The college football coach with more wins than any other, John Gagliardi, is laid to rest today after services at Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville. Father Timothy Backous told those gathered to pay their last respects, “There are painters, and then there’s Michelangelo. There are musicians, and then there’s Mozart. There are writers, and then there is William Shakespeare. And of course there are coaches, and then there’s John Gagliardi.”
Gagliardi coached the Johnnies for 60 years, bringing in 489 wins. Governor Mark Dayton has proclaimed this “John Gagliardi Day” in Minnesota.