Winningest college football coach dies
MINNEAPOLIS — John Gagliardi was ahead of his time as a football coach, believing he did not need to make his players suffer for them to succeed.
Using unconventional methods at a small private university in Minnesota, Gagliardi won more football games than anyone who ever has coached in college.
Gagliardi died Sunday at the age of 91, according to St. John’s University.
“John was a winner in so many ways, but mostly in his ability to connect with others,” Gina Gagliardi Benson, the coach’s daughter, posted on Facebook. “His appreciation of others ran so deep that it was the core of who John was.”
Gagliardi retired in 2012 after a record 64 seasons as a head coach, with 60 of those at St. John’s, an all-male private school in Collegeville. He totaled 489 victories, 138 losses and 11 ties, winning four national titles with the Johnnies.
But he drew as much national attention to a school with fewer than 2,000 students with his laid-back approaches to the sport. His policy was to not cut any players from the roster and guide nonstrenuous practices that never exceeded 90 minutes.
Where Gagliardi truly made his mark was with the word “no.”
His entire coaching philosophy was based on a list of “nos,” a rejection of football’s sometimes-sadistic rituals that he detested as a player. Gagliardi hated it when people called him “coach,” preferring John instead.
Long before football became safety conscious at all levels, Gagliardi was terrified of injuries, so contact in practice was kept to a minimum, and tackling was prohibited. Everyone who wanted to be on the team could make it, often leaving a roster of more than 150 players.
Grueling calisthenics? No way. Same for hazing, screaming, whistles, superstitions and even practicing in extreme conditions. If the mosquitos were swarming? Forget it.
“We have one rule with our players — the golden rule,” Gagliardi said in 2003. “Treat everybody the way you would want to be treated. We get the right guys. The ones that don’t need any rules. … We just hope they can play football.”
Gagliardi passed Grambling’s Eddie Robinson for all-time coaching victories with No. 409 in 2003 and again for all-time games coached with No. 588 in 2008. The major-college leader in wins is the late Joe Paterno, who had 409 at Penn State from 1966 to 2011.