An Honest Man in an Honest Sport
Bill Hayes, N.C. A&T football
coach, says he likes football because
it's honest. " It's the kind of job that
if I give it my all," he says, 44 I'll get a
reward. But if you cheat it, it'll make
you cry. It'll humble you." Hayes, 52,
is beginning his eighth season as head
coach at A&T, a school that gave him
his master's degree in 1975. He's
been either playing or coaching foot
ball for 30 years. He's seen the dollars
corrupt the sport and seen how the
search for money and television expo
sure has hurt black colleges' recruit
ing. How is he supposed to compete
with Michigan or North Carolina or
Florida Stale for a talent. The Big
White Schools bring money, boosters,
television exposure. Hayes? He
brings the promise of a good educa
tion, family values. Honesty. It's his
rule and what he lives by. He believes
in hard work and the value gained
from it. He says he rarely takes vaca
tion . 44 I took three days this year, 44
he says, 44 I guess I have a lot of days
built up." During all those days he
didn't take vacation, Hayes has done a
lot of work. He's been in a lot of stu
dent-athletes' homes, trying to con
vince them to come play for him. He's
been in a lot of student-athletes'
homes, trying to convince them to
come play for him. He's been reward
ed for his hard work. Coming out of
N.C. Central in 1965, Hayes worked
for eight years as a high school coach.
In 1973, he became the first black
coach in the ACC, being named an
offensive backs coach at Wake Forest.
Three years later, he moved to Win
ston-Salem State where he won nine
coach of the year awards in 12 seasons
and ran up a 89-40-2 record. In 1977
and 1978, the Rams were the top
ranked team in NCAA Division II
with a combined record of 20-0. In
1983 and 4 84 and 4 85 and 4 86, Win
ston-Salem State again won CIAA
Southern Division titles. By 1987, his
last year with the Rams, A&T was
looking for a football coach just short
of a magician. And Hayes had
watched his 482 Rams team go 3-7.
But presto, he changed his offense to
some wild-looking run-scheme called
the Wing-T and went 8-1-1 the next
season. Could Hayes be Houdini?
A&T officials certainly thought so,
stealing their man away from a close
rival. Things were bad, too. The
Aggie Pride was gone. The Aggies
were losing and fans were losing faith.
But Hayes was good at this turning
around stuff. When he'd arrived at
Winston-Salem State, the Rams pro
gram was in shambles, with just two
winning seasons in 14 years. Com
pared to that, A&T's not having a win
ning season
in two years
seemed like
small pota
toes. So
when Hayes
came to
Greensboro,
expectations
were pretty
high. But
the truth
was that
A&T had
lost most of
its veterans
from the 487
team to
graduation.
N.C.A&T Head Coach
Bill Hates
bowl games
and big
dreams ai
schools like
Miami and
Tennessee.
And once,
just once,
Hayes want
ed to taste
what it was
like. It
appears that
may never
happen. In
the Caroli
nas, there
was never a
black head
Hayes' first team, in 1988, would suf
fer. And it did, finishing 2-9, the
worst record any Hayes team had ever
finished with. In 1989, slowly the
recovery began. The Aggies finishing
9-2. Hayes was named the Sheridan
Broadcasting Group's coach of the
year. A&Ts not had a losing season
since, going a combined 32-17 since
1990. This year's Aggies, featuring
quarterback Maseo Bolin, are picked
to finish Carolinas Football Classic on
Nov. 18 at Charlotte's 25,000-sheet
Memorial Stadium (see story, page 3).
That game, which will ultimately be
moved to the 72,500-seat stadium
being constructed in Charlotte for the
NFL Carolina Panthers, will be cov
ered by major market media and will
football or basketball coach Wake For
est's Jim Caldwell was hired three
years ago. Former N.C. Central foot
ball coach Bishop harris, replaced by
Larry Little, has watched for two
decades as taleted black coaches, like
Hayes, have been passed over by pre
dominately white schools. What will
it take to change that? " "Jesus Christ.
" Harris says, " "will have to come
back down to Earth. ? What's clear is
this: hiring a black coach who hasn't
proven himseld at a predominately
white school is considered a risk. And
as budgets balloon (North Carolina's
annual budget, for example, is well
over $20 million) it increases pressure
to produce winning teams and appease
big donors. Bit-time schools want
soon gei television!
exposure. "One day,
and 1 really believe
this," says a CIAA
coach who asked his
name no be used,
"people will think of
Bill Hayes the way
people think of that
Grambling guy now.
" Edie Robinson,
That Grambling
Guy", is the head
coach at Grambling
State. He is also
just three wins short;
ft
It's the kind of job
that if I give it my all,"
he says, ""I'll get a
reward. But if you
cheat it, it'll make you
cry.
!coaches who not only
know the game but
alson can handle bud
gets and are saavy with
public relations, says
Bill Carr, who runs a
Charlotte-based firm
the specializes in find
ing college coaches.
"1 think the greates
questions come in
terms of management
skills," Carr told the
Charlotc Observer.
-Bill Hayes "For an unproven
.person of irrespeclive
of 4()0. 4i am convinced," says A&T
chancellor Ed Fort, "that Bill is one of
the premier coaches, black or white,
that there is in the country with his
success on the field and his success
academically. We're just proud to he a
part of the Hayes team because Hayes
is a winner." But as successful as he's
ben a his overall record of 137-73-2
rank him as one of the nation's win
ningest coaches a hayes has ;never
been able to reach one of his big
dreams: coaching in Division I. N.C.
A&T is a NCAA Division l-AA
school, away from the big money.
of race and I'm talking about the abili
ty to demonstrate thai you can handle
a $5 million budget. If you've never
done it before, the administration is at
risk. After producing seasons of 4-6,
11-1 and 11-1, Hayes inquired about
the head job at Wake Forest. "I'll
never forget a comment that was made
by a staunch booster," Hayes says. 44
He said, 'Bill, I know you will do a
great job, but I'm just curious to know
as to how you would handle the Dea
con Club/ And my comment back to
him a it was just like it was yesterday
a I said, I thought the Deacon club was
formed to support the athletic pro*
gram. I didn't know the football coach
was supposed to support the Deacon
club/
"I didn't know." Hayes says,m
"you had to be a certain type
guy. " Hayes said he has never inter
viewed for a Division I-A job, despite
inquiring a N.C. State and East Caroli
na.
Hayes doesn't seem bitter about
any of this . He just continues to work
haixl at the game he loves because it's
honest. Maybe the adminstrators
always aren't or maybe the players
aren't, but Bill Hayes is trying his
hardest to be honest. To stay honest.
He just wants this year Is A&T
team; to finish better than last year's 6
5 team. His team isn't as young as a
year ago and Hayes hopes it'll stay
much healthier. He wants to run more
and not force quarterback Maseo Bolin
to run for his left-handed life and
throw nearly as much as he did in 494.
Hayes wants his team to challenge
again for the MEAC title , to keep
winning, to stay good. Mainly,
though, Hayes just wants to keep on
doning what he's been doing.
"Coaching has given me a chance
to remain a kid," he says, 44 I've been
in college for 30 years. It demands
that you put a lot into, coaching, hut
you get so much out of it."
By Langston Wrrt: Jr
The Bill Hayes File:
?
Northside (Va.) High, assistant
coach
1996: Paisley (N.C.) High , defensive
coach
1967-72: N. Forsyth {N.C.) high
defensive coordinator
1973*75: Wake Forest University
offensive backs coach
. 1 976-37 -.ahead coach Winston-Salem
State (record 89-40-2 , 12 years)
1987: present ahead coach N.C. A AT
(record 48-31 , seven years)
137-73-2(19 years)
Honors: 1978 , NCAA District 1
coach of the year; N At A District 26 coach
of the year ; Chevrolet Division 11, District
111 Coach of the year ; CIAA coach of the
year ; 1980, Black College All-Star Bowl
coach ; 1985, CIAA co-coach of the year;
1986 , CIAA co-coach of the year ; 1987,
co-coach of the year; 1990 , Sheridan
Broadcast Network coach of the year;
1991, MEAC coach of the year; 1992,
Pigskin Club of Washington D.C. coach of]
the year.
September 1995 Page 9
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