Handed Down

Fun bit of family trivia; I had the same fourth-grade teacher as my Dad. I think it was her last (long-overdue) year of teaching - but by golly, we shared a teacher.

Of course, that was nothing new for Dad; he taught for the better part of 40 years; nearly everyone in my hometown had him in class, or their parents, or their children. Dad even reported a couple of parent-child combinations over the years.

Although he theoretically taught long enough to see a grandparent/parent/child combination, it never happened.

But St. Johns football coach John Gagliardi is.

Now, at 79, the legendary St. John's University coach is about to reach what could be a singular milestone.

This fall, for the first time in his career and maybe the first time in the career of any college football coach, Gagliardi will get the chance to coach the grandson of one of his former players.

Bobby Klint, an all-state defensive back from Totino Grace High School in Fridley, committed to play for St. John's nearly 50 years after his grandfather, Felix Mannella, starred for the Johnnies in Collegeville, Minn.