Colorado Sports Hall of FameCOLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Former Saint John's University head football coach
John Gagliardi will be inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame at the 51st annual banquet April 2, 2015, at the Denver Marriott City Center.
The rest of the 2015 class includes former NBA guard Chauncey Billups, philanthropist John Dikeou, former MLB pitcher Roy Halladay, former WNBA player and NBA assistant coach Becky Hammon, and high school coach Warren Mitchell. Since its inception in 1965, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame has inducted 234 individuals.
A native of Trinidad, Colorado, Gagliardi announced his retirement following the 2012 season as college football's all-time wins leader with a 489-138-11 (.775) collegiate record in 64 seasons and a 465-132-10 (.774) record in 60 seasons at SJU, including a 362-99-9 (.780) record in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) games. Gagliardi's 64 years of collegiate coaching is the most in college football history, surpassing the old record of 57 years held by former University of Chicago and University of the Pacific coach Amos Alonzo Stagg (1890-1946). He was the first active head coach to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (Class of 2006) and received the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) Amos Alonzo Stagg Award in 2009. The MIAC named its football Coach of the Year Award after Gagliardi in 2013.
He coached four national championship teams (1963, 1965, 1976 and 2003) and made the 2000 national title game. His teams reached the national semifinals six other times (1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2001 and 2002). As a collegiate coach, Gagliardi's teams won 30 conference titles (including three in four seasons at Carroll, Montana, from 1949-52) and appeared in 58 post-season games.
Gagliardi's coaching career began when his high school football coach at Trinidad Catholic High School was drafted into World War II. Gagliardi, as the team's captain, took over the reins at the age of 16 in 1943. His teams won four conference titles in six years of coaching high school at Trinidad Catholic and St. Mary's High School in Colorado Springs.
In addition to the Johnnies' football program, Gagliardi served as Saint John's athletic director from 1976-94 and was the head coach for Saint John's track and field (1954-65) and hockey (1954-59) teams. He was inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Hall of Fame in 2006.
The 2007 Liberty Mutual Division III Coach of the Year, Gagliardi tied the all-time collegiate win record, held by former Grambling State head coach Eddie Robinson, on Nov. 1, 2003, and broke the all-time record on Nov. 8, 2003, en route to a perfect 14-0 season and an NCAA Division III championship. Gagliardi also broke Robinson's record for the most games coached in college football history (588) in 2008 and coached his 600th game in 2009.
In 1993, Jostens and the SJU J-Club unveiled the Gagliardi Trophy that goes to the nation's outstanding Division III player honoring excellence in athletics, academics and community service.
