St. John's tabs Fasching as Gagliardi's successor

Gary Fasching, who's spent the last 17 seasons as an assistant under legendary St. John's-MN head football coach John Gagliardi, will take over for the retiring all-time wins leader for the 2013 season.

The school announced on Friday the hiring of Fasching, a 1981 St. John's graduate who has served as the recruiting coordinator on Gagliardi's staff since 1996, as its new head coach.

An an assistant, Fasching has been a part of 10 conference titles and 12 NCAA Division III postseason appearances by the Johnnies under Gagliardi, who announced his retirement after 60 seasons as the program's leader in November, and helped St. John's to its last national championship in 2003.

Prior to returning to his alma mater, Fasching was the head football coach at St. Cloud (MN) Cathedral High School from 1986-95 and led the school to a pair of state championships.

"It goes without saying that Gary Fasching's football credentials speak for themselves," said SJU president Michael Hemesath. "Coach Fasching's experience with building a winning program at Cathedral High School, as well as providing an excellent experience for our student-athletes in his role as an essential part of the Saint John's program are completely in keeping with the legacy of John Gagliardi. This consistency is probably no surprise, as Gary was coached and mentored by John."

Gagliardi compiled an overall record of 489-138-11 over a total of 64 seasons as a collegiate head coach and surpassed Eddie Robison for the all-time mark of 408 wins on Nov. 8, 1993. The 86-year-old captured four national championships -- NAIA titles in 1963 and 1965, and Division III crowns in 1976 and 2003 -- during his long tenure at St. John's.