St. John's game notes

THE COACH: John Gagliardi (guh-LAR-dee) is in his 52nd season as a collegiate head coach and 48th in Collegeville. Gagliardi currently owns a 377-108-11 collegiate career record. At age 74, Gagliardi is 31 wins away from the all-time collegiate win record of 408, set by former Grambling head coach Eddie Robinson. Gagliardi has the fifth-highest winning percentage (.771) of any active D-III coach in the nation, has coached three national championship teams (1963, 1965, 1976) and 23 conference title teams (20 of them at SJU).

St. John's linebacker Beau LaBore intercepted two passes against UW-Stevens Point in last year's playoffs. D3football.com photo by Neil Coleman

WINNING TRADITION: The St. John's football team made history on Saturday, Nov. 11, as it took the field for its 700th collegiate football contest. The Johnnies are the third-winningest NCAA Division III football team overall with a .689 winning percentage and a 474-207-24 all-time record in its 90th season of competition. This year marks the 33rd consecutive non-losing season and 14 consecutive winning season for the Johnnies.

SCHOOL RECORD: With its national semifinal win last Saturday, The SJU football team set a new single-season record for wins with its 13th victory. The old record of 12 wins was set in 1993, when the Johnnies went 12-1 and lost to Mount Union in the national semifinals. This year marks the 11th time in school history that SJU has won 10 or more games in a single season.

PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE: St. John's is making its 12th NCAA DIII football playoff appearance and currently has a 20-10 overall record. SJU is only the fourth NCAA Division III team to collect 20 playoff victories all time (Mount Union, 28; Ithaca, 23; Augustana, 20). SJU is 25-11 in all postseason games and 3-0 in national championship games, which includes NAIA playoff games where the Johnnies won national titles in 1963 and 1965.

INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE: Senior quarterback Tom Linnemann was a finalist for the 2000 Gagliardi, which is presented to the outstanding Division III football player in the country. Linnemann was also named to the 2000 Verizon Academic All-America College Division Football Second team. St. John's had five players named to this year's MIAC all-conference first team. Those players were: senior tight end Nate Kirschner, senior linebacker Beau LaBore, Linnemann, senior running back Chris Moore and senior defensive lineman Alex Wesley. Second team players included: Chris Salvato, Jeremy Forsell, Phil Trier, Nick Bruns and Andy Hover.

FIGHTING ZEROES: St. John's (13-1), which finished second in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this season, is battling Division III tradition in this Stagg Bowl. Last year, when Pacific Lutheran won the Stagg Bowl to finish a 13-1 season, was the first time since 1991 that a championship team finished with a defeat. The past seven NCAA champs who have passed through Salem Stadium have a combined record of 96-1. The 1992 champion, UW-La Crosse (12-0-1), had a regular-season tie. St. John's loss this season was to conference foe Bethel, 43-36, on Oct. 28.

Head coach John Gagliardi
Saint John's University legendary head coach John Gagliardi will begin his 52nd season as a collegiate head coach and 48th season in Collegeville during the 2000 season. The winningest active coach and second all-time in college football history, Gagliardi currently owns a 377-108-11 collegiate career record.  Gagliardi is now 31 wins away from the all-time collegiate win record of 408, set by former Grambling head coach Eddie Robinson.

Gagliardi's coaching career began when his high school coach was drafted into World War II. Gagliardi, as captain, took over the reins at the age of 16 in 1943. His teams won four conference titles in Gagliardi's six years of coaching high school. After graduation from Colorado College in 1949, his first college coaching position was at Carroll College in Helena, Montana. Gagliardi led Carroll to three conference titles in his first four seasons as a college coach. His success caught the attention of Saint John's University and he was picked to succeed the legendary Johnny "Blood" McNally, a charter member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

Gagliardi won the MIAC title that fall. He also won championships with SJU's track team.  In addition, he coached the SJU hockey team for five seasons, compiling a 42-25-1 record, which is still the best career winning percentage of any hockey coach in school history.  He has won in every sport he has coached. He has coached three national championship teams (1963, 1965, and 1976) and made the national quarterfinals in four of the last five seasons.

As a collegiate coach Gagliardi's teams have won 23 conference titles and have appeared in 36 postseason games. In 1993, SJU scored at 61.5 points per game, setting a record that may never be broken. Gagliardi has also been athletic director at both Saint John's and Carroll.

Coaching Staff
Head Coach: John Gagliardi (Colorado College 1949)
Record at St. John's: 353-102-10 (48 years)
Overall Record: 377-108-11 (52 years)
Assistant Coaches: Jim Gagliardi, Jerry Haugen, John Elton, Gary Fasching, Mike Trewick, Jeff Bretherton, Dean Taylor, Brandon Novak, Ben Sieben.