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John Gagliardi was ahead of his time as a football coach, believing he did not need to make his players suffer for them to succeed.

Using unconventional methods at a small private university in Minnesota, Gagliardi won more football games than anybody who has ever coached in college.

Gagliardi died Sunday at the age of 91, according to St. John's University.

"John was a winner in so many ways, but mostly in his ability to connect with others," Gina Gagliardi Benson, the coach's daughter, 

. "His appreciation of others ran so deep that it was the core of who John was."

Gagliardi retired in 2012 after a record 64 seasons as a head coach, with 60 of those at St. John's, an all-male private school in Collegeville. He finished with 489 victories, 138 losses and 11 ties, winning four national championships with the Johnnies. But he drew as much national attention to a school with fewer than 2,000 students with his approaches to the sport. His policy was to not cut any players from the roster and guide nonstrenuous practices that never exceeded 90 minutes.

"John Gagliardi was not only an extraordinary coach, he was also an educator of young men and builder of character," St. John's President Michael Hemesath said in a statement. "John inspired deep and enduring loyalty and passion among his players across the decades because he taught them lessons through the medium of football that served them well in their personal and professional lives long after graduating from St. John's University. His is a legacy any educator would be extremely proud of."

Where Gagliardi truly made his mark was with the word "no."

His entire coaching philosophy was based on a list of "nos," a rejection of football's sometimes-sadistic rituals that he detested as a player. Gagliardi hated it when people called him "coach," preferring John instead. Long before football became safety conscious at all levels, Gagliardi was terrified of injuries, so contact in practice was kept to a minimum and tackling was prohibited. 

"We don't go full-go. We don't want to bring anybody down. We're trying to avoid injuries," Gagliardi told MPR News in 1999. "That's the biggest bugaboo of all, is all the injuries. We can control that in practice. We can't control it in the games, but we can sure control it in practice now."

Everybody who wanted to be on the team could make it, often leaving a roster of more than 150 players.

Grueling calisthenics? No way. Same for hazing, screaming, whistles, superstitions and even practicing in extreme conditions. If the mosquitos were swarming? Forget it.

"We have one rule with our players — the golden rule," Gagliardi said in the 2003 interview with the Associated Press. "Treat everybody the way you would want to be treated. We get the right guys. The ones that don't need any rules. ... We just hope they can play football."

Gagliardi passed Grambling's Eddie Robinson for all-time coaching victories with No. 409 in 2003 and again for all-time games coached with No. 588 in 2008. The major-college leader in wins is the late Joe Paterno, who finished with 409 at Penn State from 1966-2011.

The journey for Gagliardi began at Carroll College in Montana in 1949 when three conference titles in four years changed that school's mind about dropping the sport. He then moved east to St. John's, a Catholic institution founded in 1857 by Benedictine monks who came to minister to the influx of German immigrants in central Minnesota. Though Gagliardi — born in the mining town of Trinidad, Colo. — knew little about the school when he showed up, he soon found his niche.

During the hiring process, the monks asked him if he could beat rival St. Thomas and another conference foe, Gustavus.

"I had never heard of them," Gagliardi said. "But I said, 'Sure.'"

St. John's went 6-2 and won the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in his first season, his first of 27 MIAC titles.

"When I came to Minnesota ... I'd never seen television," Gagliardi said in the 2003 interview. "I was unmarried at the time, living in the dorms. I asked them if I could have a TV set. They weren't so sure at first. But after we beat St. Thomas and Gustavus, they were like, 'You still want that TV?'"

Saturdays eventually became an event on the serene, secluded campus as the Johnnies thrived under Gagliardi's leadership. Red-clad fans have routinely packed Clemens Stadium, a natural bowl field carved into the woods where 7,500 people watch from the seats and more still sit along the grassy slopes beneath the orange hues of autumn.

As he built a power at the NCAA's non-scholarship Division III level, Gagliardi was quick to shrug off his success with self-deprecating humor. One of Gags' favorite gags was to pluck a time-worn, dog-eared book off the shelf in his office and point to the title on the cover: "Everything I know about coaching football for 35 years."

Gagliardi, however, was fiercely proud of his longevity, openly speaking about outlasting Amos Alonzo Stagg, who was 84 in his last season as the head coach at Pacific in 1946. Stagg's career lasted a mere 57 years.

The first active coach to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, in 2006, Gagliardi wasn't always revered by his peers. Opponents sometimes accused his teams of running up the score. In 1991, St. John's beat Coe College of Iowa 75-2. The Johnnies started their 2003 championship season with a 74-7 win at Hamline. Their defense, though, was that their fourth-stringers were often just as good as some of the opponents' starters, especially in the top-heavy MIAC.

"John honestly believed every one of his players were wonderful and he spoke often about how proud he was of them all. Not just how well they played football, but the things that mattered most to John: being hard-working, successful, good men," Gagliardi Benson wrote.

Gagliardi entertained some offers of other coaching jobs over the years, but stayed put in Collegeville. Dave DeLand, a longtime St. Cloud journalist who now edits Saint John's alumni magazine and knew Gagliardi for more than three decades, said the campus was a great fit for the coach.

"You know, he wasn't trying to prepare guys to be in the NFL draft or anything; he was trying to prepare guys for life," DeLand told MPR News. "And I think he felt like he had more of an opportunity to do that at St. John's than he would have at a different level. I think it just was a perfect match for his skills."

Just last month, many former players took part in a celebration to honor Gagliardi at Sexton Arena on the St. John's campus. Though Gagliardi  had been in failing health, he was on hand to hear many former players talk about how much he meant to them.

"I'm really glad that this thing happened when it did, because John got to enjoy this one final night, and after it was over he said to his daughter, 'this is one of the greatest nights of my life,' DeLand said. "The fact that he got to enjoy that at almost age 92, at the very end of his life, really I think means a lot more now."

Gagliardi is survived by his wife, Peg, two daughters, two sons and numerous grandchildren.

"There will never be another John," said Bob Alpers, who has been golf coach at SJU for 26 years and athletic director since 2016. "We are forever grateful for his contributions to Saint John's, our student-athletes and the fans of Johnnie football."

MPR News weekend editor Andrew Krueger contributed to this story.

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Associated Press

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Legendary St. John's University football coach John Gagliardi — who won more games than any other college football coach in history — has died at the age of 91.

An interview with St. John's University football coach John Gagliardi, that aired on MPR's Midday program on Sept. 24, 1999.

Legendary St. John's University football coach John Gagliardi dies at 91

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