The Sabbatical

It will be good to visit with him today, it has been awhile. I hope his office door is open.  It is a bit early, but then again, he usually gets in early.  8AM seems to be when he makes his leisurely walk down the hallway to his office. 

I wonder what we will talk about today, although it doesn’t really matter.  I enjoy all of my chats with him.  I turn the corner, and I can see his office door in the distance, and…it is open!  A good visit awaits me.

As I draw near, I hear voices; someone has beaten me to his office today.  That’s okay; many of these visits involve others as well.  But wait, what’s that, a female voice?  That’s a bit odd; normally I would have expected the worn voice of an elderly monk or the loud voice of the athletic director.

As I cast my shadow on the doorway of his office, I hear the familiar, “Warren!” ring out of his mouth, beckoning me to enter.  I enter his office and find that he is talking to…a janitor?  And a female janitor at that?  Why is this important man talking to a janitor?  Well, to clarify, he’s not doing much of the talking.  He’s listening, actively listening to the janitor tell her own stories.  He doesn’t concern himself with their different standing on the food chain of occupations.  He simply cares that she is a person, a person worthy of respect and with friendship to offer.

Humbled, I join the conversation, realizing once again how much I have to learn from this man…

Recently, Saint John’s University approved my sabbatical application to write a book on the legacy of John Gagliardi.  As a quick note, St. John’s is a school of about 2,000 men.  Five miles down the road is its sister school, the College of Saint Benedict.  St. Ben’s is a school of about 2,000 women.  Although they are separate schools, St. Ben’s and St. John’s have a unique partnership, with virtually all classes and the vast majority of activities co-ed.  Students generally view the two schools as a single school, with dorms 5 miles apart.  I am technically employed by the St. Ben’s, my office is at St. John’s, and all of my classes are co-ed.  For simplicity, I will be referring to the combined schools as St. John’s.

When I discuss this project with others, I always receive the same three questions:  what inspired you, what is the book going to be about, and what is a sabbatical anyway?

What inspired me and what is this book going to be about? 

John Gagliardi inspired me.  By the way, it is pronounced Ga-LAR-dee.  The second “g” is silent.  His last name doesn’t matter, though.  He prefers that everyone call him John. There is no need to call him Coach, and whatever you do, never, ever, call him Gags.

Who is John?  He is the 85 year old head football coach at St. John’s University, a job title he has held at St. John’s since 1953.  Closing in on 500 career victories, he has used an innovate approach to coaching and life to win by far more games in the history of college football than any other coach, regardless of division.  The second place coach on the list has just over 400 victories

I first met John in the fall of 1990 when I was a high school senior on a recruiting visit at Saint John’s University.  I got to know John a bit when I played football for him during my college years at St. John’s from 1991-1995.  When I returned to St. John’s as a faculty member in the fall of 2004, my relationship with John changed.  Many mornings, I stop by John’s office for a chat.  These morning chats are often the highlight of my day.  He has asked me a couple dozen times to join his coaching staff.  He invited me on several occasions to co-teach one of his classes before I finally did so last year.  Also last year, I even became his CPA.

This book will not focus on football or his unique coaching style.  It won’t have many pictures or quotes from others.  There are other books and articles on John which do those things.  Instead, my book will read more as a conversation between John and me.  Many of these conversations have already happened.  To the extent that he is willing, I will ask him to reflect and elaborate further on what has made him so successful. 

In considering this project, I was partially inspired by the best-selling book, “Tuesday’s with Morrie,” a book about life lessons told by a highly regarded professor to a former student.

My goal is to write a book about John and to have the book published.  At this point, I could see the title of the book being titled, “How to Leave a Legacy,” although I plan to come up with something more catchy.  John jokingly suggested “The Seduction of Gagliardi,” not because he was ever seduced, but because it would generate interest.  I am fairly certain we will go with something else. 

John is a highly respected and admired individual who has created a tremendous legacy, and the book will focus on this legacy.  I believe the keys to leaving a legacy like John’s are doing something that people hold in high regard and doing that something exceptionally well and for a sustained period of time.  The book will focus on how he has done that and how others can learn from what he has done to leave their own, powerful, legacies.

What is a sabbatical? 

During the fall semester of 2012, I will be excused from my teaching and other regular duties as a faculty member of St. John’s, and I will be paid my regular salary during that time.  At St. John’s, faculty members may take a sabbatical every six years.  The school offers sabbaticals so that faculty may have longer periods of uninterrupted time in order to focus on a projects that will make them better teachers and scholars.

My plan is to continue my regular morning visits with John, although I will be more intentional about memorializing our discussions.  Starting in March, I will sit in on his Theory of Coaching Football course.  This is perhaps the most popular course on campus and focuses more on how to live your life as opposed to how to coach football.  This summer, I will have a few focused discussions with him, to the extent that the humble man lets me, in order to gain final information needed to write the book.

Around August 1^st, John will largely become untouchable, as his focus will shift completely to football.  His pace slows, his demeanor dampens, and he generally looks as though he is about to die.  When I recently told him this, he replied, “That is because I am about to die.”

In August I will begin writing the book.  I imagine taking a trip in August, somewhere there is water or other inspiring scenery.  My family would join me, and I would write for the first several hours each day.  After that, I'd spend time with our family, building our own memories.  This getaway would provide me with a great start to the book.  I would finish writing over the rest of the fall semester and submit it to publishers in January, 2013.  It would likely be published in the fall of either 2013 or 2014, to coincide with football season.

Closing thoughts

I have no idea where this project will end up.  Right now, I have big dreams for it.  I want it to appeal not only to alumni, former players, and locals, but also to the housewife in South Carolina who doesn’t know whether football has quarters, periods, holes, rounds, frames, sets, or innings.  I want it to be a book which can inspire everyone to leave their own legacies.  I want it to sell a significant number of copies so that I can use a large portion of the royalties to establish a new John Gagliardi Scholarship at St. John’s.

What does John think about the book?  “I was hoping you would have forgotten about it.  It is a stupid idea.  No one cares about a little football coach from central Minnesota.  But if you want to waste your time writing it, fine with me.”  With that ringing endorsement, my adventure begins…