John Gagliardi was the head football coach at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, from 1953 until 2012.
15 Facts About John Gagliardi
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John Gagliardi was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
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John Gagliardi was born to Italian Americans Ventura and Antonietta Gagliardi in Trinidad, Colorado, in 1926.
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John Gagliardi began coaching football at Trinidad Catholic High School in 1943, at the age of 16, when his high school coach was called into service during World War II.
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John Gagliardi was a player-coach his senior year of high school and continued to coach high school football at St Mary's High School while obtaining his college degree at Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
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At the age of 22, with six years of high school coaching, John Gagliardi was hired at Carroll College in Helena, Montana.
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In 60 seasons coaching the Saint John's Johnnies, Gagliardi won a school and conference record 27 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and four national championships: in 1963,1965,1976, and 2003.
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On November 8,2003, John Gagliardi broke the record for career coaching wins with his 409th victory, passing Grambling State's Eddie Robinson.
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John Gagliardi announced his retirement from coaching on November 19,2012.
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John Gagliardi died on October 7,2018, at the age of 91.
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In 2003, John Gagliardi received the Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award from the United States Sports Academy.
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John Gagliardi won the 2007 Liberty Mutual Division III Coach of the Year.
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In 2009, John Gagliardi won the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award from the American Football Coaches Association.
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John Gagliardi received the National College Football Awards Association's Contributions to College Football Award in 2013.
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John Gagliardi was inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2015, and Saint John's University's J-Club Hall of Honor in 2018.