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AFM Magazine


Letter From the Editor

No. 409 and counting ...
by: Aaron S. Lee
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With a 29-26 come-from-behind victory over then-No. 10 Bethel College (Minn.), John Gagliardi of St. John’s University (Minn.) surpassed Eddie Robinson to become college football’s all-time winningest coach with 409 wins.

The 77-year-old Gagliardi, who has coached at St. John’s (Minn.) for 51 seasons, has averaged eight wins a year in his 55 years as a head coach. Grambling State’s Eddie Robinson averaged seven wins per year in a career that spanned 57 years – all at GSU.

For me, this record-breaking event is monumental. Unless Valdosta State’s Chris Hatcher, 30, who was 45-5 after four years with one regular season game remaining in 2003, can keep his momentum for the next 40 years, we probably won’t be seeing Gagliardi’s record broken any time soon. This is special to me because I not only grew up just 30 miles west of Grambling, La., but I also have had the pleasure of knowing Coach Robinson on both a personal and professional level.

“Coach Gagliardi has done an excellent job,” said Robinson. “I am very proud of him.”

Winning 409 games isn’t bad for a football coach that has no scholarships, no spring practices, no compulsory weightlifting program, no whistles, no tackling in practice, no heavy gear in practice – just shorts or sweats, no long grinding workouts – just an hour and a half or less, and no calling him coach – just John.

After the win, St. John’s, who finished 12-2 in 2002 and made their way into the NCAA Division III semifinals, remained at No. 2 in the national polls behind Mt. Union (Ohio), which was in the midst of a record-breaking 51-game winning streak.

“I haven’t had time to reflect,” said Gagliardi, whose teams have won 80 percent of their games against Division II opponents. “I get so engrossed with what we are trying to accomplish that I can’t remember two games ago.

“You know we never talked about the record here in the football program,” he said. “It was just something we chipped away at for over 50 years. What I am most proud of are the kids that played hard and found a way to win. I am also very proud of the overflow crowd of 13,000 that came out in 18-degree weather to show their support.”

This I know for certain, of all the football coaches on the planet, if someone had to break Robinson’s mark, then I know Coach Robinson, the entire coaching community and myself should be proud it was John Gagliardi.

Congratulations, coach ... you are college football!

Respectfully,

Aaron S. Lee
Managing Editor
American Football Monthly
aslee@lcclark.com





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