New Woody Hayes documentary on DVD
Right: “Woody Hayes’ Ohio State Buckeyes” will be on sale in stores and online beginning on August 26.
A&E Photo
Yesterday, I received copies of the new DVD, Woody Hayes’ Ohio State Buckeyes, which is not available for sale until August 26.
Last night, I popped one open and watched it. The 70-minute documentary is a MUST HAVE for any Buckeye fan.
Having been born and raised in Columbus, living here for nearly 40 years (sigh), as a little Buckeye fan in the 70s during Hayes’ tenure, I remember having to rely on nothing more than local television stations who covered the Buckeyes because this was well before any type of 24-hour sports cable network and the Internet.
This was also a period of time when not every Ohio State game was televised live. If it wasn’t on ABC (Channel 6 in Columbus), then you had to wait until 10:30 p.m., Saturday night, or Sunday morning to watch it on a tape-delayed basis on WOSU-TV 34 with Marv Homan and Paul Warfield.
Sure, 10TV produced and aired “The Woody Hayes Show” after every game during the season following the 11 o’clock news, hosted by the likes of Ted Mullins or Lee Vlisides, plus there were various other specials on OSU football during the fall, but it was nowhere near the extent of the coverage that you can find today.
I have a collected a large collection of books, VHS tapes, and DVDs on the subject of Ohio State football over the years, so I thought I have seen it all until I watched, “Woody Hayes’ Ohio State Buckeyes.”
The game footage shown on the DVD is crystal clear, and a lot of it is in color, even during Hayes’ early years. Yes, it’s the usual cast of characters when it comes to former players speaking on their old football coach…Archie Griffin, Rex Kern, Greg Lashutka, etc., but the comments are in-depth and insightful. It even looks like Jack Tatum could still lay some wood on opposing backs and receivers.
I must admit I was teary-eyed at the end.
WOODY HAYES’ OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
IN STORES AUGUST 26
For more information about ordering these and other titles from the A&E Home Video Collection, call (212) 206-8600 (TRADE ONLY). Consumers please call 1-800-423-1212 (A&E). In addition to placing orders by phone, A&E Home Video products may be purchased over the World Wide Web at ShopAETV. com.
You can also win one of my extra copies if you can answer this trivia question.
From 1941 through the 1950, a period of 10 seasons, Ohio State had four head coaches, giving Ohio State the nickname, “the graveyard of coaches.”
Following the 1950 Snow Bowl game, where Ohio State lost to Michigan 9-3, Wes Fesler resigned.
Then-athletic director Dick Larkins formed a six-member panel to find the next coach.
On Saturday, February 10, 1951, Ohio State’s new head coach accepted the position after meeting with the selection committee in Columbus.
Now Fesler coached from from 1947-50, and Hayes’ tenure went from 1951-78, so Woody was not OSU’s first choice. Then who was?
If you know the answer email me at: mbarker@buckeyebanter.com, to win your copy.
Even if you don’t know the answer, you still could have a chance to win a copy. Just email me with “Woody Hayes” in the subject line and we will have a random drawing, if necessary.
Corerct answer was: Don Faurot
Thanks for all of the emails, but Amy S. from Tampa, Florida was the first to enter the correct answer.
After Fesler resigned as head coach of Ohio State, the fans’ first choice as a replacement was Paul Brown, who had previously coached the Buckeyes from 1941-43.
Brown was recommissioned as a lieutenant by the United States Navy in the winter of 1944, and served as head coach of the Great Lakes Naval Station during World War II.
During that period in Brown’s absence, Carroll Widdoes coached for two years, and Paul Bixler was at the helm for one. Widdoes later coached at Ohio University and Bixler at Colgate.
Brown’s job in Columbus was waiting for him once the war was over, but he chose instead to become part-owner, vice president, general manager and head coach for Mickey McBride’s entry in the upstart All-America Football Conference, which would later be known as the Cleveland Browns.
Brown showed interest in the vacant job at Ohio State following Fesler’s resignation, and was granted an interview on January 21, 1951, but Brown alienated many within the university, including the alumni, for not returing to his post after WWII. Brown was never offered the job.
On Saturday, February 10, 1951, Larkins and the six-member panel chose Missouri’s Don Faurot. But two days later, Faurot sent Larkins a telegram just hours before a press conference was scheduled to announce OSU’s new coach which stated he was no longer interested in the position at Ohio State and that he wanted to stay at Mizzou.
After rejecting Brown, OSU assistant Harry Strobel, and Faurot declined the job after it was offered to him, Ohio State hired Woody Hayes on February 18, 1951, which at the time was an unpopular choice among Buckeye fans.
Woody had only been a college head coach for five years, coaching at Denison University for three seasons, and at Miami University for two.
Hayes had a rocky start in Columbus, going 16-9-2 in his first three seasons at Ohio State.
In fact, the players on Hayes’ first team in 1951 were not too keen on their new coach. Before the season-ending contest against Purdue, the players locked Hayes out of the locker room and they gave themselves a pregame pep talk.
In 1954, the Buckeyes went 10-0 and won the national championship, and as they say, a legend was born.
