OHIO STATE FOOTBALL COACH WOODY HAYES

Ohio State Football Coach Woody Hayes

Ohio State Football Coach Woody Hayes

Introduction

Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes (February 14, 1913 - March 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946-1948), Miami University (1949-1950), and Ohio State University (1951-1978), compiling a career college football record of 238-72-10. During his 28 seasons as the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football program, Hayes's teams won three national championships (1954, 1957, 1968), captured 13 Big Ten Conference titles, and amassed a record of 205-61-10. Over the last decade of his coaching tenure at Ohio State, Hayes's Buckeye squads faced off in a fierce rivalry against the Michigan Wolverines coached by Bo Schembechler, a former player under and assistant coach to Hayes. During that stretch in the Michigan - Ohio State football rivalry, dubbed the "Ten-Year War," Hayes and Schembechler's teams won or shared the Big Ten Conference crown every season and usually each placed in the national rankings. Despite his great achievements at Ohio State, Hayes's coaching career ended ignominiously when he was fired after striking an opposing player during the 1978 Gator Bowl. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1983.

Ohio State Football Coach Woody Hayes

Upon returning to Denison in 1946, Hayes struggled during his first year, winning only two 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 fierce rivalry between themselves, combining mutual distaste for the other's coaching style and because they were in recruiting competition in the same general area.

In his second year with the Redskins, Hayes led the 1950 squad to an appearance in the Salad Bowl, where they defeated Arizona State University. 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.

Ohio StateAs 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 ...