John Gagliardi, who coached football at Division III St. John's University in Minnesota, is college football's most successful coach. A native of Trinidad, Gagliardi was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday. He retired in 2012, after 64 seasons, and with a collegiate coaching record of 489-138-11.
Gagliardi is known for his "winning with no's" method of coaching, which included no tackling during practices, no mandatory weightlifting, and no roster cuts.
Colorado Matters spoke to him before his hall of fame induction:
Gagliardi's best coaching advice
"Treat everybody the way you'd like to be treated. I just don't think, as a coach, you should treat a player the way you'd not like to be treated. Abuse them mentally, and verbally, physically, chewing them out. I know a lot of coaches do it, and do very well with it. I just never felt comfortable doing it."
On why he banned tackling during practice
"If your best ball players are hurt, you've got trouble. And so we just decided to do it that way and it worked for us, and we think we saved a lot of people some real severe injuries."
On what he doesn't like about football
"There are too many injuries. It's a tough, hard-nosed game and if you can avoid a few, I think that's good for everybody."
