practice. No high-stepping through tires or hammering tackling dummies. No blocking sleds. Instead of calisthenics, they have something called the Nice Day Drill, where players flop on the ground, roll on their backs and say, "Nice day, isn't it?" Or they might do a couple Mary Catharine Gallagher Superstar lunges, named after the spastic Catholic school student on "Saturday Night Live".
At practice, the Johnnies run plays, over and over, and watch lots of film. Gagliardi says the no-contact rule helps cut down on injuries.
"You'd better win with that style," Gagliardi told the Boston Globe. "Otherwise, they'll think you're nuts."
Gagliardi wins. On the brink of college football history, Gagliardi's past gave hints to his future.
Gagliardi started coaching as a 16-year-old when his Holy Trinity Catholic high school coach got drafted into the military. Gagliardi, the team captain, and his friends convinced the school's principal to let them coach.
"It all started in Trinidad, when I'm coaching my buddies," said Gagliardi, who last visited Colorado Springs this summer when St. Mary's inducted him into its Pirates Hall of Fame. "We had a coach before that who was big on all types of traditional methods, the duck walks, running through tires. I'd ask, `Do you guys want to do that?' They'd say `Nah.' I said, `Well, OK.' "
The St. Mary's teenagers who played for him more than a half-century ago echo what St. John's players say about him now.
Gagliardi prepares and frets with equal intensity. He can't stand losing. He can't stay mad long. He squirms in the spotlight and deflects praise.
He was like that from the beginning. Gagliardi, a star quarterback in high school, did not play at Colorado College. Instead, he coached football, basketball and baseball at St. Mary's, then located at 18 W. Kiowa, not far from the CC campus.
Father Michael Kavanagh, St. Mary's athletic director, knew Gagliardi from playing against Trinidad. The son of a blacksmith who later ran a body shop, Gagliardi assumed he'd enter the family business.
Then Kavanagh offered him the job at St. Mary's and the prospect of attending CC. Gagliardi was the first in his family to attend college. Kavanagh got Gagliardi a room at the nearby YMCA in downtown Colorado Springs and arranged for him to eat meals at the Blue Spruce Restaurant, owned by a parishioner. St. Mary's would practice at Monument Valley Park and play games at Colorado College.
Gagliardi has a way with kids. Gagliardi made such an impression on St. Mary's player Bob Proffitt that, 55 years later, Proffitt's shoes bear proof.
Now 70 and retired, Proffitt remembers getting dressed up for a school function. His family didn't have much money. He wore scuffed shoes.
"I came to the banquet and thought I looked pretty good," said Proffitt, now living in Arvada.
Gagliardi took him aside.
"You need to pay more attention to your shoes," Gagliardi said, "because when you walk up to girls, they're usually shy and they'll have their head bowed. The only part they see is your shoes.'
"To this day," said Proffitt, who married a St. Mary's graduate, "I always polish my shoes."
Gagliardi also had a soft spot for benchwarmers.
"If the guys turned out for practice and worked hard and hustled . . . at least you could get into a few plays," said Joe Nolan, owner of Nolan Funeral Home. "He seemed to remember everyone's name."
Nobody called him "coach." He preferred John, and still does. Jealousy among coaches is common everywhere, but he's thought of highly enough in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference that they've named the league MVP award the Gagliardi Trophy.
Retire? Not a chance.
"Unless his health goes, he isn't going to retire," said his wife, a retired nurse who answers the phone in the St. John's athletic department. "He doesn't play tennis or golf or any of those things. . . . He really loves what he's doing."
It's no surprise to Richard Bonelli that Gagliardi wins so much.
"He always had us well-prepared," said Bonelli, who played quarterback for Gagliardi at St. Mary's and lives in Denver. "We always had a scouting report. He would have friends in these little towns and scout."
He brought the St. Mary's kids plays and formations they'd never seen before. The T-formation. The audible. The flea-flicker.
He hated to lose. Before one game against Pueblo Catholic, the players dedicated the game to Gagliardi on his birthday. The team played horribly, trailing 12-0 at halftime.
On the team bus at halftime, a furious Gagliardi gave a 13-word halftime speech: "If this is your idea of a birthday present, I don't want it."
It was enough. St. Mary's scored 21 unanswered points to win.
John is one of nine Gagliardi kids. Three sisters live in the Colorado Springs area: Anna Anselmo here, Roseanne Icabone in Canon City and Helen Concialdi in Pueblo. St. John's games are hardly ever on TV, so the Gagliardis network by phone and computer, listening to radio broadcasts on the Internet.
"Roseanne watches on the computer," said Anna. "She will call Helen and give her updates. Helen calls me. . . . She calls Marie in Raton (N.M.). Gene calls her too, from San Jose." Halfway across the country, Patsy, in Spokane, Wash., gets a call from Roseanne.
"We're a pretty close-knit family," Anna said.
In Minnesota, Peg and John Gagliardi have their hands full with all the attention. "Our homecoming was about all we could take," Peg said. They have to hang on for a little while longer.
The St. John's media guide has Gagliardi on the cover. The No. 409 marketing campaign is in full swing. There's a pennant with his profile, a clock showing his face, even a requisite bobblehead doll.
"I was against that," he said. "My wife - she talked me into that." Maybe in the next couple of weeks, even Paterno will recognize his name. Either way, Gagliardi doesn't mind. Nice day, isn't it? "We're not big time," said Gagliardi. "I'm happy to be where I am."
