Beyond the Gridiron: The Life and Times of Woody Hayes

While he was deeply revered by many of the OSU faithful, he had scores of vocal, strident critics. Hayes, the legendary and infamous coach of this football powerhouse from 1951 through 1978, has been called by some a "fascinating curmudgeon." During this epic period in collegiate sports when football began replacing baseball as the nation's pastime, Hayes was called one of the most colorful, most charismatic, most nonconformist, most controversial coach in football by the sporting press.

His detractors saw him as unpredictable, ill tempered, tyrannical, a dictator and a man out of control. Yet he was regarded as the single most important person in a state that was regarded as the single most important state in collegiate football for one very simple reason; Ohio produced more football players than any state in the nation. Hayes was in the center of that universe both figuratively and geographically. Every week that Ohio State played at home in the famous "horseshoe" its seats were filled to capacity with 90,000 fans chanting and screaming as Caesar lead his troops to victory. Every game, every year, for nearly 30 years.

This legendary college coach actually came into coaching through economic necessity. It was his intention to become a lawyer. To accrue savings for law school he accepted a position as a seventh grade teacher and assistant football coach in a small town in his home state of Ohio. From that inauspicious start, Wayne Woodrow Hayes rose to the top of college sports as its most colorful and famous character. He counted among friends U.S. Presidents, Governors, Senators, and Hollywood celebrities.

But Hayes was a study in contrasts. Hard-nosed, demanding, often ill tempered on the sidelines, Hayes was genuinely concerned about the young men in his care. He was a mentor. Many, many players attribute their present success in life to Hayes' strong influence. During recruiting interviews he often surprised aspiring players by asking them not about football but about their life, dreams, and ambitions outside of sport. Above all Hayes would promise his players nothing but a fair chance and the opportunity to get an education. He continued to care for his "boys" and "family" well after their time as OSU players.

Hayes' generosity extended beyond his football family. There are many stories about Hayes reaching out, spending time, and visiting the sick in hospitals. He would visit strangers he didn't know, but who knew him by reputation. These stories went unreported because he did them unannounced and with no fanfare. Yet most of his adoring fans could never imagine the near spartan existence he had created for himself.

He cared little about money. He adamantly refused any "freebies". He turned down raises, made his contracts for one year only, and never carried a credit card. He lived in a modest frame house and worked out of a tiny, small office with a folding metal chair. He wore a white short sleeve shirt with a his trademark "O" baseball cap to every game no matter the severity of the weather. Even his attire became legendary in the Big Ten.

Hayes' rivalry with the University of Michigan and his former assistant, Bo Schembechler, became classic Big Ten football battles. One notable period, the years between 1969 and 1978, is regarded as the "Ten-Year War." Considered the "pupil," Shembechler won five; Hayes, the "teacher" won four; and they played to one tie. In eight of those ten years, "The Game" settled the Big Ten Championship and which team would go to the Rose Bowl. Six times they shared the title. Hayes found the rivalry so intense that he refused to refer to Michigan by name instead calling it "the team up north." Their battles were played out in the biggest and most prestigious of conferences, with the largest television audience, where the crowds held season tickets not for a year or two but for generations.

This illustrious career came to a spectacular conclusion in the closing minutes of the Gator Bowl in 1978. In a losing battle during a meaningless game Hayes lost control and slugged Clemson middle guard Charlie Bauman after he intercepted an Ohio State pass thus sealing the game. The end for Hayes came quickly. The next morning he was fired.

Beyond the Gridiron is a fascinating profile of one of America's most gifted and complex coaches of the 20th century. Today, he is still revered by the hundreds of thousands if not millions of fans who watched him coach at OSU. Just as remarkable he still elicits resentment from those who felt he was a bully and abusive to his players. The documentary does what Hayes asked his biographer, Paul Hornung, to do; "Like Oliver Cromwell, I'll give you permission...provided you paint me warts and all."

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