By Adam Johnson
D3sports.com
The number 409 has been muttered in football circles from coast to coast this season as St. John's head coach John Gagliardi closes in on the all-time wins record for all levels of college football.
The number seems to roll off the tongues of those who talk about it as if it's not being given the respect that it deserves. It's taken 55 years to pile up 405 wins and the remaining four seem imminent this season. And it's not as though the world around him just stopped while Gagliardi won game after game. "I can't remember what I had for breakfast and you want me to remember that long ago?" Gagliardi asked me. Even he admits a lot has happened since he picked up win No. 1 in 1949.
When a 22-year-old boy named John Gagliardi showed up at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., he had no idea what would become of his coaching career. "Does anyone ever think about how long they will be in any job?" Gagliardi asked. He had just graduated from Colorado College and had only 32 high school wins under his belt and no collegiate coaching experience. Carroll had a program in disarray and the administration was thinking of dropping the program.
John won his first game on Oct. 15, 1949 with a 38-20 defeat of Rocky Mountain. He quickly wiped out those "dropping the program" thoughts by finishing his first season with a 6-1 record and the first of his many collegiate conference championships.
Things were different in 1949. Harry S Truman was in office, Laurence Olivier's Hamlet won Best Picture at the Academy Awards and a postage stamp cost three cents. While the first Emmy Awards took place in January, John's first collegiate coaching season concluded in November and if they had anything in common it was one thing -- they were each a huge success.
After four winning seasons his success caught the attention of another small Catholic liberal arts college -- St. John's in Collegeville, Minn. St. John's needed a coach to succeed the legendary Johnny "Blood" McNally, a charter member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame. Gagliardi took over the program in 1953 with a mandate to turn the program around. Meanwhile, Blood offered this gloomy prediction: "Nobody could ever win at St. John's."
Photo by Tom Dahlin No weather is going to rain on John Gagliardi's parade. |
When interviewing for the job he found himself seated at a table, surrounded by monks who wanted answers to several questions. Without scholarships, they wondered if Gagliardi could beat reigning conference titans St. Thomas and Gustavus? "I didn't know any better," Gagliardi recollected. "I said sure." He'd beat them both in his first year and many times after that.
It was the fifth game of the 1965 season when Gagliardi reached the 100 win plateau -- one of many highlights from that unforgettable season. He led the Johnnies to an undefeated 11-0 record giving up only 27 points all season. He collected the MIAC crown and the NAIA national championship with a 33-0 blanking of Linfield -- the same school he'd defeat for win number 400 in 2002.
During the summer of 2002, a synthetic grass surface called Sprinturf was installed at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville. Its origins are traced back to Astroturf which was patented in 1965 by James M. Faria and Robert T. Wright. Aerosol antiperspirant was also invented in 1965 -- much to the assumed delight of the Johnnies equipment managers.
Fifteen years later Gagliardi collected win 200 with a 42-10 defeat of the Bethel Royals on Oct. 11, 1980. Somewhere in St. Paul I was one year and 35 days old and clueless that I would one day face Gagliardi's Johnnies in my athletic career -- a 48-6 drubbing of Macalester in 2000. St. John's finished in an uncharacteristic third place in the conference that year after winning the Division III national title four years earlier in 1976. Four days before the Johnnies defeated St. Thomas to end their season, Ronald Reagan elected the 40th president of the United States -- one of eleven presidents to serve in office during Gagliardi's college coaching career.
On Oct. 16, 1993, Gagliardi joined an elite fraternity of college coaches when his Johnnies trounced Bethel 77-12 for his 300th career win. The Johnnies would finish the season 12-1 with a 9-0 conference record. Their only loss was at the hands of Mount Union in the national semifinals. St. John's scored a school-record 702 points that season and averaged nearly 64 points per game in MIAC action.
The first humans were cloned in 1993 and although it seems as though there have been a number of his players, such as Blake Elliott, that Gagliardi would want to clone, he turns down the idea. "We're just happy to have one Blake," he said, "With two we would schedule Notre Dame."
It took just nine more years for Gagliardi to pile up another hundred victories and become only the second college football coach at any level to win 400 games. In a year when Republicans once again gained control of the Senate, the Johnnies regained control of the MIAC winning the conference outright after sharing the crown with Bethel in 2000 and 2001.
At 405 wins it is not a matter of "if" but rather "when" Gagliardi secures win number 409. If St. John's wins out it would face Bethel for the record on Nov. 8, 2003 -- a fitting match after wins 200 and 300 came at their expense.
So, the next time you mention Gagliardi's soon to be record of 409 wins think of Harry S Truman, three cent postage stamps and the introduction of cable television. Then think of Gagliardi's three national championships, 25 conference championships and 35 years without a losing season. Combine those thoughts and you'll understand how long he's been around and how good he really is.
CK Two
No, it's not the latest perfume from Calvin Klein but rather the latest performance by a two way star on an undefeated team. Usually, when a player goes both ways in Division III football it is on a struggling team that has too few players to cover all the positions. That's far from the case for Cody Kelley and Wartburg College.
Head coach Rick Willis calls senior Cody Kelley a "unique individual." He's been living up to that label all season but none more so than Saturday. Kelley had a huge outing on both sides of the ball to help Wartburg hand Loras its first loss. On offense, he hauled in 10 catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran back four punts for the Knights. Defensively, he had three tackles and two interceptions tying the program's career record of 20.
Kelley, who earned all-Iowa Conference honors for the first time last season, is the first Wartburg football starter to play both ways on a full-time basis since Brian Albert performed as a linebacker and running back in the early 1970s.
We're going streakin'
A win by the Linfield over Eastern Oregon on Saturday will assure the Wildcats of their 48th consecutive winning season -- the longest streak in college football history. Linfield's last losing season came in 1955 -- the same year Velcro was invented.
Mr. Offense
Senior Jay Macias, quarterback at Colorado College, throws for a relatively average 254.5 yards per game. However, when his 136.2 rushing yards per game are added to that it amounts to an eye-popping 390.7 yards of total offense per game. No surprise he leads Division III.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Neither Jamie nor Tony Steffensmeier were asking this question on Saturday because the answer was obvious -- everywhere. The St. John's brothers were both named conference players of the week for their contributions in a 44-0 shutout of Carleton. Jamie, a freshman linebacker, claimed MIAC defensive player of the week honors for his 12 tackles (nine solo), two and a half sacks and two and a half tackles for loss. His older brother Tony, a defensive back, picked up MIAC special teams player of the week honors for his two blocked punts and four tackles (three solo).
Stat Line of the Week
George Carter, WR, Linfield
3 catches, 130 yards, 2 touchdowns
1 carry, 10 yards, 1 touchdown
Games of the Week
Simpson at No. 6 Wartburg, Waverly, Iowa: The IIAC could be decided with this game as the winner will move into sole possession of first place. Although both teams are undefeated, Wartburg is the favorite ranked sixth in the country in the D3football.com poll and hosting the Storm for their homecoming weekend. Simpson has pulled the upsets already this season knocking off Central and Coe. A victory over Wartburg would complete the hat trick over last year's conference tri-champs and establish Simpson as a favorite to win the conference.
Gustavus Adolphus at No. 12 Bethel, Arden Hills, Minn.: Fresh off its first shutout of St. Thomas since 1980, Gustavus is starting to mesh into the solid team many expected this season. Bethel is 6-0 for the third time in four years and looking to keep its record perfect for a showdown with St. John's on Nov. 8. The Gusties look to play spoiler and win at Bethel for the first time since 1988.
