Don’t Expect Winningest Coach on a Forbes List

John Gagliardi, who has been the football coach at Division III St. John’s in Collegeville, Minn., since 1953, celebrated his 77th birthday Saturday by tying Eddie Robinson as college football’s winningest coach.

The Johnnies’ 15-12 victory over St. Thomas (Minn.) gave Gagliardi a record of 408-114-11.

Gagliardi, interviewed for the “Coach” series that is airing on College Sports Television this month, said that when he came to St. John’s he was offered a salary of $4,200 a year.

“I was making $2,400 [at a school in Montana], and I thought $4,200 was so great I signed a lifetime contract,” Gagliardi said. “I still get $4,200, and that’s sort of the truth too.”

Interesting approach: Gagliardi has a “winning with no” philosophy. It’s a long list, but here are the highlights:

* No long practices.

* No meetings.

* No tackling in practice.

* No whistles.

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Trivia time: If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were to move to Los Angeles, they wouldn’t be the first professional football team known as the Los Angeles Buccaneers. What was the first?

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Good call: With 2:51 left to play in the Monday night game between New England and Denver, the Patriots were down by one and punting from their one-yard line.

“You know something, John,” Al Michaels said to broadcast partner John Madden, “in this situation, there’s a part of me that says you can almost take a safety.... Just a thought.”

The Patriots then purposely snapped the ball high, and it hit the goalpost for a safety. The Patriots got a free kick that was mishandled by the Broncos, then stopped the Broncos and went on to win the game.

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Good advice: Deion Sanders said over the weekend he’d like to be considered a candidate to coach the Atlanta Falcons.

The New York Giants’ Michael Strahan, making one of his regular appearances on “Best Damn Sports Show Period” from his home, said, “I think he’s actually serious about it, which I think is a joke.... He should leave [coaching] to people a little more experienced.”

Strahan added, “Actually, I’d like to see Deion coaching Atlanta this week, since we play the Falcons Sunday.”

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Tough decision: Former Clemson quarterback Steve Fuller had to decide whether to pursue law or football as a profession before he became an NFL quarterback.

He is quoted in Lee Green’s “Sportswit” as saying: “You either have to finesse 12 people who weren’t smart enough to get out of jury duty, or 11 who weren’t smart enough to play offense.”

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Trivia answer: The Los Angeles Buccaneers were a traveling football team that played one season, 1926. All of their games were on the road.

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And finally: Reader Tom Whitenack recalls one of his all-time favorite quotes, which came from former relief pitcher Tug McGraw. Asked whether he preferred grass or artificial turf, McGraw said: “I don’t know. I never smoked AstroTurf.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.