Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes (5x National Champion, OSU HOF, CFB HOF, R.I.P.)

[Buckskin86]

September 11, 2009
What Would Woody Think of Pryor?
By Michael Rosenberg

Gene Herrick/Associated Press
The former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes was known for his no-nonsense approach.

This weekend, Terrelle Pryor will try to scale a mountain that always sits in front of Big Ten teams, no matter where they turn. He will try to beat a highly ranked team from Southern California.

Ohio State?s recent struggles in marquee out-of-conference games have been well-documented. They were drilled by Florida in one Bowl Championship Series title game, beaten by Louisiana State in another and humiliated by U.S.C., 35-3, last fall. But those are just the latest chapters in a story that is more than 30 years old.

In the 1970s, Ohio State and its archrival Michigan consistently went to the Rose Bowl as favorites, only to lose most of those games, usually in excruciating fashion. It got to the point, like it has now, where people wondered if the Big Ten would ever win one of those games. From 1970 to 1980, only one Big Ten quarterback led his team to a Rose Bowl victory. His name is Cornelius Greene, and he had a lot in common with Pryor.

Like Pryor, Greene was a flashy black quarterback who supplanted a successful older starter. Last year, Pryor unseated Todd Boeckman, who had led Ohio State to the 2008 B.C.S. championship game. In 1973, Greene got the job over the senior co-captain Greg Hare, who had led the Buckeyes to the 1972 Big Ten title. But while Pryor?s rise was expected ? he might have been the most hyped college football recruit ever ? Greene?s was shocking. In 1973, major-college football coaches rarely played any black quarterbacks. The University of Alabama did not even have a black player until 1970. And here was Woody Hayes, one of the most outspoken conservatives anywhere, playing Greene over his established senior.

What Would Woody Think of Pryor? - The Quad Blog - NYTimes.com

 

[Buckskin86]

Rob Oller commentary: Hayes had to learn to spread his talent
Saturday, October 17, 2009
By Rob Oller
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Words seldom written: Woody Hayes was ahead of his time in the passing game. He grudgingly spread his offense long before Purdue began splitting six dozen receivers on every play.

But Hayes' spread had a twist: Instead of moving multiple receivers and running backs to the edges, the Old Man spread and passed them to the defense, a bold move that simultaneously created a national-championship team and sealed the fate of the Texas Tech-type spread offenses seen today.

Partly because of Hayes and a handful of other coaches in the late 1960s, teams that run a basic or pure spread -- in which the bubble screen is the most important play -- will never win a national championship.

The back story: Hayes hoarded blue-chip recruits like a squirrel with acorns, stockpiling talent to the extent that the second-string offensive tackle could have and should have been starting on the defensive line.

Hayes, being more interested in offense than defense, was known for keeping his most talented skill players on the scoring side of the ball. Case in point: Jack Tatum was a high school All-American defensive back in New Jersey. Hayes recruited the future Assassin to play tailback. Granted, Tatum was no slouch as a tailback, either.

"Jack Tatum might have been the greatest runner ever at Ohio State, but no one will know it," said former nose guard Jim Stillwagon, who, like Tatum, entered OSU in 1967.

But the Buckeyes needed to upgrade their defense in 1968, so Hayes' defensive assistants persuaded the coach to hold a "draft" after the '67 season that led to Tatum's switching sides to a shore up the defense.

"The (assistants) told Woody he wouldn't win if he didn't start taking these athletes and moving them to defense," Stillwagon said.

BuckeyeXtra - Rob Oller commentary: Hayes had to learn to spread his talent

 

[Buckskin86]

The 1975 Buckeyes were undefeated as they prepared for the season's eighth game -- a home meeting against Indiana on Nov. 1. Ohio State had just defeated Purdue 35-6 the previous Saturday, while Indiana lost to Michigan 55-7 that same afternoon. The Hoosiers had won only two of their first seven starts.

Coach Woody Hayes did something that week that, for him, was a first: He gave his players Monday off with no practice. After seven games and with apparently not too tough an opponent the following weekend, Hayes thought the rest would be good for his squad.

That Saturday, coach Lee Corso's Hoosiers gave Ohio State the scare of the season. Indiana threatened to take the lead in the fourth quarter before the Buckeyes held and then scored late in the game to secure a 24-14 victory. Ohio State had all it could handle before winning, and the game was much closer than suggested by the final score.

Hayes never again canceled a Monday practice.

BuckeyeXtra - Buckeyes have had their share of head-scratchers

 

[Buckskin86]

OSU HISTORY
Coaches known for familiar fashions
Saturday, October 31, 2009
By BY ROB OLLER

The old man never wore a jacket during games. It didn't matter if temperatures dipped into single digits, Woody Hayes stalked the sidelines in his trademark white short-sleeved shirt.

Hayes preached mind over matter. If he didn't mind the cold, then miserable weather should not matter to his players.

"He just willed stuff," former Ohio State running back John Brockington said. "It was like, 'If I'm not going to get cold, then you can't get cold.' A piece of work, that guy."

Hayes wore his short sleeves proudly, so it comes as no surprise that the feisty Ohio State coach did not go down without a fight when "it" finally happened.

The opponent was Michigan State, or maybe Purdue. Both of those home games during the 1969 season were brutally cold. And the memories of OSU players from decades past become more muddled with each season. One man remembers it as the Spartans, another thinks it was the Boilermakers. No matter, what's important is that Hayes was missing as the Buckeyes prepared to exit the locker room for the game. This was strange.
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"We were down in one big area and everybody was getting ready to roll, and Woody was late. And he was never late," said former defensive lineman Jim Stillwagon, recalling the scene from 1969. "He was always punctual, and he would go (off) on you if you weren't punctual."

Hayes finally appeared. Shock ensued.

"He comes out wearing a red coat, and it was like those old E.F. Hutton commercials. Silence," Stillwagon said. "Well, he knows what we're thinking, 'The old man's got a coat on,' so he yells, 'OK, let's get this out of the way. I talked to Dr. Bob (Murphy) and he said for me to be a better coach today, I should wear a coat. And that's all about that, and I don't want to hear anything more about it."

OSU HISTORY | The Columbus Dispatch

 

[Buckskin86]

Web Xtra: Woody vs. Bo
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Take a trip down memory lane with this multimedia presentation that highlights the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry during the years that Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler were at the helms of the Buckeyes and Wolverines. Our timeline features photos from the era, along with video clips from the 1982 retrospective The Ten Year War: Woody vs. Bo.

Web Xtra: Woody vs. Bo | BuckeyeXtra

dispatch.com | BuckeyeXtra

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLNUJ9Ly99M"]YouTube- Ten Year War[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

Bob Hunter commentary: Hayes' punch gave OSU easy out
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
By Bob Hunter
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Woody Hayes once was asked by Ohio State assistant coach Tiger Ellison if he ever intended to retire.

"Hell, no," Hayes said. "I'll die on the 50-yard-line at Ohio Stadium in front of 87,000."

"If you do, I hope the score's in your favor," Ellison said.

"If it isn't," Hayes said, "I won't go."

He meant it, too. That's why the uncomfortable situation involving 80-year-old Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, finally resolved when he "retired" yesterday with a shove from his bosses, sent me back to that bizarre scene at the 1978 Gator Bowl.

There is no way to know exactly what would have happened with Hayes if he hadn't slugged Clemson's Charlie Bauman on the OSU sideline after the nose guard's crucial interception near the end of the game. But by morning, Hayes was gone and with him went any chance of his career turning into a Bowden-Joe Paterno-style campout.

I've always wondered if OSU athletic director Hugh Hindman didn't use the punch as a rare opportunity to fire Hayes, not because the act didn't merit it but because Woody had committed his share of volatile acts over the years and never had come close to being fired for them. Hindman must have known that Hayes would have been a difficult guy to push into retirement regardless of his record; recent events with Bowden and Penn State's 82-year-old Paterno when his Lions went 3-9 and 4-7 in 2003 and 2004, respectively, are clear evidence of that.

Bob Hunter commentary: Hayes' punch gave OSU easy out | BuckeyeXtra

 

[Colvinnl]

Today's Dispatch story says that both Paul Brown and Sid Gillman interviewed for the job in 1951. It appears Gillman did not get an offer, but what about Brown?

While it worked out well for us in the end (!!!)---in 1951 it seems either would have been the superior candidate over Woody.

Does anyone know the rest of the back story?

 

[NFBuck]

Today's Dispatch story says that both Paul Brown and Sid Gillman interviewed for the job in 1951. It appears Gillman did not get an offer, but what about Brown?

While it worked out well for us in the end (!!!)---in 1951 it seems either would have been the superior candidate over Woody.

Does anyone know the rest of the back story?

I think there was some animosity amongst alumni towards Brown after he failed to return to the coaching position following WWII (taking the Cleveland job instead) and for signing Buckeye players w/eligibility left to pro contracts.

 

[Buckskin86]

CHRIS DUFRESNE / ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Woody Hayes left his mark on Rose Bowl
Ready to battle

Legendary coach Woody Hayes prepares to take the field with his Ohio State players before the 1976 Rose Bowl. (Associated Press / December 26, 2009)

Ohio State's legendary coach was all business when the Buckeyes traveled to Pasadena. His relationship with the storied game was complicated -- and not always beautiful.
By Chris Dufresne
December 27, 2009

What Woody Hayes liked most about coming to the Rose Bowl was winning it, which meant he didn't always like it.

He often left at screaming-mad war with California and all its distractions and niceties.

On Hayes' last trip west, he left out the back door.

The legendary Ohio State coach broke even in eight Rose Bowl appearances, starting in 1955. His Buckeyes defeated USC, 20-7, in conditions complicated by the bane of rain.

The headline in the next day's Los Angeles Times: "Hayes Belittles Trojans, Mad at Marching Bands."

It was the beginning of Hayes' complicated, and not always beautiful, relationship with the Rose Bowl.

On his first trip, Hayes ingratiated himself by saying he thought there were six schools in the Big Ten better than our local float entry: USC. He complained the bands had made "a quagmire" of the wet field with their halftime entertainment antics.

"Eighty million people saw these bands on television in the parade this morning," Hayes quipped. "So why did they have to march on that muddy field at the half?"

Hayes' Rose Bowl legacy spanned three decades.

His powerful 1957 team defeated undermanned Oregon, 10-7, in the 1958 Rose Bowl, a game most Ducks fans would call a moral victory. Hayes was miffed that Oregon's Jack Crabtree was named the game's most valuable player.

Hayes said it should have been Ohio State kicker Don Sutherin.

"The best team always wins," Hayes said. "And we won."

In 1973, Hayes had an infamous pregame incident in which he shoved a camera into the face of Times photographer Art Rogers.

Hayes' larger-than-life persona and combustive personality made him a perfect foil for Timescolumnist Jim Murray, who incessantly skewered the Buckeyes coach.

Before the 1975 game, Murray wrote: "A lot of people were surprised to hear that Woody Hayes suffered a heart attack last spring, because they didn't think he had one."

Hayes was often combative with the media, and kept his players under close guard.

Could you blame him?

Murray called Columbus "a place where if you buy a piano at a certain music store, they throw in a free shotgun."

Murray wrote that Hayes' squad was "not a team, it's a horde."

Hayes was portrayed as a primitive.

"Woody is the Piltdown man of football," Murray wrote. "He didn't walk erect until he was 24 years old. . . . If he ever saw Raquel Welch, he'll grab her by her hair and take her home and cook her."

You could see why Hayes would have mixed feelings about coming to California.

"He liked going out there," Strickland said. "He also knew the pitfalls. He would say to us, 'Now look, don't just be walking around accepting accolades. All they're trying to do is soften you up with all the nice weather and nice people. You've got to remain focused.' "

Woody Hayes left his mark on Rose Bowl -- latimes.com

 

[Buckskin86]

Shared traits
Despite a different persona, Jim Tressel has much in common with his legendary predecessor, Woody Hayes
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
By Rob Oller
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The Ohio State fan entered the church wearing his theology on his shirt. "Woody isn't dead ..." appeared on the front, in white letters on red cotton fabric. The belief statement continued on the back: "... his name is Tress."

Some might consider such doctrine blasphemous. There was only one Woody Hayes - and he wore a white shirt without a vest. Others might take offense to comparing Jim Tressel, the epitome of self-control, with Hayes, who demanded discipline from others but often failed to display it himself.

It's true the two men come off as bombast vs. balance, but they also share similarities of values and circumstance that make for compelling comparison. Among other connections, Hayes cared deeply for his players, as does Tressel. Both wrote books defining their philosophy - Hayes' You Win with People and Tressel's The Winners Manual - and both traveled overseas to support the military.

"I knew Woody and I knew Lee Tressel," said Dick MacPherson, the former Syracuse coach who hired Jim Tressel as an assistant in 1981. "I see in Jim a mix of his father (Lee) and of Woody. Who was going to change Lee Tressel? No one. Who was going to change Woody? Nobody. And we go to the next generation and here it is again. With both (Hayes and Jim Tressel) it's, 'This is the way they want to do it and the way it's going to be done.' There is no better way to win than to copy those two guys."

MacPherson recalled what transpired when Syracuse played at Illinois in the third game of the 1981 season.

"Jimmy is coaching the quarterbacks and calling the plays and we ran five or six straight draws to open the game," he said. "We marched down and scored. Then we stopped them on defense and come back out and our first play is another draw. I say to Jimmy, 'Don't we have another play?' And he says, 'Yes sir. And as soon as they stop this one I'll call it.'"

Compare that anecdote with one by Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who knew Hayes and knows Tressel.

"In 1964 I was an assistant at Florida State ... and we ran a pro passing attack," Bowden said. "Everybody said, 'That won't work in college, you gotta run the football.' But we were successful doing it, and Woody comes down and spends two days with us that spring. I was coaching the receivers, so on the blackboard I'm diagramming this route and going over the passing game. Next year when the season opened, I can't wait to see what Woody is going to do, and sure enough he runs the split-T. Hammer, hammer, hammer. He ain't going to change his style. Just like Jim. That's the Ohio mentality."

GameDay+

 

[BB73]

Happy Birthday, Woody.

 

[Buckeye86]

Happy Birthday, Woody.

I wish I was old enough to remember him outside of books...

 

[matt_thatsme]

Happy birthday Woody.

 

[ProudBuck67]

I thank everything I can for Jim Tressel, BUT I SINCERELY MISS WAYNE WOODROW HAYES!!! Happy Birthday!

:osu: GO BUCKS!

 

[calibuck]

I firmly believe that Woody would have loved TP. Now, understand that the Rose Bowl Game would have been TP running right, running left, etc. without all the throwing (three things can happen when you pass, and two of them are bad). He had a running QB, Don Unverferth, with a throwing QB, Joe Sparma. Everyone kinda knew that when it was 3rd and long, Joe would come in, and the defense would substitute two DB's in.

Don't think that Woody would have groomed Terrell to be a throwing QB.

Thought I'd share....my Dad took me to the Touchdown Club after Illinois had come to town and left with their tail between their legs, Woody was the keynote speaker.... he recounted all the hype that went on when Dick Butkus was saying he liked to play Ohio State, because they just run at you, and nothing fancy (like sweeps). Woody, at the podium, said, with a toothy smile, "Well, we ran right at Mr. Butkus, and ran at him again, and then we ran over him", which OSU did for a big victory. It'd been awhile since I was there, was young, and have slept since then. But he was matter of fact about it, not boastful, but proud of the kids' accomplishments. He gave a good speech, and all the guys in the room were hooting and hollering when he was done.

:gobucks3::gobucks4: