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Notable people · Sports

Woody Hayes

Ohio State football coach from 1951 to 1978 who won five national titles and 13 Big Ten championships.

Born February 14, 1913, Clifton
Died March 12, 1987, Upper Arlington

Woody Hayes
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
February 14, 1913, Clifton (Greene County) source
Died
March 12, 1987, Upper Arlington (Franklin County) source
Buried
Union Cemetery, Columbus (1946 Addition, Section 12, Lot 37) (Franklin County) source
Also known as
Woody Hayes
Education
Denison University, Granville, OH, 1933-1935, played tackle
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, to 1948, M.A. educational administration
Known as
Sports
Organizations
Ohio State University

Life story

Woody Hayes was born in Clifton, Ohio, in 1913. He played tackle at Denison University from 1933 to 1935 and later earned a master's in educational administration at Ohio State in 1948.

After Navy service he coached Denison (1946-48) and Miami University (1949-50). Ohio State hired him on February 18, 1951, and he stayed until 1978, with a record of 205-61-10 there and 13 Big Ten titles.

His teams claimed national championships in 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968 and 1970. He punched a sportswriter in 1959, and on December 29, 1978, he punched a Clemson player in the Gator Bowl and was fired. He died in Upper Arlington in 1987.

Ohio ties

Timeline

  1. 1931 Graduated from Newcomerstown High School, where he played center. source
  2. 1935 Graduated from Denison University, where he played tackle. source
  3. 1941 Enlisted in the Navy in July; he later commanded PC 1251 at the Palau invasion and the destroyer escort USS Rinehart. source
  4. 1942 Married Anne Gross. source
  5. 1951 Hired as Ohio State head coach. source
  6. 1954 Won his first national championship at Ohio State. source
  7. 1974 Met President Gerald Ford at Port Columbus Airport on August 30. source
  8. 1977 Charged ABC cameraman Mike Freedman at the Michigan game and was fined $2,000 and put on Big Ten probation. source
  9. 1978 Punched Clemson nose guard Charlie Bauman at the Gator Bowl on December 29 and was fired the next morning. source
  10. 1983 Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. source
  11. 1987 Died of a heart attack in Upper Arlington on March 12; Richard Nixon spoke at his funeral in Marble Cliff, and the Woody Hayes Athletic Center was dedicated that November. source
  12. 2018 A life-size bronze statue, funded by more than $40,000 in fan donations organized by Eleven Warriors, was unveiled at Newcomerstown's Lee Stadium on August 18. source

What Woody is known for

  • Ohio State head coach 1951-78, record 205-61-10
  • Five national championships claimed by OSU (1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, 1970); AP/coaches polls recognized 1954, 1957, 1968 (disputed by selector)
  • College Football Hall of Fame 1983
  • 205-61-10 at Ohio State, 13 Big Ten titles; 238-72-10 overall

Stories

Newcomerstown never let him go

Hayes grew up in Newcomerstown as the son of the school superintendent, played center for the high school and graduated in 1931. Even at the height of his Ohio State career he came back for high school graduations and chamber of commerce banquets and walked Main Street visiting old acquaintances. The town's high school stadium sits at River Street and Woody Hayes Drive. Upstairs in the 1841 Temperance Tavern, a canal-era inn that became a museum in 1973, a small room holds his photos, scrapbooks and memorabilia, next to a room for Cy Young. In 2018 Ohio State fans raised more than $40,000 for a life-size bronze of Hayes, unveiled in town with Archie Griffin and his son Steven Hayes speaking.

Source

The coach who taught vocabulary

Hayes held the rank of full professor of physical education at Ohio State and his classes were known for filling up. He also required his freshman players to take English and vocabulary lessons he taught himself. An amateur military historian who had commanded ships in the Pacific, he hosted broadcasts of six World War II films on Columbus station WBNS-TV in the early 1980s. His friend Richard Nixon recalled at the 1987 funeral in Marble Cliff that Hayes always wanted to talk about foreign policy.

Source

Honors and things named for them

  • College Football Hall of Fame, 1983
  • Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Ohio State (dedicated 1987)
  • Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair in National Security Studies, Mershon Center, Ohio State

Named for Woody Hayes

Family

  • wife: Anne Gross
  • son: Steven Hayes

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1

Ohio places

Where Woody Hayes was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Woody Hayes, and what the record shows.

Often said Hayes won five consensus national championships at Ohio State.

The record Ohio State claims five titles under Hayes (1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, 1970), but only 1954, 1957 and 1968 were credited by the AP and Coaches' polls. source

  • Disputed: The number of national championships credited to his teams depends on who is counting: five are claimed, and three of them were named by the AP or coaches polls.

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

  • A football with an ink sketch of Gerald Ford and plastic stick-on letters state the scores of the Ohio State-Michigan ri
    A football with an ink sketch of Gerald Ford and plastic stick-on letters state the scores of the Ohio State-M...
    Public domain
  • The photo contact sheet, identified as A9973 by the White House Photographic Office (WHPO), is housed at the Gerald R. F
    The photo contact sheet, identified as A9973 by the White House Photographic Office (WHPO), is housed at the G...
    Public domain
  • The photo contact sheet, identified as B2061 by the White House Photographic Office (WHPO), is housed at the Gerald R. F
    The photo contact sheet, identified as B2061 by the White House Photographic Office (WHPO), is housed at the G...
    Public domain
  • Woody Hayes
    Public domain
  • Photograph of Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes with fullback Dick Doyle and assistant coach Ernie Godfrey
    Photograph of Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes with fullback Dick Doyle and assistant coach Ernie Godfrey
    Public domain

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

Every link goes to the original source. Profile researched 2026-10-14.

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