J-Club Hall of Honor | Event Registration

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Dave Arnold had one of the most impressive freshman debuts in Saint John's football history.
 
But it took some significant twists of fate to make that possible. 

In many ways, it was like the plot of an inspirational movie.
 
The story started in the summer of 1969, just before the Janesville High School graduate was set to report to fall camp. Fellow incoming freshman Gary Eustice and his father were visiting campus and chatting with legendary SJU head coach John Gagliardi.

In those days, freshman had to be invited to the start of preseason practice. The Eustice family was from nearby Janesville in Waseca and put in a word for Arnold.
 
"Gary's dad then told (John) I was pretty good … really fast, the first kid from Janesville ever to make the state track and field meet – which was just one class in those days," Arnold recalled.
 
"He said 'You really should invite him up early as well.' So John, I think trying to make Gary happy, said sure. But I came in about as far down the depth chart as you could be."

But despite where he started from, Arnold was immediately impressive with his speed, hands and playmaking ability, catching the eye of then-assistant coach Terry Haws. He made a number of impressive catches against the first-team defense and blocked a pair of punts as well. 
 
So when it came time to choose the travel squad for the season opener at Wisconsin-La Crosse, Gagliardi recalled Haws put in a word for him.


 
"John said fine, but the bus was already full," Arnold said. "Terry's son Pat was one of the managers that year, and he knew they were taking a car. So he told John I could climb in with them. I was the only player to go to that first game who didn't get to ride the bus with the rest of the team."
 
The Johnnies had already lost a first-string wide receiver to injury in practice that week. And early on against the Eagles, the second and third-string receivers went down as well. 
 
That left Arnold – the unsung freshman from the managers' car – as the only remaining option.
 
"John asked who we had left," Arnold said. "And Terry said 'Try Arnold.' John said 'Who?' Terry said 'That kid from Janesville. We can't cover him in practice. Let's see if they can.' So John threw me in there."
 
He responded with a pair of second-half touchdown catches – the first a 48-yarder from senior Bill Laliberte on the halfback option and the second a 74-yarder from quarterback Joe Nett – to lead the way in a 34-20 victory. 
 
The performance solidified a spot in the starting lineup – one Arnold didn't relinquish for four-straight seasons.
 
"He was a great receiver," said Laliberte of Arnold, who had 18 catches for 448 yards and six touchdowns that first year, including one in a 21-0 season-closing victory over Simpson (Iowa) in the Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Missouri – a suburb of Kansas City.
 
"He had an incredible work ethic, he was really fast and he had great hands. He stood out right from the start."
 
Indeed, Arnold finished his SJU career with 118 receptions, 2,038 receiving yards and 32 touchdown catches, all of which were school records at the time. He is still tied for fifth on the program's all-time touchdown catch list and his 17.3 yards-per-catch average remains tied for seventh – over half-a-century since his collegiate playing days came to an end.
 
He was an All-MIAC first-team selection as a sophomore, junior and senior, making him the first Johnnie player to accomplish that feat three times. 

He established a then-single-season record for touchdown catches in 1970. But his best year came in 1971 when the junior had 39 catches for 664 yards and 11 touchdowns, earning NAIA all-district honors.
 
The quarterback for much of that season was senior Gary Marlow, one of the receivers whose injury in 1969 allowed Arnold to get his foot in the door.
 
"It all worked out the way it was supposed to," said Marlow, who went on to become the head football coach at Cretin High School in St. Paul before embarking on a long career at IBM and as the technical director at the Breck School. "I liked throwing passes more than I liked catching them, and Dave turned into one of the best receivers Saint John's had ever seen."
 
Arnold and Marlow lived together in Stillwater the summer before that season, developing an on-field chemistry that paid dividends in the fall.
 
"We painted the old Lowell Inn," Marlow said. "We'd start about 11 p.m. and paint all night until they arrived to turn the ovens on at 6 in the morning. Then we had plenty of time to throw the ball around to each other during the day."
 
"He threw such a soft ball," Arnold added. "Some guys throw the ball so hard you can barely hang onto it. But Gary had a soft touch. He'd lay it out there and allow me to run under it."
 
Arnold's speed also came in handy in track and field where he was a key contributor to SJU teams that won four-straight MIAC outdoor titles from 1970-73. He earned all-conference distinction 16 times and was a team captain his senior year, setting a then-school record of 22-feet-4 in the long jump. He was also part of a 4x100 relay team that established a school mark as well.
 
"He was a great sprinter," then-head coach Jim Smith remembered. "He had virtually no experience in the long jump, but he stepped in and excelled in that event too. He was the kind of guy others followed. He was a superb athlete, and a great person as well."
 
Those traits were why Smith tapped Arnold as his eventual replacement when Smith was named athletic director and needed to focus on those duties, as well as his role as head basketball coach. Arnold coached SJU's track and field program from 1974-77, a period in which a number of athletes earned All-American honors.

He also served as an assistant coach under Gagliardi in football. 
 
That meant he was part of the Johnnie squad that won the Division III national title in 1976.
 
"I really loved that period of time," Arnold said. "After college, I had gotten some feelers from the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, but I didn't know if that was something that was attainable for me or if there was a chance of it leading anywhere".   

"But Terry Haws had passed away (of a heart attack in early 1973) and John wanted me to be his assistant. Jim told me he was hoping to get out from under track and field because basketball was such a long season. So a bunch of pieces fell into place. I was able to come back to Saint John's and remain part of two programs I really loved."
 
Eventually, though, an offer from his father Cy proved too good to pass up. 
 
"My dad was a farm equipment dealer in Janesville and also ran the Chevrolet dealership in town," said Arnold, whose family originally moved to Janesville from Kimball when he was three years old.  

"My two older brothers took over the car dealership, and dad wanted to start winding down his involvement in the farm dealership as well. I told him I wasn't sure, but he said the business had afforded him a good life and I should give it a try. That was in 1977, and I decided it was time to take a chance on the family business.

"It was also the year Marybeth Schwegman and I got married," he continued. "She had attended St. Ben's while I was at St. John's.  Now, nearly five decades later, I'm proud of what I built in the business world. But if I'm keeping score, Marybeth was the catch of a lifetime."

Arnold – the first baby of the year born at St. Cloud Hospital on Jan. 1, 1951 – and Mary Beth raised three children of their own. And his ties to SJU continued to remain strong.
 
"I just think back on all the fun I had at SJU," Arnold recalled. "I loved playing football and running track. But the social aspect is the thing I cherished most. It was a really wonderful time in my life and I established many friendships I still enjoy today."

2026 Hall of Honor Class 
The 2026 class will be inducted into the Saint John's University J-Club Hall of Honor in a ceremony scheduled for Homecoming Saturday – Oct. 17 - in Guild Hall (Old Gym). 

The dinner and enshrinement ceremony begins at 5 p.m. in Guild Hall (Old Gym). A Homecoming Celebration social will again take place outside the venue from 4-5 p.m. following SJU's football game against Concordia in Clemens Stadium prior to the dinner and program. 

Registration is $75 per person before Oct. 11 ($100 per person after) and includes dinner and beverages. Children ages 6-12 are $35 and those ages six-and-under are free. All proceeds go to the J-Club to support SJU athletics.

To register to attend, click here. 

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