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Would Woody have had the sense to step away at the right time?

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The Legend

I think had Woody stayed, he would have ended up having a stroke or major heart attack and becomming unable to coach.

I hated the way his firing was handled, but I would have hated to see him go disabled as well.

I am happy Tressel is here now, but don't believe he will become the legend/icon that Woody is.

Woody, well, was Woody, they broke the mold when they made him.

RIP W.W. "Woody" Hayes.
 
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moron75: The chokes were referring to the Rose Bowl (Stanford, UCLA, USC in 79) and to scUM in 69

Since when is 1969 the "early 70s"? Also, it has been documented by several former players that the '71 Rose Bowl loss to Stanford was more due to apathy by OSU players than their choking, because according to them Woody had reneged on promises of free time prior to the bowl game. And as pointed out above, Woody wasn't even coaching in 1979. The only game you mentioned that could be considered a choke was the 1976 Rose Bowl loss to UCLA, the same team OSU had pounded 41-20, at UCLA, at the beginning of the season. Don't snort ether before posting...
 
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Also, it has been documented by several former players that the '71 Rose Bowl loss to Stanford was more due to apathy by OSU players than their choking, because according to them Woody had reneged on promises of free time prior to the bowl game

Whatever. that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You lose when you're supposed to win, you've choked.
 
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Whatever. that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You lose when you're supposed to win, you've choked.
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Tibor, I suppose you DON'T believe that Ohio State won the Fiesta Bowl and a National Championship in 2002-2003 (13 point underdogs). I guess in your view, Miami "choked" that games away and OSU didn't really win anything. :shake: Now who's saying dumb things?
 
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I am happy Tressel is here now, but don't believe he will become the legend/icon that Woody is.
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Yeah, that would be awfully hard to do. I don't think that you'll see much of that happening in CFB anymore, because coaches don't seem to stick around as long as they used to. Too many of them are looking ahead to the NFL or a bigger CFB program.

However, I don't think that JT is that kind of guy. I believe that he would stay at OSU as long as he can; he really loves OSU, and this seems to be the "big job" for him. In addition, he appears to have the attitude, desire and skills to keep his job for a long time. I think that the next two years will tell us a lot about Tressel's abilities while re-loading after a successful couple of years.

I'd love to see him be successful enough to achieve that status, though.....
 
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DE,


I agree completely...most of the guys at the big schools (Miami especially) all seem to want to head to the pros, but Tressel seems like one of the "old school" coaches (Paterno, Knight, etc.) in the sense that he seems to have no desire to take that step, so this could be the job he wants to keep for as long as he can, which I think is good for us in the long run.
 
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Whatever. that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You lose when you're supposed to win, you've choked.

Wrongo, Rashimish. You have to "fail" to win when you should to qualify as a "choke". When to play with less than full effort because you're pissed at the coach, that's not a choke.
 
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DEBuckeye said:
Yeah, that would be awfully hard to do. I don't think that you'll see much of that happening in CFB anymore, because coaches don't seem to stick around as long as they used to. Too many of them are looking ahead to the NFL or a bigger CFB program.

However, I don't think that JT is that kind of guy. I believe that he would stay at OSU as long as he can; he really loves OSU, and this seems to be the "big job" for him. In addition, he appears to have the attitude, desire and skills to keep his job for a long time. I think that the next two years will tell us a lot about Tressel's abilities while re-loading after a successful couple of years.

I'd love to see him be successful enough to achieve that status, though.....
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All this being said, Tressel is the main reason that I'm such a big fan now. I loved him at Youngstown State, being as successful as he was- and other more selfish reasons. When he became the coach of the Buckeyes is when I really became a HUGE FAN. I had an idea that he was the real deal. He's from Ohio and bleeds Buckeye blood. We needed somebody who would treat his post as more than just the Buckeye job. We needed somebody who would take it very personally to be the coach.

I always felt that Cooper was an outsider, who was able to bring in the talent, but was really just providing a stage for guys to get to the NFL. I liked the Buckeyes under Cooper but not like I do now.

Funny thing is, now that Cooper isn't the coach, I think he finally 'gets it'. He realizes how important all the tradition (and the building of it) is now that he's a fixture of nostalgia.

Point: Tressel will quit coaching before he gets too old. He'd rather let those old guys keep their records as long as he gets ten total national championships :lift: .
 
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3yardsandacloud said:
Tibor, I suppose you DON'T believe that Ohio State won the Fiesta Bowl and a National Championship in 2002-2003 (13 point underdogs). I guess in your view, Miami "choked" that games away and OSU didn't really win anything. :shake: Now who's saying dumb things?
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Just because the media acts like you're the greatest team since sliced bread doesn't mean you are. Miami didn't choke. OSU was that good. Similarly, does anybody really believe that MSU was just as good as OSU in 1998? Heck no. OSu choked. Or maybe as Mililani would say, OSU lost because they just didn't want to play hard for their coach. Now who's saying dumb things. :roll1:
 
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You lose when you're supposed to win, you've choked.
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Tibor ... well then maybe you'd care to amend your previous statement. The media thought Miami would win, Vegas oddsmakers thought Miami would win, the general public thought Miami would win, Miami players/coaches thought Miami would win ... basically everyone except OSU fans/players.

It's your logic though ... feel free to stand on both sides of the fence at the same time if you like. :crazy:
 
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What I find hilarious here is that people seem to actually expect Tibor to post intelligently. When has that ever happened? Let him ramble. I compare him to the peas in the salad. They're ok for decoration, but most people tend to eat around them.
 
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As much as I loved "Woody" at times during his last years i felt very sad for him and knew in my heart his time at tOSU was coming to an end. Even the night of the Gator Bowl game with Clemson i was thinking to myself maybe he would have one more year left (1979) and he would maybe step down and Lou Holtz was in line for the job. All of us in Y-town talked of that stuff for along time about who would be right to replace woody.

He knew deep inside the 79' team would be loaded with great players and all of us said we could win another N/C, if we could just beat Scum that year and we did on a blocked punt but it was under Earle Bruce. And of course you all know we lost 18 - 17 to Sou/Cal. Lou Holtz at the time of woodys firing had told the press "I am not ready to fill the old mans shoes "

But when Woody went ballistic with Charlie Baughman after the interception of the 78 Gator Bowl, I knew he was gone. And in the morning when i had heard the news, i was not surprised at all. To see the way he was fired was such a shame. So i really think that he would have walked away if only he had one more shot at another National Championship in 79 and had won that one he would have stepped down. Even then he was under medication for his blood sugar and he was advised to step down many times, but you knew woody and how he could be pretty stubborn at time. But that was wood and nobody told woody what to do. I sure hope that something like this never happens to JoePa. Man i hope he can last 4 more years and not go out like Woody did.
 
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"Choke" is probably too strong a word, but ... Woody didn't really seem to have any magic after the 1968 season, and lost almost every huge game during the reast of his career - 1969 Michigan, 1970 Stanford (Rose Bowl), and 1975 UCLA (Rose Bowl); the 1973 Michigan tie was only partially redeemed by a trouncing of USC in the Rose Bowl, which saved an undefeated season for the Bucks, but couldn't get OSU past Notre Dame for a national championship. So, in his five huge (national title implication) games after the 1969 Rose Bowl (in each of which OSU was favored), Woody was 1-3-1, with no NC's.

Just a thought ... I wonder how Woody have done with the 1979 team, which again almost won a national championship ... would he have been able to win the big game after a decade of frustration, or would his legacy have been further diminished by one more huge loss and another near miss at the NC?

Woody, like Cooper after him, had a chance to go out with glory and an NC (Woody in '75, Coop in '98), but each lost a very winable game, and thus the NC. After their respective underperformances (again, not "chokes"), when their teams were clearly the best in the country and regarded as such by every major commentator, each coaches' career declined precipitously, and both left under less than favorable circumstances. A bit off topic, I suppose, but an interesting comparison.
 
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