Posted on 12/28/2016 6:31:17 AM PST by C19fan
Before Woody Hayes threw the punch that would end his career, Keith Jackson handed him a pair of boxing gloves. This seemed funny at the time. Jackson, the ABC announcer, did it at a luncheon the day before the Gator Bowl between Hayes’s Ohio State Buckeyes and Clemson.
Hayes had a well-earned reputation for losing his temper. There was the time he shoved a cameraman at the Rose Bowl, and the time he destroyed the sideline markers near the end of a loss to Michigan … well, there were a lot of times. His players at Ohio State had seen Hayes lose it at practice so often, some of them even prepared for it. They made sure to stand to his left. Hayes was left-handed; if you stood to his left, he had to take a step back to throw his left hook, and you had a chance to get out of the way.
(Excerpt) Read more at si.com ...
I remember when that happened. Very bad move, even for those days.
What is the line from Julius Caesar? --The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones;
My grandfather knew a guy who was on a search committee at Pitt back when Hayes was coaching Miami of Ohio.
They were engaged in a search for a new football coach. One of the names at the top of their list was Hayes.
This guy my grandfather knew spoke up at a meeting and said “We can’t hire this guy, he doesn’t know how to behave!”
Pitt hired another candidate. That man was surely a prophet.
(though I was born in Columbus where Hayes is still revered to this day)
I watched it.
Go get em’ Woody.
He made OSU famous.
Loved the man. The left at the university wanted him fired for years. He finally blew it. Go out with bang. The left looks at Trump the same way. J Edgar, Patton, Bobby Knight. Remember all those photographers that got in his way?
More recent history was when Clemson and Ohio State met 3 years ago in the bowl game and injured Braxton Miller...and the following year Ohio State won the first CFP championship with Miller on the sidelines.
I guess it is better than the way Bo Schembechler went out.....running the Detroit Tigers into the ground.
First-hand knowledge often ruins this sort of media story because the truth is so much more nuanced and revealing.
The reality is that Hayes was already wearing out his welcome with the OSU administration, who were mostly helpless given Hayes’ success and stature among fans and players. The scholarship limit was still ridiculously high so Hayes (and Schembechler and others) could stockpile players to keep them from competing with him at other schools. For better or worse the players went along with it for a free education and to be part of such a prestigious program.
Hayes did not manage his diabetes well, if at all, and it produced mood swings, notably red-faced rage, that were regarded as just part of his personality and part of any intense football coach’s persona.
Any coach, whether in his first year or his 20th, could never be excused for striking a player. While the decision to sack him was momentous, it was a little less so given the animosity of the administration.
BTTT
When you're a coach, a teacher, or a leader of any kind in the business world, it's the height of arrogance and stupidity to physically abuse people who are perfectly capable of kicking the sh!t out of you but are restrained because of appearances and/or your authority.
I was at that game sitting on the Ohio side of the field and saw the ruckus but didn’t know what happened until the next day.
Didn’t he also trip a player who was heading for a TD? Opposing team runner was running along the sidelines and Hayes stuck his foot out tripping him.
Woody was a man’s man. I was 7 years old in 1968 when the Buckeyes beat Mike Phipps Purdue, trounced Michigan 50 -14 and beat up OJ Simpson’s USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl.
Woody’s coaching style of beating a team into submission is the way I will always envision football to be played.
We were supposed to beat Clemson that bowl game and Clemson came out hungry and determined. When Hayes threw that punch everyone immediately knew his coaching career was over.
Three yards and a cloud of dust.
I was watching and I loved it, but I’ve always enjoyed occasional sports brawls, bedlam, and general misbehavior—Billy Martin kicking dirt on an ump, Bobby Knight flinging that chair, George Brett losing it over the pine tar call, Nolan Ryan teeing off on Robin Ventura, Kermit Washington punching Rudy Tomjanovich (vicious!), Garry Templeton flipping off the fans, Don Zimmer going after Pedro Martinez, Dr. J. Punching Larry Bird, Ron Artest charging into the stands, etc.
I remember Woody as a guy with a fiery temper mostly because of that punch. I would hate to be remembered for the worst minute of my life.
LOL! I remember so little about the game, that I didn’t remember it was Clemson they were playing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.