Woody Hayes Says "Happy V-Day. NOW!!!"

Woody Hayes was born 96 years ago today. He was a great Miami of Ohio head coach, and he also had success subsequently. Hayes was a high school football coach for a couple of years before he enlisted in the Navy in 1941. He rose to the rank of of Lieutenant Commander. After his service in the war, he returned to his alma mater, Denison, as the head coach. Hayes "drove his first squad at Denison so hard that school authorities warned him to ease up on the team or face the consequences," according to WOSU. He had a 19-game at Denison, which led to the Miami job. Sid Gillman had been the Miami coach, but moved down state route 27 to the University of Cincinnati--Miami's rival. So, before Woody's rivalry with Bo Schembechler and Michigan while the Buckeye coach, Woody was rivals with Gillman and UC. Gillman disliked Woody, as well. By 1950, Woody had the Redskins in the Salad Bowl, where they defeated Arizona State. He was hired by Ohio State in 1951. The story is that Paul Brown was interested in coming back to Ohio State, but the school hired Woody instead. (The image is from buckeyefansonly.)