Hayes Sets A Record For Brevity
HAYES SETS A RECORD FOR BREVITY
By Bill Anderson
Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes might have set some sort of a Big Ten record for short post-game interviews yesterday in the tunnel of Michigan Stadium.
About 20 minutes after Michigan had broken the Buckeyes’ winning streak, the portly coach appeared at the dressing room door.
He stepped outside to talk with a few assembled sportswriters numbering about seven.
“We’re not going in there,” Hayes mumbled gesturing towards the dressing room where the Buckeyes were licking their wounds from a stunning 24-12 defeat at the hands of Michigan.
As he paced down the tunnel a few strides, Hayes turned to make his brief statement to the press.
“All good things must come to an end and that’s what happened today,” the coach said. “They outplayed us, outhustled us and outcoached us.
“Our defense didn’t play well in the first half and our offense was miserable in the second half. We made every mistake we could possibly make.
“We just didn’t get the football to Jim Otis enough because he is a heck of a fullback.”
Hayes asked, “how many interceptions did we have?”
One of the writers replied that Michigan had picked off six.
Woody just shook his head, turned away and pushed his way through a group of Ohio State fans as he walked back through the dressing room door.
Some sportswriters clocked this press conference in less than 18 seconds.
Once again the writers who want to find out what makes Woody tick came away disappointed and with empty notebooks. The mighty football guru of Columbus had turned into a sphinx.
However, Ohio State students, faculty, alumni and hangers on could console themselves today on a couple of accomplishments.
The Buckeyes have won their sixth straight conference title under the gray-haired coach, who has a 125-42-7 record at Ohio State.
Unfortunately, Hayes can no longer lay claim to the fact that he is the winningest coach in the conference. He has a 91-28-6 record against Big Ten foes for a .752 average.
His former aide, Michigan’s Bo Schembechler, compiled a 6-1 record for an .875 average. So maybe Schembechler learned his lessons all too well under Hayes when he was an assistant coach at Ohio State.