COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Ed Cahill certainly doesn't rank among the most successful football coaches at Saint John's University.

In fact, the 1-6-0 record the former standout player at St. Louis University compiled in intercollegiate contests during his two seasons at the helm in 1920 and '21 ranks him second-to-last in program history in terms of winning percentage (.143).

But Cahill – who served with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I – was faced with a challenging task. Football had been dropped at SJU following the 1909 season thanks, in part, to the opposition of the Rev. Alcuin Deutsch — then rector of the university and seminary and later the longtime abbot at Saint John's.

"In justice to the memory of this truly great abbot, it must be said that his attitude toward intercollegiate athletics was based on a genuine interest in Saint John's as a rapidly developing college," wrote authors Dunstan Tucker and Martin Schirber in "Scoreboard: A History of Athletics at Saint John's University," published in 1979. 

"It sprang from an innate distrust of any activity that would distract from the primary purpose of a college, the love and pursuit of learning."

But, with the Johnnies entering the newly formed MIAC in 1920, football needed to be revived. And that task fell to Cahill, who was named the new coach and athletic director at SJU to start the 1920-21 academic year.

"Mr. Cahill introduced himself to the student body and in a few well-chosen words summed up the athletic policy of Saint John's for the year," The Record reported in its Oct. 1, 1920 edition. "The students who heard the address were well satisfied and all entertain fond hopes for a banner year in local athletics."

The first step was restarting a high school program at Saint John's Prep, then drawing upon the best of those players to form the nucleus of a college team. Using a mix of high school and college talent, the Johnnies played just two intercollegiate games that fall – both against St. Cloud Normal School (now St. Cloud State).

The first of those games – the Johnnies' first football matchup since a loss to St. Thomas in November of 1909 – was played 103 years ago this week, on Oct. 9 in St. Cloud.

"The local players fought every inch of the way," wrote The Record. "And it was not until the final quarter, that, with horseshoe luck, the Normal men secured the winning points."

Just seven days later in Collegeville, SJU again fell to Normal 7-0, finishing its abbreviated first season back 0-2 at the college level. But the seeds were planted for the following year when Cahill welcomed 50 players for the start of practice.

Still, the going was again tough as SJU finished 0-3 in MIAC play in its innagural conference slate and 1-4 overall. The one victory was a 28-0 win at St. Cloud Normal on Oct. 14, the Johnnies' first victory since a 3-0 triumph over Macalester in the 1909 season opener.

Scoring the first points for SJU in a dozen years was John 'Blood' McNally, who according to the Minneapolis Tribune's recap, picked off a pass in the first quarter and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown.

McNally, of course, went on to star in the NFL and was part of the charter class of inductees into the league's Hall of Fame in 1963. At SJU, he was the starting tailback in 1921, operating out of Cahill's standard single-wing formation.

"I played for (an intramural) team (at SJU) called Cat's Pajamas," McNally wrote in his chapter of "The Game That Was," a 1970 collection of essays by many of the game's early stars edited by Myron Cope.

"That was an expression current at the time – it meant something like 'superior guy.' Anyway, I was an immediate success with Cat's Pajamas. We won the intramural league, and later I started competing for the college team."

"Mac's recognized ability on the cinder path made him a valuable man to dash around end," it was written in the 1922 edition of The Sagatagan, the school's yearbook. "His work all season was of the A1 type."

McNally was back for one more season in 1922. But Cahill had already departed.

He ended up at Mount St. Charles College in Helena, Montana – leading the team there to a 3-2 record in 1922, his only season as head coach. Mount St. Charles later became Carroll College where, it turned out, John Gagliardi would get his start as a college head coach from 1949-52.

Gagliardi was then hired at SJU prior to the 1953 season and remained in Collegeville for 60 seasons – retiring in 2012 with 489 career victories, the most of any coach at any level in college football history.

That was quite a few more wins than Cahill achieved. But without his efforts, the SJU program may not have gotten back off the ground.

"Cahill's team was one any school could be proud of," wrote the Minneapolis Journal about the 1921 Johnnie squad.

20 years ago (2003) – Jake Theis rushed for two touchdowns in the second quarter and finished with 146 yards rushing as the SJU football team improved to 5-0 with a 44-0 win on Oct. 11 at Carleton.

40 years ago (1983) – Tim Coughlin had a hat trick as the Johnnie soccer team rolled past Augsburg 8-0 in a mudfest in Minneapolis.