John

   One of the segments that CBS Sunday Morning does on the last Sunday of the year is Hail and Farewell. As you may guess from the title  it is a tribute to important people who have passed away that year. There are a variety of people actors,politicians,producers,scientists,athletes,designers and religious leaders.
   There was one name on the list the surprised me, John Gagliardi. I'm sure most people who watch CBS Sunday Morning have no idea who John Gagliardi was, except a few from Minnesota.  For those of you who do not know, he has one more games than any coach in college football history. In his 64 total years of coaching he won 489 games. Joe Paterno comes in second at 409 games.
   The interesting thing about Gagliardi is the way he coached. He was not your typical college football coach. For starters, his players called him John, not Coach. He ran a very unconventional program and the results can speak for themselves. He didn't allow tackling in practice along with drills and calisthenics. In fact he believed that teams that did perfect calisthenics before a game wore their players out before the game began. His practices lasted no longer than 90 minutes. I read once that he used to have practices for two hours when he noticed that most injuries tended to happen during the last 30 minutes so he cut those 30 minutes out. He also didn't believe in talking about killing or hitting opponents and no trash talk. He was not a screamer nor did he believe in abusing players or allowing players to abuse others.
   One thing I like about the way he ran the program is that the football players were not considered special. They did not live in special dorms or houses. They did not have special meals together. No one is pampered. All seniors are captains. I like this because too many athletes are given special treatment because of their skills and  begin to believe that rules of any sort do not apply to them. St. John's University, where Gagliardi coached, does not have football scholarships. The players play because they want to, not because they are being paid to. Anyone who tries out for the team makes it. During home games all players suit up. This makes for a long line of player on the sidelines. Personally I think this can be a good way to subtly intimidate other teams.
  He unconventional coaching style starting with his first coaching job. He was in high school. The football coach got called up to fight during World War II. The team would have to disband unless there was someone to coach. Gagliardi, as the team captain, decided to coach. The first thing he did was throw out anything he didn't like. He threw out drills, laps and the ban on drinking water. He didn't believe in aggressive practices. In order for players to win games they needed to not be injured in practice. What he did do is make sure his players knew where they were supposed to line up and what they were supposed to do once the ball was snapped. It worked well and his team won the state title that year. Since it seemed to work, he stuck with it for the rest of his career.
   He retired in 2012 after a 60 year coaching career at St. John's. He passed away in October. He was an original and well worth remembering.