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When head coach Walt Harris went looking for a defensive coordinator and secondary coach familiar with the 3-4 defense, he hit paydirt when he hired veteran coach Tom Hayes on February 14, 2005. In Hayes, the Cardinal defense is led by a veteran coach of more than 30 years who has previously been a defensive coordinator at UCLA, Oklahoma and Kansas and coached for five years for the Washington Redskins in the NFL.
A 1971 graduate of the University of Iowa, Hayes has a long and impressive resume that includes 13 bowl appearances, including three Rose Bowl victories, numerous All-Conference and All-America players, and 26 defensive backs who have been on NFL rosters, including five that were drafted in the first round. Hayes has coached on staffs that have a combined 10-3 record in post-season bowl games.
Some of the great defensive backs who have been coached by Hayes are Pro Bowl players Darrell Green and Cris Dishman with the Redskins, Champ Bailey, a Pro Bowl alternate and member of the 1999 NFL All-Rookie Team while with Washington, UCLA's Kenny Easley, Don Rogers, James Washington, Eric Turner, Darryl Henley, Matt Darby and Ron Pitts. Others include Kevin Smith and Patrick Bates at Texas A&M and Oklahoma's Darnell Walker and Darius Johnson, to name a few.
Most recently, Hayes spent the 2001 season at the University of Kansas. He was the Jayhawk's defensive coordinator and secondary coach and, for the final three games of the year, he was the team's Interim Head Coach.
Prior to his one season at Kansas, Hayes spent five years (1995-2000) coaching the secondary for the Washington Redskins of the NFL under Norv Turner. In the 15 years before he moved to the NFL, Hayes coached for three of the top college programs in the nation under three of the game's most respected head coaches. In 13 of those years, his season ended at a post-season bowl game.
Hayes coached under Gary Gibbs at Oklahoma for four years (1991-94), under R.C. Slocum at Texas A&M for two years (1989-90) and under Terry Donahue at UCLA for nine seasons (1980-88).
At Oklahoma, Hayes was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach. He helped the Sooners to a pair of nine-win seasons and three bowl games, including a win over Virginia in the 1991 Gator Bowl and a victory over Texas Tech in the '93 Hancock Bowl.
He was the Assistant Head Coach and secondary coach for two seasons at Texas A&M. He helped direct the Aggies to a combined 17-7-1 record and trips to the Hancock Bowl in '89 (lost to Pittsburgh) and the Holiday Bowl in 1990 (victory over BYU).
Hayes worked for nine years as an assistant coach under Donahue at UCLA (1980-88). He was the secondary coach in 1980-81, then was promoted to co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach from '82-88. In nine seasons in Westwood, Hayes was part of a Bruin program that won four Pac-10 Championships, played in three Rose Bowls and eight bowl games overall, went 7-1 in bowl competition and finished among the top-5 nationally five times and among the top-20 eight times. The Bruins never won less than seven games during Hayes' nine-year tenure.
The Bruins went 10-1-1 in 1982 and finished ranked fifth in the nation after beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl. In 1983, UCLA again won the Pac-10 title and beat Illinois in the Rose Bowl. A few years later, in 1985, UCLA went 9-2-1, beat Iowa in the Rose Bowl and finished as the nation's No. 7 ranked team.
Hayes was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Cal State Fullerton in 1979 and was the secondary coach at his alma mater, Iowa, in 1977-78. He coached for five years on the high school level and one year at Coe College in Iowa before getting his first collegiate job at Iowa in '77.
Hayes was a three-year letter-winner as a defensive back for Iowa from 1967-71 and signed as a free agent by the Cincinnati Bengals. He earned his undergraduate degree in Finance/Insurance from Iowa in '71. Born March 26, 1949 in Keokuk, Iowa, he attended Atlantic High School in Iowa. He and his wife Cindy, whose brother-in-law is former Kansas City Chiefs running back Ed Podolak, have three children: Andy, who played baseball at Virginia Tech, Lindsay and Sarah.
Last Updated: July 7, 2005