The school's athletic department announced the funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Oct. 15 at the Abbey Church on the St. John's campus. A visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. next Sunday at the Abbey Church.

The visitation will continue from 9 to 10:45 a.m. the following day in advance of the funeral service.

"I offer my deepest condolences to John's wife, Peggy, his family and friends and the thousands of St. John's alumni who played for him," St. John's President Michael Hemesath said in a statement.

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"John Gagliardi was not only an extraordinary coach, he was also an educator of young men and builder of character. John inspired deep and enduring loyalty and passion among his players across the decades because he taught them lessons through the medium of football that served them well in their personal and professional lives long after graduating from St. John's University. His is a legacy any educator would be extremely proud of."

The Trinidad, Colorado native, who took over at St. John's in 1953 after spending four seasons as the coach at Carroll (Montana) College, stands as both the winningest and longest-tenured head coach ever in the college ranks.

He passed the late Eddie Robinson of Grambling atop college football's all-time victory list in 2003, the same season in which he won his fourth national title with the Johnnies. And his 64 seasons as a head coach at the college level place him well in front of the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg, who spent 57 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

"We lost one of the giants today," said Gary Fasching, a former player and assistant coach for Gagliardi, who took his place as head coach following his retirement after the 2012 season.

"There's a small list of guys who you can put right up at the top of this business and John was one of those guys. I can't put into words what he meant to me and my career. I wouldn't be here today if not for what John did for me. And so many other people can say the same thing."

Gagliardi was perhaps even more famous for his unique head-coaching style – a philosophy he distilled into a list known as "Winning With Nos."

Among them were no tackling in practice (his players wore shorts or sweats, shoulder pads and helmets), no whistles, no calling him coach (John was how he preferred to be addressed), and no blocking sleds or tackling dummies.

Calisthenics, meanwhile, were always treated light-heartedly in Collegeville. Among the many unique drills Gagliardi's teams engaged in before practice or games were the "Beautiful Day Drill," in which players laid down on the grass or turf and gazed into the sky, and the "Walk-Away Drill," in which players practiced taking a shove from another player and turning the other cheek.

"John was an innovator," Fasching said Sunday. "You look at the way people are starting to practice now with the emphasis on non-contact and player safety. John was doing that 50 years ago. He understood that constant hitting every day in practice was not going to be good for you."

Gagliardi's teams won or shared 30 conference titles (including three at Carroll) and his postseason record over his time at St. John's was 39-19.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Gagliardi Trophy – which honors the top player at the Division III level each season – has been awarded annually by Jostens and the St. John's J-Club since 1993.

But he took more pride in the fact that many on the long list of his former players went on to successful careers in a variety of fields. One - 1992 St. John's graduate Denis McDonough - even served as White House Chief of Staff under President Barack Obama.

"I've had some magnificent young men who I've (now) watched grow into magnificent older guys," he told KSTP after turning 91 a year ago. "That's probably the biggest thing I miss - being around those guys."

"I think he was just someone who was genuinely interested in the people around him," said Ken Roering, a star on Gagliardi's first national championship team in 1963. "He genuinely wanted to see you succeed."

He curtailed his public appearances over the past couple of years. Hearing issues made it more difficult to keep up with conversations when he ventured out in public, especially in a crowd.

A serious infection put him in the hospital for several weeks at the end of 2015, though he said last year that his overall health had been good.

He did appear at an event in Collegeville late last month, entitled "Honoring John's Legacy," in which he became the first member inducted into the St. John's University J-Club Hall of Honor. The ceremony was also meant to help establish the John Gagliardi Football Legacy Fund, which will raise funds to enhance the school's football program.

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He began his coaching career at 16 when he was named player/coach of his high school team in Trinidad. The team's previous coach, Dutch Clark, had been called into service in World War II. And many of those who would have been considered potential replacements were also away at war.

He spent four seasons at the school, winning conference titles in 1944, '45 and '46. From there, he moved on to nearby St. Mary's High School in Colorado Springs where he also attended Colorado College.

Then it was on to Carroll before taking over St. John's in 1953, replacing legendary NFL Hall of Famer John "Blood" McNally, himself a former player at St. John's, as the Johnnies head coach.

Gagliardi's team lost 7-0 to St. Cloud Teachers College (now St. Cloud State) in his first game as head coach. But that 1953 season was highlighted by wins over Gustavus, St. Thomas and a nonconference upset at South Dakota State.

"John was the difference," Casey Vilandre, an All-MIAC halfback on that team said Sunday. "It was all John. We were the same group of guys we'd been the two years prior. We weren't all that deep. But John got things turned around."

Those early seasons, though, were spent chasing conference powers like the Gusties and Tommies, teams Gagliardi later said he told those interviewing him at St. John's he thought he could beat - even though he had no idea who they were at the time.

But by the 1960s, St. John's emerged as a national power.

His team won its first NAIA title in 1963, then won a second two years later. Division III national titles followed in 1976 and 2003.

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The 2003 team knocked off perennial Division III power Mount Union (Ohio) in the national championship game.

It was a 29-26 win over Bethel earlier that season in which Gagliardi passed Robinson by recording his 409th career win before a crowd of 13,107 on a frigid afternoon in Collegeville.

"I'll tell you who should get an award," he said during the on-field ceremony that followed. "It's all you fans who braved the crowd. I'm not so sure I'd be here if I didn't have to be."

He dispensed many of his trademark one-liners in the press conference after that game, including while responding to a question about whether he would get a pay raise now that he had broken the record.

"These monks all took a vow of poverty," he joked. "And they think I did too."

Gagliardi is survived by his wife Peg and four children.

"I'm profoundly sad about John's passing and he was a dear friend," St. John's athletic director Bob Alpers said in a statement. "On behalf of St. John's athletics, our heartfelt condolences to Peggy and the Gagliardi family. There will never be another John. We are forever grateful for his contributions to St. John's, our student-athletes and the fans of Johnnie football.

"We're going to miss him."