Tag: Woody Hayes

How 12 football head coaches fared as the replacements for legends like Bill Belichick and Nick Saban

Who replaced Bear Bryant, Don Shula and John Madden and how did they do?

During one of the craziest weeks of football in recent memory, we saw the end of an era for legends like Bill Belichick and Nick Saban.

Belichick, 71, and Saban, 72, are easily two of the greatest coaches that the sport has ever seen. Next season, college football will look very different without Saban coaching Alabama. Meanwhile, the NFL will also look very different without Belichick coaching the Patriots.

Both teams will have huge decisions about how to fill these massive shoes. While there are some interesting candidates for the gig in New England and the job in Tuscaloosa, can either live up to the reputation that Belichick and Saban built?

We looked back at some of the most legendary coaches in football history, both in the NFL and in college football, to learn how these replacements have typically fared.

The results are a fairly mixed bag but if there is one thing we learned, it is that it is not easy to replace someone as accomplished as either of these two Hall of Fame-caliber coaches.

Call Woody Hayes’ home phone number and hear inspirational speech

Call Woody to hear the legendary coach pump you up before the Michigan game. #GoBucks!

None are more revered in Ohio State lore than legendary head coach Wayne Woodrow Hayes.

Woody led the Buckeyes from 1951-1978, winning 276 games including five national championships. Coach Hayes was known for his fiery personality and for helping bring the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry to new levels.

Woody passed away in 1987, but his legacy lives on. Someone decided long ago to do something unique to help keep that legacy alive by keeping the coach’s home phone number active. You can actually give the old 614 number a call and hear a message from Hayes himself.

Go ahead and give it a try. Call 614-488-1910 to hear from Woody himself. We did give the number a call and can confirm this is real, however, be warned some have said they get an “all circuits are busy” message due to a high call volume. But keep trying and you’ll eventually hear the legendary voice.

Ohio State will battle TTUN at noon ET on Saturday. Be sure to check out our preview and prediction and stay with us for more coverage before, during, and after the game.

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USC-Ohio State 1960 game: John McKay vs Woody Hayes for the first time

USC didn’t beat Woody Hayes in 1960, but John McKay stared down Woody Hayes. Bigger moments would come in the 1970s.

In 1960, USC football was searching for a return to a winning tradition. The Trojans were in transition, having endured three rough seasons under head coach Don Clark (although the 1959 significantly improved from the 1957 and 1958 teams). USC really hadn’t been an elite program since the mid-1940s, when it made four Rose Bowls in five seasons under then-coach Jeff Cravath.

USC needed someone to restore the magic.

It didn’t happen all at once in 1960, and it didn’t happen against Woody Hayes and Ohio State. USC got shut out on the road, 20-0, in October of 1960. The Trojans went 4-6 that season while Ohio State finished 7-2.

However, 1960 gave USC — and college football — a coach who would change everything in the course of time.

John McKay, a former Oregon assistant, made his way to Los Angeles to begin what would become a historic 16-year run as USC head coach. He took his lumps in 1960 and 1961, including in this first meeting with Woody Hayes at Ohio State. He learned from those lumps. USC went unbeaten in 1962 and won the national championship. Before McKay was done, he would win four national titles at USC and then hand off the program — in great shape — to another former Oregon assistant, John Robinson, who kept the winning tradition going for several more years.

In our all-time USC series published last year, we named McKay the greatest coach in USC football history. Better than Pete Carroll. Better than John Robinson. He has to be.

It all started in 1960.

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The first USC-Ohio State Rose Bowl was a high point for Woody Hayes

USC thrived against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl in the 1970s, but in 1955, Woody Hayes took care of the Trojans.

In the 1970s, USC learned how to beat Woody Hayes and Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. In the 1950s, the Trojans weren’t ready just yet. In the 1955 Rose Bowl, USC was not at the height of its powers, while Ohio State had a rising young coach who was hitting his stride. The Buckeyes also had the best player on the field.

Those advantages mattered.

The USC Trojans lost to Ohio State, 20-7, on New Year’s Day in 1955. Jess Hill was a good coach for the Trojans, but he wasn’t Woody Hayes. He also wasn’t John McKay. That’s not a criticism, merely a fact. Not everyone is a legend. Ohio State had the legends in that 1955 Granddaddy. Hayes was the elite coach, and Howard “Hopalong” Cassady was his star running back. Cassady was a brilliant player in 1954. He then came back to Columbus and won the Heisman Trophy in 1955. USC did not have the better team or players. OSU did.

USC finished 8-4 in the 1954 season, having made the Rose Bowl for the second time in the past three seasons under Hill.

Ohio State finished the year with a 10-0 record, the first of two occasions in which OSU produced a perfect record and won the national championship in the same season under Hayes. The Buckeye icon also produced a perfect record with the Buckeyes in 1968.

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Pete Carroll enjoyed his time as an Ohio State Buckeye

#USC will visit #OhioState in 2025, then host the Buckeyes in 2026 or 2027. One man who enjoyed being a Buckeye: Pete Carroll.

Pete Carroll used to be an Ohio State Buckeye — not a student, but an employee of the school. More precisely, he was hired by OSU head football coach Earle Bruce to coach the team’s defensive backs for the 1979 season.

Carroll met USC in the 1980 Rose Bowl and was part of an Ohio State team which came very close to producing a perfect season and a national championship. USC, though, edged Ohio State 17-16 to finish ahead of the Buckeyes in the polls at No. 2, behind 1979 national champion Alabama.

What does Carroll remember about his one season in Columbus?

Eleven Warriors gathered some details:

“It was an extraordinary experience,” Carroll recalled. “We had a great year.”

Carroll shared his favorite 1979 Ohio State memory: his one conversation with Woody Hayes.

“I just dropped everything and took off, ran across the parking lot and met him about halfway down,” Carroll said. “He was walking home from teaching a class and I introduced myself. We walked for about 10 minutes, and he knew who I was. I was all thrilled. We talked football. That was my one chance I had to visit with him. To me, that was a really special moment with a guy that was a great impact to our game and to everything that stands for football.

“But there was a lot of memories that year and a lot of cool stuff that happened. A lot of great names and people we dealt with. That was really fun.”

Be sure to visit Buckeyes Wire for Ohio State football coverage.

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Anthony Munoz shares a Woody Hayes story on Trojan Conquest Live show

.@BuckeyesWire might be interested in a story Anthony Munoz told to @TrojanConquests and @LBCTrojan at the @VoiceOfCFB.

Anthony Munoz is a beloved figure in the state of Ohio. Ohioans treasure and cherish what Munoz did for the Cincinnati Bengals. He truly transformed that franchise, guiding the Bengals to their first Super Bowl in his second season with the team. Munoz helped the Bengals reach two Super Bowls, forming the centerpiece of an elite offensive line which created the most successful decade in team history.

Before Munoz made it big in Ohio, however, he turned down the Ohio State Buckeyes. He shared a story which involved iconic Ohio State coach Woody Hayes.

Munoz appeared on Trojan Conquest Live, the USC YouTube show co-hosted by Tim Prangley and Rick Anaya at The Voice of College Football.

In this past Sunday’s show (the permalink is there for you to click on, but you can also simply type “Trojan Conquest Live 14” into the YouTube search field), Munoz recalls an occasion when he had a chance to have lunch with Woody Hayes.

What happened next is a source of regret for Munoz, but it contains a life lesson about having an open mind and looking at life through a larger lens.

Munoz shares this story at 11:45 in the video.

Subscribe to, like, and share the USC channel at The Voice of College Football.

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Woody vs. Bo a top ten coaching rivalry in college football history

Woody and Bo. It didn’t get any better than those two going at it during the “ten-year war.” #GoBucks

What often takes rivalries from great to epic are the personalities that are a part of them. In college, that often has to do with the guys patrolling the sidelines as head coaches. When you talk Ohio State vs. Michigan on the gridiron, that of course means you have to think about Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler.

OSU vs. Michigan has been one of the best rivalries in sports before those two glared at each other across the field, but the ten years they coached against each other made the game — well — “The Game.” During that “ten-year war,” Woody and Bo were fierce competitors on the field and had a palpable dislike for each other.

After the two were removed from the fire and drive of fierce competitors going at it, there was mutual respect and friendship that won out, but during those battles on the field, it was a rivalry for the ages.

And it wasn’t just in Columbus or Ann Arbor that noticed, but in the national media as well, still to this day. In fact, USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg just released his top ten college football coaching rivalries (subscription may be required), and Woody and Bo were a part of all the fun — as they should be.

“Ohio State beat Michigan 50-14 in 1968 and went for the two-point conversion on the game’s final touchdown, and only because the Buckeyes “‘couldn’t go for three,'” Hayes said postgame,” wrote Myerberg. “Schembechler evened the score over the next decade, compiling a 5-4-1 mark against OSU and Hayes, his coaching mentor. Schembechler played for Hayes at Miami (Ohio) and would later be one of his assistants with the Buckeyes, but any friendship between the pair evaporated once he took over with the Wolverines.”

Ohio State vs. Michigan has always had its moments on and off the football field, but it would be hard to imagine two coaches having more of a rivalry than Woody and Bo.

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Son of legendary Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes has passed away

In case you missed it, condolences to the Hayes family.

Former Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes is an icon, not only in the illustrious history of Ohio State football but in all of college football. Much like the names of Bear Bryant, Knute Rockne, and Tom Osborne, Hayes stands as one of the giants of the game.

On Saturday, we were given the sad news that Steve Hayes, the only son of Woody and Anne Hayes, passed away at the age of 76. Steve Hayes served as a Municipal Court Judge in Franklin County, Ohio, for 25 years and was always a supporter of The Ohio State University.

He was a graduate of Ohio State and established The Anne Hayes Memorial Scholorship for Academic Excellence in the College of Social Work to honor his late mother.

Judge Hayes was the presiding judge in a 2003 misdemeanor case against former Buckeye running back Maurice Clarett but eventually removed himself from overseeing the case.

Ohio State President, Kristina M. Johnson, offered these words about Judge Hayes in a written statement:

The Ohio State University and Buckeye Nation mourn the passing of a loyal friend and supporter, Steve Hayes… Judge Hayes was inspired by his parents’ belief in “paying forward” in his career, his service to the community and his dedication to Ohio State. We offer condolences to his family.”

We offer our condolences as well to one of the most revered families in Buckeye history.

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Ranking the all-time winningest head coaches in Ohio State football history by number of wins

You probably know who leads Ohio State football in all-time wins, but how do things line up from there?

The Ohio State football program is the bluest of blue bloods in the sport. It is at, or near, the top in all-time wins, winning percentage, Heisman Trophies won, All-Americans produced, and players sent to the NFL.

To reach those ends, the Buckeye program has had to be led by some pretty talented coaches throughout history. Whether it be Woody Hayes, Paul Brown, Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer, or today’s rising star Ryan Day, there’s been plenty of guys that did it their own way and continued the tradition on the banks of the Olentangy. All told, there have been 24 head coaches at OSU.

But when you put the list of head coaches together at Ohio State, who leads in all-time wins and winning percentage? What other coaches are up there, and how does a place that used to be known as the “graveyard of coaches” line up?

Here’s a look at Ohio State football coaching history and who leads the way in all-time wins. We rank from the least amount of wins to the most with winning percentage also noted and used as a tie-breaker.

WATCH: Buckeye legend Jack Nicklaus on how instrumental Woody Hayes was on his life

Not too many people know it, but former Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes had quite the impact on Jack Nicklaus’ life. Watch him explain it.

Count me in the group of people that never knew how connected former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes and Jack Nicklaus were. It makes sense because they both lived in Upper Arlington and were both well-known Buckeyes, but apparently the relationship went deeper than that.

Nicklaus appeared with Urban Meyer and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on a Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship Golf chat and told some pretty interesting tidbits about the man that Woody Hayes was and how he steered him away from football and towards golf.

Woody even showed up at the Nicklaus’ home just before the passing of Jack’s father to offer a most encouraging token that one of the greatest golfers of all time still holds dear to his heart.

This is a quick chat you just don’t want to miss. Click on the below Twitter video shared by Nicklaus and impress your friends with some pretty cool stories.

By the way, there aren’t too many chat rooms that have more legendary status than Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Urban Meyer, and Jack Nicklaus. I could listen to these three talk forever if they’d let me.