Woody Hayes

Woody Hayes was born on February 14, 1913 on Valentine's Day. His full name was Woodrow Wayne Hayes. He was born in Clifton Ohio, a small town in Southwest Ohio.

Woody's mom's name was Effie and his father's name was Wayne. Woody's middle name was Wayne, just like his father's first name. Woody was one of three children. He had one sister and one brother. His sister Mary grew up to be a movie actress just like she wanted to be as a kid.

Woody did not have good grades at all in elementary school through high school. His dad was superintendent; he was always on Woody's case about his grades. Also, Woody was always getting in trouble, at home and at school.

Woody accomplished many things including five national titles and he won 14 Big Ten championships with his team. He also led his team into 12 bowl games including the Rose Bowl.

Woody was a veteran of World War II before he became famous for coaching. He graduated from Denson University with a bachelor's degree in English and History. He also graduated from OSU with the master's degree in educational administration. He starred in many school sports and usually he was team captain.

His wife's name was Anne Gross. He had only one son, his name is Steve. Woody's first coaching job involved him moving to Mingo Junction, Ohio but he took it anyway. Then he went to serve in World War II; when he came back he started coaching again.

Woody captained his football team during his senior year. At the beginning of his coaching career, he had a winning streak of 19 games which propelled him to head coach at Miami University. He became coach at Ohio State in 1951. He was the coach for 28 years. He also led Ohio State to the Rose Bowl 11 times.

Woody had many admirers such as football players, former coaches and coaches who had just started coaching. Woody gave many speeches every year and someone would drive him to each one. Some of the players say that he treated them almost like his own family because he loved his team so much.

Woody died March 12, 1987. He is buried in Columbus Ohio. At his funeral and everyone gathered around and brought out a float with all the players around it. At the funeral, people spent a lot of time talking about him and what they appreciated about him. On the float there were pictures of him and memories of his life.

Woody inspired many people to do what they loved and he said if they really loved it they would give 100% all the time. He helped them improve at football and in school so they would feel good about themselves and give 100%. He also encouraged people to do well at everything they did.