Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

The family of the legendary John Gagliardi announced this morning that the longtime head coach of St. John’s, and the winningest head coach in the history of college football, has sadly passed at the age of 91.

Gagliardi, who coached college football for an incredible 64 seasons – 60 of those leading the St. John’s (D-III – MN) program – stepped down from the Johnnies top spot back in 2012 having amassed 489 wins. That win total is precisely 80 more games than Joe Paterno won, and 81 more games than Grambling State legend Eddie Robinson.

http://footballscoop.com/news/john-gagliardi-winningest-coach-college-football-passed/

  • Like 1
Posted

I remember reading about his coaching methods in an SI magazine in the 90's. He would require his team to lay down in the grass and relax and enjoy the weather at practice or something. I will find the article....

https://www.si.com/vault/1992/08/31/127059/happiest-team-the-gentlest-giants-genial-coach-john-gagliardis-toughest-job-at-st-johns-of-minnesota-is-keeping-the-faculty-happy

  • Like 1
Posted

Ive got a college in my town that is in the same conference as St Johns. I pay almost zero attention to it but you still knew who St Johns was because of him. I was surprised he was coaching 6 years ago still. what a career.

Posted

One of my good friends played for Gagliardi back in the day.  Definitely had a unique style.  My buddy told me conditioning and lifting were "optional".  They didn't really waste time in practice doing sprints, etc...

Posted



  My buddy told me conditioning and lifting were "optional".  They didn't really waste time in practice doing sprints, etc...


Not judging or questioning; I just wanna know.

How did he win games then?
Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, Parliament said:


 

 


Not judging or questioning; I just wanna know.

How did he win games then?

 

Better players...  In all seriousness, they didn't have organized lifting or a lot of conditioning.  But most everyone did lift and do conditioning otherwise you risk losing your playing time to someone more prepared.  This was around 20 years ago so I'm a little hazy on exact details.  What I recall is that lifting and conditioning was not mandatory or organized by the coaches. 

Edit... And what Cooter said.

Edited by Dean Gullberry
Posted
3 hours ago, Dean Gullberry said:

One of my good friends played for Gagliardi back in the day.  Definitely had a unique style.  My buddy told me conditioning and lifting were "optional".  They didn't really waste time in practice doing sprints, etc...

I think Cliff Gustafson’s practices consisted of 12 inning intrasquad games? Similar philosophies...minus the laying on AstroTurf staring at the sky, enjoying the weather part. 

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...