To Absent Friends - John Gagliardi

The winningest coach in the history of American college football, John Gagliardi, died yesterday at the age of 91.  In a coaching career that spanned 64 seasons, sixty of them at tiny St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, Gagliardi amassed 489 wins (489-138-1 overall), and it was the rather unorthodox methods he used that makes both he and his record so remarkable.

He called it "Winning With No", and his list of 100 No's included...

• No mission statement
• No surviving without humor
• No practices in excess of ninety minutes
• No blocking or tackling dummies
• No use of words like "hit", "kill"  and others
• No one gets cut from the team 
• No rules, except the Golden Rule

Can you imagine Nick Saban or Urban Meyer doing something like that?  Of course, Division III St. John's and Collegeville, MN are worlds away from the business enterprises that are football schools in the SEC and Big Ten, but Gagliardi did amass all of those wins, so there must be something to his methods.  He even had a 42-25-1 record in a five year stint  as St. John's hockey coach!  Also, his obituaries are filled with testimonials from former players, coaches, and administrators as to the positive impact that Gagliardi had on the lives of the thousands of kids he encountered over the years, which is what intercollegiate sports are supposed to be about.

Maybe there are more John Gagliardis out there than there are Urban Meyers.  I'd like to think so, at least.

For more on this remarkable gentleman, check out this obit from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

http://www.startribune.com/legendary-st-john-s-coach-john-gagliardi-dies-at-91/495381871/

RIP John Gagliardi.