Woody Hayes

Woody Hayes molded one of the greatest programs in college football history in his blunt, tough image. He was a disciplinarian and a demanding coach who would rip into a player he thought wasn't giving his best, but he was also a master motivator who would build that player back up and have him ready to run through a brick wall on Saturday. He was a fierce competitor obsessed with winning, but he told his players that education came first. He had a titanic temper but would spend off hours visiting the local children's hospital cheering up the sick. He could be compassionate one moment and maddeningly obstinate the next, and his famous temper eventually cost him his job and, to some degree, forever tarnished his legacy.

One of his longtime assistant coaches at Ohio State, Esco Sarkkinen, put it best: "You don't describe Woody Hayes in one word, one sentence, or one paragraph. You describe him with chapter after chapter."

For mostly better and sometimes worse, Woody Hayes was and is Ohio State football.

Born on Valentine's Day 1913, in Clifton, Ohio, Wayne Woodrow Hayes played football at Denison University. He went back there to coach after a stint in the U.S. Navy in World War II, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander. After instant success as head coach at Denison and then at Miami of Ohio University, Hayes was off to Columbus in 1951.

The Buckeyes were 4–3–2 that first season, and Hayes came under some heavy criticism for his record and his use of the new T formation. Two 6–3 seasons followed, and Hayes was thought to be on shaky ground as the 1954 season opened. He later said he heard the whispers, and they made him work all the harder. The result was a 10–0 record for the Buckeyes and Hayes' first national title. He would win another three years later, and he earned at least a share of a national title five times in his career, including the consensus championship in 1968.

Hayes' overall record at Ohio State was 205–61–10, and he won or shared 13 Big Ten titles and took teams to eight Rose Bowls, winning four. In 28 seasons he only had a losing record twice, compared to four teams that went unbeaten. Hayes was fanatical about the University of Michigan rivalry, particularly during his "10-Year War" with former colleague Bo Schembechler. Hayes hit a relative rough patch in the mid-1960s, and rumors again swirled that his time might be up in Columbus. Hayes blamed it on the school's decision not to allow his unbeaten 1961 team to go to the Rose Bowl and said that ruling damaged his ability to recruit, particularly in Ohio.

So Hayes responded the only way he knew how: he worked harder than ever and hit the out-of-state recruiting trail, bringing in stars from around the country for the first time. What followed was a national title in 1968 with the so-called "Super Sophs," a class considered by some to be the greatest in college football history. Hayes earned a share of the title two years later and had a miraculous run from 1968 to 1977 that saw the Buckeyes win a share of a Big Ten title in nine out of 10 seasons.

"Nobody despises to lose more than I do," Hayes once said. "That's what got me into trouble over the years, but it also made a man with mediocre ability a pretty good coach."

Hayes did find trouble occasionally, and stories of his temper are legendary. Some of them make him sound petty and childish. He would frequently explode in anger and fire assistant coaches, only to rehire them hours later or the next morning when he'd cooled off. Players often felt his wrath verbally as well as with a swift punch to the gut. One time he came to practice with welts on his own face after pummeling himself in a fit of rage. He was known to throw or stomp on anything within reach, and equipment managers reportedly kept empty water jugs on his desk for him to bash.

He became a caricature to many people outside Ohio after some of the more public of these incidents. Once he ran onto the field to protest a call in the 1971 Michigan game and ripped up yard markers, and more than once he shoved reporters and cameramen. The worst of these incidents was the last one, when on national television he punched a Clemson University player who had intercepted a pass near...