Should I go and watch a somewhat historical moment or just wait for clips on the news

SleepingWarrior

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http://www.startribune.com/stories/503/4195437.html

COLLEGEVILLE, MINN. -- "Those TV people? They're all nice guys," John Gagliardi said. "But jeez, they take a lot of film. All those lights they set up. They take over my office and say, 'Pretend like we're not here.'

"How am I supposed to do that?"

Of course, Katie Couric did a terrific job. Gagliardi likes to show that tape to the recruits' mothers. And the time Ralph Nader was on the St. John's campus to talk about safety on the football field? Gagliardi came away so impressed by Nader's intelligence.

Despite the minor inconveniences, Gagliardi, 77, does accept and understand that when you've been coaching college football for 55 years, including the past 51 at the same school, and will soon become the winningest coach in college football history, the curious will come calling.

John Gagliardi is carried off the field after a 9-0 season in 1962.Courtesy Of St. John's UniversityGagliardi, and those around him, find the time to provide the details of his success.

"It's a story of simplification," former Vikings coach Bud Grant said. "It's not a halftime speech, it's not a trick play. It's not a saying stuck up on a locker room wall. It's 'This is football, and if we do everything right we can win.' "

Gagliardi has won, during a career as rich with meaningful relationships as it is with success.

He soon will be recognized as a coach who stands alone. But a closer look at game day in Collegeville reveals nothing could be further from the truth.

Former Johnnies players visit Gagliardi.Richard Tsong-taatariiStar TribuneKickoff, 1 p.m.

It's been said players line up for the chance to play for Gagliardi. As game time approaches the thought presents itself in the literal sense after 171 Johnnies pour onto the Clemens Stadium turf.

Shoulder pads to shoulder pads they form a wall of red and white on the St. John's sideline, stretching from one 20-yard-line to the other. Gagliardi's no-cut rule and a humane overall approach to football combine to serve as a magnet.

John and Peg GagliardiRichard Tsong-taatariiStar Tribune"He just does it right," senior linebacker Cam McCambridge said. "He's humble, he's not mean to the players, he's not mean to the faculty or anyone in the athletic department. That's why he's stuck around; it's the way he deals with people."

Gagliardi's message? "Do unto others . . ."

"I'm sure no one else in the history of football has gone through 30 seasons without ever making a tackle on the practice field," he said. "Most people protect their quarterbacks and star receivers. I figure, the other guys are human beings, too. They all have mothers who love them and don't want them to get hurt. So we try to protect them all."

Mike Grant wore No. 83Courtesy Of St. John'sAnd through it all the Johnnies have emerged as the winningest team in Division III history. While Gagliardi has enjoyed strength in numbers, he has been able to coach a core of players to wondrous success.

"I think he wins because he is a football genius," St. John's interim athletic director Fr. Tim Backous said. "It's as simple as that. And, he has the respect of every player who has ever played for him."

Jim Gagliardi, the Johnnies' offensive coordinator, is impressed by his father's judge of talent and the patience he has shown in allowing talent to present itself.

John Gagliardi: 1963Star Tribune"He doesn't let things like weightlifting cloud his judgment," Jim said. "He looks at 40 [-yard dash] times, but that isn't a deciding factor.

"There are a lot of good players who don't like to lift weights, they don't like to be woken up at six in the morning to go run. They like the game, but it's not their life. This is the perfect place for kids like that."

Gagliardi knows the same holds true for him. He has had opportunities to coach elsewhere, and held onto a dream for a long time that he would get the chance to coach Notre Dame. But his life has been too fulfilling to have any regrets.

He could have joined Bud Grant's staff in 1985 when Grant came back to coach the Vikings, he could have given in to the lure of spectacular weather and accepted the job at the University of San Diego, but Gagliardi still is here.

"I'm living my dream," Gagliardi said. "Great school, great kids. And fortunately they are damned good football players."

Postgame, 4 p.m.

To draw a mental picture of the activity in Gagliardi's office following home games, think backstage after a concert performance.

Media, family and friends jockey for space and a moment with the featured attraction. Former players stick their head in the door to say hello, many wanting their young children to meet the man who has meant so much to them.

Gagliardi obliges requests to sign St. John's T-shirts, hats and programs, wondering aloud why anyone would want his autograph. What is clear to him and everyone else present is the warmth that fills the room.

"You play for John and you become on of his boys," said Jim Lehman, who has remained close with Gagliardi since Lehman's days as a Johnnies running back in the 1950s. "And he never forgets you."

It's just as true the other way around.

"He's coached these guys who come back as millionaires, successes in whatever endeavor they've chosen," Bud Grant said. "And they all relate how they learned so much from John. He helps them see that life is not so complicated."

Gagliardi's daughter Nancy is among the faces in the crowd. She's there to share the moment with her father but also to make sure he manages to eat something now that the pressures of game day are behind him.

Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant usually is there, too. The former Johnnies tight end and the son of Bud Grant shares a friendship so strong with Gagliardi that he asked him to be in his wedding party.

"It was great to see John in a tux," Grant said.

Grant often is mentioned as a likely replacement for Gagliardi. He has indoctrinated much of Gagliardi's coaching philosophy into his immensely successful program at Eden Prairie.

"He is one of the smartest people you'll ever meet," Grant said. "And he's smart in a lot of areas. He's smart in the football Xs and Os, where he is always on the cutting edge. He's also a brilliant psychologist. He reads a lot of books on how other coaches do things. He's willing to be flexible."

The only thing that surprises Grant is that Gagliardi has managed to keep at it for so long.

"Because I know the wear and tear it takes on me to coach," Grant said. "That's the amazing part. First of all, it's not that easy to win. So you have to be really good, which he is. And then, you have to have a mentality where it doesn't consume you. He doesn't allow it to consume him throughout the rest of the year."

Bud Grant has had two sons play for Gagliardi, with Dan following Mike in the 1980s. Gagliardi was more at ease with the news by the time Dan made his decision to be a Johnnie.

"When Mike came here I was a little afraid he would go report to his dad how ridiculous we were here," Gagliardi said. "The guy I thought was the greatest was going to think. . . Fortunately, his way was pretty darn close to what we did.

"When I started going to Vikings training camps I realized, 'Yeah, this is pretty good.' Because I didn't know what I was doing. I got reassured that maybe it wasn't so bad.

"We were doing it our way, and I never sought the approval of anyone. But it was nice to know a guy like Bud Grant thought we were doing pretty good."

Home, 7 p.m.

Gagliardi had one bit of advice for his bride, Peg, when they married on Valentine's Day, 1956: Don't unpack.

He was comfortable after three seasons at St. John's, but all coaches learn not to get too comfortable.

Peg didn't take her husband's words as a warning.

"I moved 30 times before I met John," Peg said. "My dad worked for the government and then a power company, and every time he got a promotion, we'd move to a different town. It was almost every year, sometimes twice a year, and I loved it.

"I looked forward to more of the same when I got married. I figured he wasn't going to stay here forever. You lose a little bit, then you go to another place. You win, you lose. I figured we'd do some real traveling."

The Gagliardi's have moved once. They lived in St. Cloud for two years before moving into a house on campus in an area known as Flynn Town.

It was named after Ed Flynn, who coached Johnnies basketball from 1910-20. A group of homes were built on campus to house campus workers as well as the football and basketball coaches. Eventually, as the families moved out, the homes were converted to student housing and ultimately torn down and replaced with apartments.

Except for one.

"I'm the last of the Mohicans," Gagliardi said.

There are plenty of family members around to keep him company. Peg works as the athletic department secretary, joining son Jim in sharing part of Gagliardi's work day. Daughters Nancy and Gina and son John all live nearby and rarely miss a game.

And then there are the 18 grandchildren, who are at the Gagliardi's lake house -- five miles from campus -- to greet their grandfather when he walks in the door after games.

Gagliardi bought the lake house for Peg and the kids, and agreed to the purchase on the condition he didn't have to spend a lot of time there. He'll often return to the house on campus alone in the evening after spending time with the family.

They all know he's happy there. He always has been.

When his own kids were small, Gagliardi often came home to eat lunch and to take the kids for a walk in the woods.

During the summer they got his complete and undivided attention. The family would jump in the car with either a visit with Peg's family in Virginia or John's family in Colorado as the ultimate destination. What happened in between was anybody's guess, including the man behind the wheel.

As unstructured as those trips proved to be, there were two common threads that tied them together.

"We'd stop at every amusement park along the way," Jim Gagliardi said. "My dad's a rollercoaster buff. And we'd stop at every college football stadium we came across."

Gagliardi insists the rollercoasters were for the kids; they liked them, so he liked them, too. The college visits were for him.

"To this day I like campuses," Gagliardi said. "They're nice places, beautiful places. I've always felt at home on campuses."
 
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