Last week's MIAC Friday Feature took an in-depth look at Saint John's University football as it enters the post-John Gagliardi era. As a
former journalist, I really enjoyed this assignment because it let me get back
to my reporter roots. I spent a day at Saint John's this summer speaking to
players, coaches and Athletic Director Tom Stock. I attended the Johnnies'
practice that day, and collected photos and videos as well.
The feature had a lot of substance, thanks to all the
great stuff I got from everyone I spoke with at SJU. It's a pretty detailed report
about the dawning of a new era at SJU. Amazingly, I had a lot of material that
I didn't use so the blog was a perfect spot to share some unused items of
particular interest.
Because of the nature of the story, one aspect I didn't
delve into was the much-publicized coaching search to hire Gagliardi's replacement.
New Head Coach Gary Fasching and new Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Kurt Ramler were two of the finalists along with Saint John's alum Mike
Grant, who has a built a prep dynasty at Eden Prairie High School, in addition
to his famous football lineage as the son of legendary Minnesota Vikings former
coach Bud Grant.
 |
| Mike Grant decided to stay at EPHS, and Gary Fasching and Kurt Ramler (center) took over the Johnnie football program. |
Grant had a lot of supporters throughout his interview process, and when he withdrew from consideration, there were a lot of different things written and said as to why. During my interview with Stock, he gave me some great information regarding the search process and specifically, how things played out with Grant. I was fascinated by some of the details and grateful for Stock 's transparency. I hadn't seen some of this information in other reports, and I immediately knew that many MIAC football and Johnnie fans would share my interest in the AD's assessment of the process.
"It's one of those things with an open search,"
Stock said, "a lot of people were happy with an open search, some were
unhappy. Many were very happy with Gary because he's recruited our
student-athletes here the last 18 years and they're really happy with him. But
I think when your football team is 5-5 and the bar is where it is at Saint
John's in football, others have felt like it was time to go outside the
organization and have a change.
"It came down - and it's no secret - Mike Grant was
a finalist; Gary was a finalist. Finally, Mike Grant withdrew his name and it
had nothing to do with Saint John's not honoring his wishes. His demands were
very reasonable. He just loves where he's at and what he's built. He's built a
wonderful program at Eden Prairie and I think in his career he's looking to
spend more time at the cabin, more time with his father, more time with his
family. He's looking to unwind rather than wind it up, which is what it would
have been. Here he'd have to recruit and start rebuilding our program. By
hiring somebody on the inside I think we've really made great strides and made
them in a hurry under Gary."
With Grant out of the process, things worked out quite
well for Saint John's. Fasching got the head job, and Ramler was also brought
into the mix as the Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator. Fasching also
gave me some great material on the start of his tenure and how crucial it is at
Saint John's to connect with the very large, incredibly passionate community of
alums, fans and former players.
"I think any time there's a change there are going
to be people that have a favorite candidate or stuff like that," Fasching
said. "But really once the decision was made, the alumni have been very,
very supportive. I couldn't have asked for more. They've reached out to me in a
lot of different ways and I couldn't be more grateful for our alumni here. I
think it's what makes us unique in all of college football is that we do have a
passionate alumni here; it's evidenced by the crowds that we get. They're
connected, they're engaged to what's going on here. It's been really good. I've
been really pleased with the outpouring I've gotten from the alumni."
"It was one of the things - when I got hired - we
talked about it right away," Fasching said of the trip to Canada. "And
then with Kurt coming on and implementing his stuff on offense, I brought it up
to the staff. I said, 'What do you guys think about making an international
trip to Canada?' We were all in favor of it. It made a huge difference - having
those 10 extra practices. We didn't use all 10; I think we used eight of them.
Having those practices really helped our kids out a lot. Just from a
terminology standpoint and knowing where to line up and things like that. It
was very beneficial, it was one of the better things we've done so far."
Finally, the reverence everyone in Collegeville holds for
Gagliardi is still palpable. It certainly isn't surprising after six decades of
excellence, but it certainly was made clear in each of my interviews.
"I want to start by saying I want to thank John
Gagliardi to Saint John's University," Stock began our conversation.
"He leaves as the winningest coach in college football. He coached 64
years as a head coach, 60 of those right here at our great University. He won
75 percent of his games over that time span. he cannot be replaced. Thank you
John. Nobody's gonna come in here and win 75 percent of them for the next 60
years, and if we think that's going to happen, Gary's going to be something
like 115 or 120 years old. It's not going to happen. John's an aberration and
we're so grateful for him."
"I think No. 1 - people will come into a program
after they're named the head coach and they'll decide that they're going to
change everything and do it their way," said Fasching. "That's
certainly not something that we needed to do here. I think the situation I came
into was a lot different than other people. A lot of people come into a place
and it's probably because the coach got fired and the program's in shambles,
that certainly is not the case here."
Perhaps Johnnie senior Kevin Battis said it best. "[Gagliardi is] a
great, great figure and he's still definitely - you can feel him around here -
and that's great," said the All-MIAC lineman.
He's right ... Gagliardi's presence is still everywhere,
and after six decades of stability and success, moving forward is quite a task.
That task resulted in a fun story for me to report, and all these leftover tidbits
that didn't make the final cut, but couldn't stay on the cutting room floor.
Tweet of the Week
Extra Points
-Congrats to Bethel's J.D. Mehlhorn on his selection tothe Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. J.D. is one of just 22 players selected for
the incredible honor in all of college football. It seems like it's become
pretty trendy to bash on college athletics, specifically college football, so
kudos to J.D. for reminding us about everything that's right with college
athletics.
-We've publicized the MIAC's 7-0 and 12-1 start to the
2013 football season, but it's really been an amazing fall thus far for all
MIAC team sports. In addition to football's 12-1 collective record, volleyball
entered MIAC play a combined 94-50, men's soccer started the conference slate
with a 32-19-8 combined record, and women's soccer started its MIAC season a
collective 26-22-8. Combined, the MIAC's four team sports are 164-92-16. MIAC
teams have won 64 percent of games against nonconference competitions. 33 of
the MIAC's 44 football, volleyball and soccer teams are .500 or better in
nonconference play. We couldn't be prouder of our teams' accomplishments on the
field thus far this fall. Thanks for representing our league in such
outstanding fashion.
-How 'bout the St. Thomas women's golf team? The Tommies
have three first-place finishes in three tournament appearances, and star Doyle
O'Brien (two) and Erin Dingmann (one) have claimed the conference's first three
Athlete-of-the-Week awards. Outstanding.
-Will any of our schools have a cooler special event than
Saint Mary's getting a visit from the Stanley Cup? Chicago Blackhawks President/CEO
John McDonough is an alum of SMU, and he brought the cup to his alma mater to
share its glory with the school and Winona. Read more and see photos here. Just
awesome. Congrats to John on his immense success, thanks for representing Saint
Mary's and the MIAC with such distinction, and thanks especially for giving one
of our campuses a day they'll never forget.
-If you have any questions for the blog or the MIACWeekly Podcast, email me! I'd love to make this more interactive. Chances are,
I might not be able to answer all questions, but I know people.
-MIAC play started yesterday for volleyball and soccer
and continues today with full slates for those sports. Football's MIAC season
starts Saturday. This is when it REALLY gets fun! If you're at a game this week
or this weekend, email me your pics, or send to the MIAC on Facebook and
Twitter. Let's see that school spirit! Good luck to all the athletes this week,
and we're excited to see the conference standings start to shake up.
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