Hayes interested in WSSU job

He was Rams' football coach for 12 seasons and has experience as an AD

By: By John Dell | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: September 10, 2009

Bill Hayes has applied for the athletics-director position at Winston-Salem State, sources have confirmed.

Hayes, in his second year as the athletics director at Florida A&M, has sent in an application and is interested in the WSSU vacancy, according to one source in Winston-Salem and one in Tallahassee, Fla. Hayes was traveling to Winston-Salem yesterday for tonight's football game between A&M and WSSU and did not respond to a message left on his cell phone.

Hayes, 64, coached football at WSSU for 12 seasons in the late 1970s and 1980s, compiling a record of 89-41-2 and leading the Rams to seven CIAA championship games and three titles.

When asked about the AD's vacancy last month, Hayes said he has always had a soft spot for the school that gave him his start as a college head coach. In 1977 and '78, he coached two of the best teams in CIAA history, leading the Rams to two unbeaten regular seasons and a two-year record of 22-2. Hayes also coached at N.C. A&T and is a former AD at N.C. Central.

Chancellor Donald Reaves would not comment about the athletics-director's position when asked Saturday during WSSU's football game against N.C. A&T. "There's nothing to talk about," he said.

Two candidates interviewed extensively, sources have said, but both later withdrew their names from consideration. They were Michael Bailey, the football coach and AD at Virginia Union, and Tim Grant, a former basketball player and assistant coach at WSSU.

In addition to trying to fill the AD's position, WSSU is trying to decide whether to continue its move to Division I or stay in Division II. A board of trustees meeting has been called for Friday "to consider the university's NCAA competition level and conference affiliation," university officials said yesterday in a release.

The Division I Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference already has agreed to accept WSSU and has been waiting for a decision. Reaves said at a public forum in May that WSSU would decide by September.

■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com.