By Joe Winter
Catholic Herald correspondent

Winningest coach respects, protects players

HUDSON -- When John Gagliardi played quarterback for his father, John Gagliardi Sr., he said the man never once berated a player. The elder Gagliardi is the winningest coach in college football history with St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn.

Out of respect for his players, coach Gagliardi also to this day runs practices where there is no tackling, recalls his son, an active parishioner at St. Patrick Parish in Hudson. He doesn't even wear a whistle he can blow.

Unlike almost any other football coach, he gets his players' attention by treating them as equals, as he would want to be treated. Gagliardi wins games by being a composed teacher of correct form and positioning, without the bluster.

"This keeps his players healthy and gets them to the right spots," his son said. He added that when Gagliardi had his playing days, also as a quarterback, he would get in the huddle and see in his linemen's eyes that they didn't know their assignments.

"He'd get killed out there," said the younger quarterback, who added that his father didn't want players he was coaching to have that difficulty. "He believes in extraordinary people doing extraordinary things extraordinarily well," Gagliardi said. "The better a player you are, the more he asks of you."

However, the longtime coach refuses to obtain this success by yelling at his players. That dates back to his formative years, when he had hard-nosed coaches, then became a Trinity High School player-coach at age 16, a role that he carried out through college.

Although players don't hit much in Gagliardi's practices, they are good football players, winning a national championship for their coach this season. Gagliardi doesn't lighten up practices in order to take the contact out of a necessarily violent game.

"He wouldn't look at it that way. He believes faith translates to other forms of life," his son said, adding that the nontackling in practices took root when a star fullback was lost to injury after a hit in practice.

The coaching philosophy also was built when Gagliardi needed to help run a family body shop when other members left for World War II. "He then dealt with all kinds of people, and learned some nice things he passed along, that were very Christian," his son said, adding that there were lots of unspoken values passed along when he was a child.

The younger Gagliardi moved to Hudson with wife Barb in 1985, where they soon had their first child. The family is very active at St. Patrick Parish. John is an active member of the Knights of Columbus and is on many parish boards and committees. Barb is in the women's guild and they both teach natural family planning, often giving talks in the Twin Cities metro area, as well as the Diocese of Superior. Barb and daughters Martha and Susan are cantors, and four members of the family are servers. They have all become SJU fans.

Coach Gagliardi has gotten to know Fr. Peter Szleszinski, pastor at St. Patrick, during weekend visits.

Gagliardi coached at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., for four years before taking the reins at SJU in 1953, replacing former Green Bay Packer and pro football Hall of Famer Johnny "Blood" McNally, who grew up in New Richmond.

When Gagliardi signed his contract with SJU, an NCAA Division III school, it was looked on as more of a vow. In those early days, when there was no television, Gagliardi's mother, Antoinetta, prayed the rosary all the while the game went on, then would quietly wait for a call from her son, the coach, about the result. That call would always come as soon as Gagliardi could get back to his office. This continued until 1999, when Antoinetta died.

The younger Gagliardi, 45, was quarterback for his father for two years at SJU, and said it enabled him to run some innovative new offensive styles that were instituted, such as the quadruple option. He and his father won the national title in his senior year, and those playing days have produced fantastic memories.

Gagliardi recently became the winningest coach in college football history with a 414-114-11 record over 55 years. He passed Eddie Robinson of Grambling earlier this season with win number 409, beating Bethel 29-26, although his son said he downplayed the accomplishment. It was also a great job of coaching to keep the team's focus despite the increasing press coverage, he said.

Coach Gagliardi, 77, was on his way to his 23rd Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title. His team also gave him a Christmas present of a national title when it upset Ohio's Mount Union 24-6.

An annual award called the Gagliardi Trophy is given to the best Division III football player. This year it went to one of the St. John's wide receivers, Blake Elliott.

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2004