St. Johns Defenders??

I have no idea. Different things work for different people and at different places. I just know that it works for him.

lots of depth, lots of competition due to so many bodies on the field, so the cream rises to the top.

I think that the key word there is "organized".

Good point coachjd. A lot like high school. When you have more numbers to choose from, more than likely, you're going to have greater odds of getting talented players than those schools that don't have the numbers. Like I said, I attribute their success to having more talent and depth than most schools they play. I also think I remember reading they often have 200 or so players out. Why? Because they won't have to work very hard!

Great post...I think this sums it up perfectly. I am not a "St John's defender"...I have never seen a game and don't know anything about the program other than what is common knowledge...what I DO know is that Gagliardi's system has produced highly successful results.

I don't really think that it matters why it "works".

The SJU style attracts gifted athletes who have a GREAT work ethic. They need to have a great work ethic if they ever want to get on the field. Nothing is mandatory. Therefore, if the players want to get better in the off season they must do their own work.

SJU as a school attracts a high caliber of person. To play football at SJU, a kid not only needs to be a fantastic student and a fantastic person, but also a great football player. Saying that the kids at SJU have a poor work ethic is a huge slap in the face.

Make no mistake, SJU has been able to win because John and the staff have recruited extremely well. Kids want to be a part of a winner and a part of something special. Playing football at SJU for John provides that opportunity.

On the field, SJU executes better than any team that I have ever seen. High school, college, nfl it does not matter. Tell me that is not coaching. Hell that is coaching in its purest and simplest form. Isn't that what we all want as coaches? For our players to execute and get the job done?

I am not going to sit here and tell you that the SJU philosophy would work at every place and at every level. Quite frankly, that would be a lie. What has happened though is the perfect storm. John is the perfect coach at the perfect place. 55 years later he is the all time winningest coach in college football and he has 4 national championships and too many conference and region titles to even count.

Flat out, the man is a winner. Whatever your criticisms of him may be, remember that he is a winner. While you may not agree with his whole philosophy, there are certainly many things that you can take away from him to benefit yourself as a coach.

Remember, don't lose sight of the forest because of the trees.

Sure...me too! However, in this case it is pretty apparent that you have already made up your mind.

It just happens that way sometimes.

Yes, even more amazing is that they've MAINTAINED their success doing it that way for so long and not just be a 2 or 3 year wonder. We talk a lot about having a "team" vs having a "program" and it's obvious St John's has a "program". Anyway, I still doubt I'll ever have the guts to give many of their methods a try. I guess we'll just have to shake our heads at St. John's- the "Second Wonder of the Football World" (De la Salle is the 1st wonder)!

I think all the talk of cheating is sour grapes. I know I don't have any inside info, but every college does stuff that could be considered "cheating". Even the bad ones. It's just that no one considers it cheating until you get good.

larrymoe,

I am not into broad generalizations. That would like accusing your whole team of drinking violations when only 1 or 2 were drinking. Not everyone cheats. I coached in the same conference as SJU. Our program was clean to a fault. Cheating is cheating regardless of your win-loss record.

The St. John's (Gagliardi) method came up in another thread - I think about Indy's being a waste of time. One poster was quoted as saying something to the effect that St. John's doesn't need to practice tackling technique because whoever is playing that position was an all-state player in high school. Not many high school teams can make that statement.

Obviously the long history of winning helps attract students to St. John's. I'm sure there are also a couple of former St. John's players who are also high school head coaches that help direct their kids to St. Johns. I guess my question would be does anyone know of a high school that follows the St. John's system exclusively with some degree of success?

How many DIII kids EVER make the NFL final roster?
Answer is miniscule. Facts are most kids playing at this level ( I played DII ball) have no interest in the NFL or redshirtirtig, etc they are playing with no scholarship, for the love of the game. getting great educations and football is just a bonus.
The NFL types are playing DI ball, a handful DII ball. Just a tiny fraction of all DI kids BTW actually make the NFL every year, any DIII kid is a longshot an enigma.

According to this article:http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/Football/Releases/2006/Combine.htm

Only 1 DII player in ALL OF DIII football was invited to the NFL combine in 2007. Of course we all know going to the combine does not guarantee you will even get drafted, let alone make the final club.
DII players that drop down to play for him arent the great players, they are the ones sitting the pines at DII.

In 2003:Of the 262 players taken in last year's draft, 90.5 percent (237) played for Division I-A programs in 2002, according to Star Tribune research. Of the 25 smaller-school draftees, Hoag was the only one from Division III.

So a quick search showed 2 years of just 1 DIII player even being peeked at by the NFL. No one I knew playing DIIi ball had any illusions even drug induced ones of playing on Sundays.

DIII Kids arent playing to go to the NFL

Mike Grant at Eden Prairie has followed the SJU way pretty closely for quite a while and been very successful. Exactly how closely he follows it I don't know.

The winningest coach in Oklahoma history would loosly fit the JG mold. They never practiced in pads, in fact if it was hot they didn't even wear helmets or practiced in socks in the gym. They didn't condition and had coke and candy bar breaks during their 1 hour long practices.

Not too many people in our state has much respect for his methods, even though the results (400 wins, give or take a few) are undeniable. Oh, one other thing, he was without a doubt a talent chaser.