Football: Woody the Worrywart

Late of an autumn afternoon, when the day's brutal business is done, Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes likes to tilt back in his chair and worry—not about pass patterns or blocking assignments, but "about civilization," especially the lack of appreciation for him and his teams. Hayes, who last fielded a nationally acclaimed team in 1961, is all too familiar with fan fickleness. "When you come out of that stadium an hour and a half after a game," he says, "and there is no one there to congratulate you, it gets pretty lonely. You love it when a little kid happens to come up and say, 'Good game, Mr. Hayes.' "

This season fans are glad-handing Hayes outside the stadium in great numbers. They are tearing down goal posts and marching on downtown Columbus chanting, "We're Number 1!" For Woody is a big winner again; with a 50-14 victory over Michigan, he rounded off a 9-0 season record, earned the right to meet the University of Southern California in the Rose Bowl. Hayes' reaction to the A.P. football poll which now ranks Ohio State the nation's top college team: "We deserve it."

Nonetheless, Wayne Woodrow Hayes, 55, is still worrying—this time about the disdain of youths for instructional discipline. Of the 22 starters on O.S.U.'s two platoons, eleven are sophomores, and Rex Kern, 19, for instance, has yet to learn that quarterbacks should nurture a concern for physical survival. Kern bulls his way head-on into defending behemoths just to see how many he can topple over. Injuries kept Kern from finishing six games this season—but Woody's anger was tempered by the 500 yds. Kern gained rushing.

The alumni, which have long criticized Hayes for his stolid straightforward offenses, love the team's new mod look. It is doing daring things like passing on first down, but Woody insists that he has not changed his philosophy. He attributes the difference to the versatility of his players rather than a permanent change in tactics. "The alumni," he says, "can go straight to hell. We know more about the off-tackle play than anyone in football, and the only reason I like it is because it wins."

As for Southern Cal's O. J. Simpson, whom Ohio State will meet in the Rose Bowl, Hayes professes not to fret. Rather, he plans to spend the next few weeks visiting the homes of promising high school prospects, searching as always for that "quality kid." Says he: "I can spot that good home as soon as I walk in the door. I don't mean the furnishings and the money. I mean whether a kid is loved and whether there is discipline in the home."

Meanwhile, Hayes is lecturing his current crop of quality kids on the dangers of getting the big head. " 'Blame is safer than praise,' " he says, quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson, who, along with General William Westmoreland and Richard Nixon, is one of his favorite philosophers. He continues with Emerson: " 'As soon as honeyed words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one who lies unprotected before his enemies.' "