Tom Hayes finally took the job he first interviewed for six year ago.
Hayes, a 12-year college defensive coordinator who spent the past five years with the NFL’s Washington Redskins, was named assistant head coach/defensive coordinator at Kansas University on Monday.
Kansas hasn’t had a defensive coordinator since Nov. 27, when head coach Terry Allen dismissed Ardell Wiegandt and offensive line coach Walt Klinker.
The hiring brought some sort of closure to Hayes, who was offered the same job six years ago by then-coach Glen Mason.
Hayes plans to put down roots literally.
“I told Terry, if you ask everybody who knows me, wherever I go, I come in and buy a house,” Hayes said. “I don’t rent. I buy a house and plant trees and shrubs. I live like I’m going to stay forever. So, somewhere in Lawrence, I’m going to be buying a house and planting shrubs and trees.”
Hayes offers an impressive resume. A 1971 graduate of the University of Iowa, Hayes spent four seasons (1991-94) as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma, two years (1989-90) as assistant head coach at Texas A&M and nine years (1980-88) as an assistant coach at UCLA. After two seasons as a defensive backs coach at UCLA, he was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1982.
Hayes also spent a season (1979) as defensive coordinator at Cal State Fullerton, and worked two years (1977-78) as secondary coach at Iowa.
He coached on teams that had a combined 10-3 record in postseason bowl games.
“Tom represents the perfect fit for out coaching staff,” Allen said. “We wanted someone who had experience as an NFL coach and as a coordinator at the collegiate level. One of the most impressive aspects of his 12 years as a defensive coordinator at UCLA and Oklahoma and two years as assistant head coach at Texas A&M is the fact that he helped direct teams to bowl games in 13 of those seasons.”
Hayes left OU for the Redskins, where he was defensive backs coach. He was part of the housecleaning that hit Washington in 2000, and he sat out last season off the field but under contract.
“I have a daughter in high school, so I didn’t want to run off just any place,” Hayes said. “I had other offers. But one thing that intrigued me was the thought of coming off coaching a position and going back to coordinating on the sideline. It’s intriguing. It’s fun.”
Hayes will inherit a defense that was spotty at best and porous at worst last season. He did enough research to see the cupboard wasn’t bare.
“I think there’s opportunity here,” he said. “I’m not a prognosticator. If I was, I’d make a lotta money somewhere else. But I believe steps are being made in the right direction. Let’s see how far we can go.
“I don’t have all the answers, but I know where to find some.”
Hayes brings his own style of defense that he says fits nicely with Allen’s desire to play mostly 4-3 defenses. Kansas has played both 4-3 and 3-4 in Allen’s tenure.
“We’ll start with four men down,” Hayes said. “There are only so many ways you can play. You can undershift, overshift, zone, man. All offensive coaches say they like to be balanced, and that’s a great word. I like to be balanced. That doesn’t mean 50-50 zone/man, 50-50 blitz/drop back. That means doing what you want to do when you want to do it.
“The best way to describe it is to say it’s complex for offenses, but not too complex for us. It’s a lot for offenses to get ready for, but it’s not complicated for our players.”
Hayes, 51, worked with 26 defensive backs who went on to play in the NFL.
He was given a two-year contract, which could be a life raft if Allen the first coach in KU history to have four losing seasons who has been allowed to return for a fifth doesn’t make it to year six.
“My philosophy is, coaching is a one-year deal,” Hayes said. “You don’t enter coaching if you’re into security. I’ve moved nine times in 30 years. That’s not too bad, but that’s a lot of moves.”
Kansas still has one vacancy on its staff. Since dismissing to coaches, Allen lost two more Todd Middleton and Darrell Wyatt by their own choice. He has hire three replacements: Hayes, offensive line coach Sam Pittman and wide receivers coach Clarence James.
