StFX family loses Hall of Fame member

Woody Hayes Dead at 72
Long-time Moncton football coach and teacher was an icon at Harrison Trimble High School

The name of Woody Hayes is synonymous with good football. And a good man, too.

The long-time football coach and teacher at Moncton's Harrison Trimble High School passed away on Wednesday following a lengthy illness. He was 72.

The native of Sommerville, Mass., came to Canada to play football at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., where he was a star running back with the X-Men.

Hayes once scored seven touchdowns in one game, a feat that ranks him second in Canadian Interuniversity Sport for the most touchdowns in one game. He was inducted into the St. FX Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

Hayes soon turned his focus to teaching and coaching football. He was an English teacher at Harrison Trimble and also coached the school's Trojans football team from 1968-79, guiding the club to seven provincial championships.

Four of his players went on to play in the Canadian Football League.

Hayes, the head of the school's English department, also coached baseball and softball, but was just as eager in the classroom. He coached the debating team and took great pride in promoting Canadian literature, taking his students on trips to Montreal and Toronto to meet with Canadian authors, such as Margaret Atwood and Mordecai Richler.

"If one was to look up the term 'renaissance man' in any reference book, he could very well find a picture of Ralph (Woody) Hayes," long-time Harrison Trimble colleague and friend Don Grant said last night.

"He was a complete man. He wasn't narrow focused. He was the quintessential renaissance man. He was as comfortable in a debate as he was being a football player."

Grant, a fellow long-time teacher and coach, said Hayes is regarded as an "icon" at Harrison Trimble.

"I would like to see the football field at Trimble named in his honour. I think it would be more than justifiable," he said.

"He was a very hands-on coach, very positive and very seldom did he berate players on the field. He would save that for the locker room in private and I always admired him for that."

Hayes, a member of the Moncton Sports Wall of Fame and a long-time Riverview resident, retired from teaching in 1997 after a 29-year career, but re-joined the coaching ranks in 2005, entering the Maritime Football League as the first-ever head coach of the Riverview Mustangs (now called Moncton Mustangs).

Hayes coached the Mustangs for three seasons. He led the team to a perfect 10-0 campaign and first league championship in 2007.

"Our whole team, since our inception, took one thing from Woody and that was to be 'Mustang Tough.' That came directly from Woody," Mustangs head coach Rob Weir said last night.

"That means being tough and persevering through adversity. Woody beat that into us from the very beginning. It means stepping up, being responsible, getting your butt to practice."

The Mustangs are four-time defending MFL champions. Weir, who served as Hayes' offensive co-ordinator, believes the team owes much of its success to its very first coach.

"It goes back to what Woody instilled in us right from the start and that's why I believe we've continued to win. When the chips are down and you've got butterflies in your stomach, when you're going to sink or swim, guys have always believed in being 'Mustang Tough.' That's what Woody was all about," Weir said.

"He was one of the pioneers of football in this area. When you think of the three or four guys who have given football a leg up around here, his name is right there at the top of the list. He was a really tough, strong, honourable man. He was a heck of a man and I'm going to miss him."

Hayes is survived by his wife Jackie, three children and five grandchildren.

The family will receive relatives and friends at Cobb's Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Riverview today from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. A funeral will be held tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Riverview.