Woody Hayes

A native of Clifton, Ohio, Hayes was the youngest of three children born to Wayne B. and Effie (née Hupp) Hayes. He played center at Newcomerstown High School in Newcomerstown, Ohio. At Denison University, he played tackle under coach Tom Rogers, and was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. After graduating from Denison in 1935, Hayes went on to serve as an assistant at two Ohio high schools: Mingo Junction in 1935–1936 and New Philadelphia in 1937. When New Philadelphia head coach John Brickels left to accept another position, Hayes was elevated to the head coaching position, where he put together a 17–2–1 record in his first two seasons before enduring a 1–9 record in 1940.

Hayes enlisted in the United States Navy in July 1941, eventually rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander during World War II. He commanded PC 1251 in the Palau Islands invasion and the destroyer-escort USS Rinehart in both the Atlantic and Pacific operations.

As World War II was near its end, and Hayes' alma mater, Denison University, was pursuing plans to reinstate its football program (which had been suspended during the war), it contacted former head coach Rogers (also in the Navy) about rejoining the program as head coach. Rogers declined, but recommended that his former team captain, Hayes, should be named the next head coach. Denison was able to locate and give Hayes an offer, which he accepted, minutes before his Navy ship was to begin the voyage through the Panama Canal — meaning Hayes would have been incommunicado for an extended period of time.

Upon returning to Denison in 1946, Hayes had a hard first year, winning only 2 games, over Capital and the season finale against Wittenberg. However, that victory sparked a 19-game winning streak, a surge that propelled him into the head coaching position at Miami University. Miami is recognized as the "Cradle of Coaches" because of its history of outstanding coaches starting their careers there, such as Paul Brown, Ara Parseghian, Weeb Ewbank, Bill Mallory, Sid Gillman, Randy Walker, and Bo Schembechler. Gillman was Hayes' immediate predecessor at Miami before Gillman moved down the road to coach at the University of Cincinnati, which was then Miami's chief rival. Hayes and Gillman maintained a sparkling feud between themselves, combining mutual distaste for the other's coaching style, and because they were in recruiting competition in the same general area.[2]

In his second year with the Miami Redskins, Hayes led the 1950 team to an appearance in the Salad Bowl, where they defeated Arizona State. That success led him to accept the Ohio State head coaching position on February 18, 1951, in a controversial decision after the university rejected the applications of other more well-known coaches, including former Buckeyes' head coach Paul Brown, incumbent Buckeye assistant Harry Strobel, and Missouri head coach Don Faurot.[3]

Hayes with fullback Dick Doyle and assistant coach Ernie Godfrey, 1952

As head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Hayes led his teams to a 205–61–10 record (.761), including three consensus national championships (1954,1957 and 1968), two other non-consensus national titles (1961 and 1970), 13 Big Ten conference championships, and eight Rose Bowl appearances. Hayes was a three-time winner of The College Football Coach of the Year Award, now known as the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, and was "the subject of more varied and colorful anecdotal material than any other coach past or present, including fabled Knute Rockne", according to biographer Jerry Brondfield.

Hayes' basic coaching philosophy was that "nobody could win football games unless they regarded the game positively and would agree to pay the price that success demands of a team." His conservative style of football (especially on offense) was often described as "three yards and a cloud of dust"—in other words, a "crunching, frontal assault of muscle against muscle, bone upon bone, will against will." The basic, bread-and-butter play in Hayes' playbook was a fullback off-guard run or a tailback off tackle play. Hayes was often quoted as saying "only three things can happen when you pass (a completion, an incompletion, and an interception) and two of them are bad."

In spite of this apparent willingness to avoid change, Hayes became one of the first major college head coaches to recruit African-American players, including Jim Parker, who played both offensive and defensive tackle on Hayes' first national championship team in 1954. While Hayes was not the first to recruit African-Americans to Ohio State, he was the first to recruit and start African-Americans in large numbers there and to hire African-American assistant coaches.

Another Hayes' recruit, Archie Griffin, was the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner in seven decades of selections. Altogether, Hayes had 58 players earn All-America honors under his tutelage. Many notable football coaches, such as Lou Holtz, Bill Arnsparger, Bill Mallory, Dick Crum, Bo Schembechler, Doyt Perry, Ara Parseghian and Woody's successor, Earle Bruce, served as his assistants at various times.

Hayes often used illustrations from historical events to make a point in his coaching and teaching. When Hayes was first hired to be the head coach at Ohio State, he was also made a "full professor of physical education", having earned an M.A. degree in educational administration from Ohio State in 1948. The classes he taught were usually full, and he was called "Professor Hayes" by students. Hayes also taught mandatory English and vocabulary classes to his freshman football players. One of his students was a basketball player named Bobby Knight, who later became a legendary basketball coach.

During his time at Ohio State, Hayes' relationships with students faculty members were particularly good. Even those members of the faculty who believed that the role of intercollegiate athletics was growing out of control respected Hayes personally for his commitment to academics, the standards of integrity with which he ran his program, and the genuine enthusiasm he brought to his hobby as an amateur historian. Hayes often ate lunch or dinner at the university's faculty club, interacting with faculty and administrators.

As a coach and an educator, Hayes was one of the first to use the motion picture as a teaching and learning tool. He was also memorable in that he could often be seen walking across campus, taking the time to visit with students. When talking to young people, Hayes treated all with respect, without regard to race or socio-economic class. This behavior was helpful to Ohio State in quelling the violence and damage from anti-war demonstrations that other college campuses suffered in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He took the time to communicate with student leaders. Then-team quarterback Rex Kern said, "Woody was out there on the Oval with the protesters, and he'd grab a bullhorn and tell the students to express their beliefs but not be destructive. He believed in Nixon, and he believed in the Establishment, but he wasn't afraid to talk to the students. He wanted to stay close to the action."[4] Hayes was considered one of the few authority figures that students then had respect for. His enthusiasm for coaching and winning was such that many across the nation consider the following maxim to be true: "What Vince Lombardi was to professional football, Woody Hayes was to college football."

During his tenure at Ohio State, Hayes joked that he considered himself to be Notre Dame's best recruiter because if he could not convince a recruit to come to Ohio State instead of Michigan he would try to steer the recruit to Notre Dame, whom Ohio State did not play. While Hayes' public stance was that he refused to play Notre Dame because he was afraid of polarizing the Catholic population in Ohio, Notre Dame's long-time athletic director Edward "Moose" Krause said that Hayes had told him that Hayes liked having Michigan as the only tough game on the Ohio State schedule and that having the Buckeyes play Notre Dame would detract from that.[5] Despite Hayes' apparent fear of playing more than one "tough" game a year, Ohio State still managed to schedule regular-season games with Nebraska, Washington, Southern California, UCLA, and Oklahoma during his tenure.

After losses or ties, Hayes conducted locker room interviews while naked. A journalist from his tenure noted, "He was an ugly guy so it would clear the locker room out pretty fast."[6][7]

In 1959, following a 17−0 loss to USC, Hayes threw a punch at Los Angeles Examiner sportswriter Al Bine, but missed, and punched the brother of Pasadena Independent sports editor Bob Shafer in the back instead.[8] In a May 1965 meeting of Big Ten Conference athletic directors and coaches, Hayes nearly started a fight with Iowa's athletic director, Forest Evashevski, before being restrained.[9]

Prior to the 1973 Rose Bowl, Hayes shoved a camera into the face of a news photographer. As a result, Hayes was suspended for three games, fined $2,000, and left California with a subpoena.[10]

In 1977, a late fumble at Michigan caused him to charge at ABC cameraman Mike Freedman, who recorded his frustration; Hayes was ejected, put on probation by the Big Ten Conference, and fined $2,000.[11]

On March 11, 1987, Hayes was clearly in failing health when he had someone drive him in his pickup truck to Dayton to introduce Bo Schembechler, who was speaking at a banquet. Organizers had tried to discourage Hayes from attending, but Hayes insisted. He gave a lengthy introduction to Schembechler and then stayed to hear him speak before being driven back home.[21]

The next morning, March 12, Hayes's wife Anne found him unconscious in his bed at the couple's home.[22] He died of a heart attack at age 74.[23] He is interred at Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.

Hayes's lifetime record of 238–72–10 placed him ninth in all-time NCAA Division I FBS coaching victories.[24] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

At Hayes's funeral at First Community Church in Grandview, Ohio on March 17, 1987, former president Richard Nixon delivered the eulogy before a crowd of 1,400, acknowledging the friendship that had begun between the two during his second term as vice president. Having met Hayes at a reception following a Buckeye win over Iowa in 1957, Nixon recalled, "I wanted to talk about football. Woody wanted to talk about foreign policy. And you know Woody—we talked about foreign policy."[25] The following day, more than 15,000 people took part in a memorial service at Ohio Stadium.

Hayes's commitment to academics at Ohio State was evidenced by his request that donations from his family, friends, and supporters be made to the academic side of the university. Following his death and in keeping with his wishes, the Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair in National Security Studies was established at Ohio State's Mershon Center for International Security Studies. Professor John Mueller currently holds the chair. In November 1987, the university dedicated the new Woody Hayes Athletic Center in his memory.

Hayes married the former Anne Gross in 1942. Anne Hayes was a formidable and popular woman in her own right, who used to jokingly say at numerous sports banquets, "Divorce Woody? Never! But there were plenty of times I wanted to murder him!"[26] The couple had one son, Steven, who went on to become a lawyer and judge. Coincidentally, the younger Hayes was assigned to the 2003 trial of former Ohio State standout Maurice Clarett.[27]

Former assistants who became NCAA Division I FBS or NFL head coaches:

• Joe Bugel, Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders
• George Chaump, Navy
• Lou Holtz, William and Mary, North Carolina State, New York Jets, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, South Carolina
• Bill Mallory, Colorado, Indiana
• Dave McClain, Wisconsin
• Doyt Perry, Bowling Green
• Ralph Staub, Cincinnati

Former players who became assistants who became NCAA Division I FBS or NFL head coaches:

• Bill Arnsparger, LSU,New York Giants
• Earle Bruce, Iowa State, Ohio State, Colorado State
• Glen Mason, Kansas, Minnesota
• Ara Parseghian, Northwestern, Notre Dame
• Bo Schembechler, Michigan
• Clive Rush, Toledo, Boston Patriots
• Fred Bruney, Philadelphia Eagles
• Dick LeBeau, Cincinnati Bengals (Professional Football Hall of Fame as a player)
• John McVay, New York Giants (later General Manager of San Francisco 49ers)
• Gary Moeller, Illinois, Michigan, Detroit Lions
• John Pont, Indiana, Northwestern
• Bo Rein, North Carolina State (named coach at LSU, but died in a plane crash before coaching a game for the Tigers)

• List of college football coaches with 200 wins
• List of presidents of the American Football Coaches Association
• History of Ohio State Buckeyes football

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Woody Hayes

• Woody Hayes at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Woody Hayes at IMDb
• Woody Hayes at Find a Grave