Coaches / Head coach / Woody Hayes
Career
94
not coaching now
Rating—recent
Peak94best 5 yrs
Career94whole career
confidence
Woody Hayes
Head coach, 1951–1978
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
—
index in development
Seasons here—
Programs1
Stints1
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
As head coach
Rating—Peak94Career94
1951–1978 · 28 seasonsRecord 205-61National titles 5Great seasons 12 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 94: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 94: best five-season stretch, 1973–1977 at Ohio State (49-8, 5 top-10 seasons by team strength), taking over a good program.
- Career 94 (#6 since 1936): total accomplishment over 28 seasons (205-61), 5 national titles, 12 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
- All of it at one program (Ohio State) — unproven elsewhere; historically about half of a coach's lift carries to a new job.
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Ohio State | 7-4-1 | #19 | +1.05 SD |
| 1977 | Ohio State | 9-3 | #8 | +1.67 SD |
| 1976 | Ohio State | 9-2-1 | #4 | +1.75 SD |
| 1975 | Ohio State | 11-1 | #2 | +2.10 SD |
| 1974 | Ohio State | 10-2 | #2 | +2.09 SD |
| 1973 | Ohio State | 10-0-1 | #2 | +2.34 SD |
| 1972 | Ohio State | 9-2 | #15 | +0.99 SD |
| 1971 | Ohio State | 6-4 | #17 | +1.11 SD |
| 1970 | Ohio State | 9-1 | #5 | +1.68 SD |
| 1969 | Ohio State | 8-1 | #1 | +1.93 SD |
| 1968 | Ohio State | 10-0 | #4 | +1.55 SD |
| 1967 | Ohio State | 6-3 | #50 | +0.07 SD |
| 1966 | Ohio State | 4-5 | #66 | -0.20 SD |
| 1965 | Ohio State | 7-2 | #19 | +0.90 SD |
| 1964 | Ohio State | 7-2 | #9 | +1.26 SD |
| 1963 | Ohio State | 5-3-1 | #19 | +1.00 SD |
| 1962 | Ohio State | 6-3 | #10 | +1.35 SD |
| 1961 | Ohio State | 8-0-1 | #6 | +1.57 SD |
| 1960 | Ohio State | 7-2 | #3 | +1.66 SD |
| 1959 | Ohio State | 3-5-1 | #37 | +0.38 SD |
| 1958 | Ohio State | 6-1-2 | #8 | +1.32 SD |
| 1957 | Ohio State | 9-1 | #3 | +1.60 SD |
| 1956 | Ohio State | 6-3 | #12 | +1.05 SD |
| 1955 | Ohio State | 7-2 | #12 | +1.11 SD |
| 1954 | Ohio State | 10-0 | #1 | +2.10 SD |
| 1953 | Ohio State | 6-3 | #21 | +0.82 SD |
| 1952 | Ohio State | 6-3 | #16 | +0.94 SD |
| 1951 | Ohio State | 4-3-2 | #23 | +0.70 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).