March 12, 1987

Woody Hayes once said that when he died, he wanted it to be on the 50-yard line at Ohio Stadium. Instead, he succumbs in his sleep to a heart attack at his home in a Columbus suburb. He was 74.

In Hayes' controversial 28-year career (1951-78) as Ohio State coach, he won two national championships (1954 and 1968) and won or shared 13 Big 10 titles. His Buckeyes went 205-61-10. Overall, Hayes, who coached at his alma mater Denison and Miami of Ohio for five seasons, had a 238-72-10 record. "He's like a volcano waiting to explode," said Esco Sarkkinen, a Hayes assistant for 27 years at Ohio State.

Hayes' final explosion on the gridiron came when he punched a Clemson player during Ohio State's loss in the 1978 Gator Bowl. He was fired the next day.

A favorite story in Ohio is about the man who went to heaven, where at a football game he saw a fat old man in a baseball cap jumping up and down on the sidelines. "Who is that madman?" the new arrival asked St. Peter.

"That's God," St. Peter replied. "But he thinks he's Woody Hayes."