Bill Hayes has a bounce in his step and a smile on his face that could light up a Christmas tree.
Hayes, 68, is in his second year as athletics director at Winston-Salem State — and these are some glorious times for the school.
"There have been some long days and I think Saturday I put in 15 hours — but it was 15 hours of pure joy," Hayes said earlier this week. "I'm really happy for these coaches and kids, and I'm happy for the university because it deserves what it's getting right now.
"I haven't had a chance to let out a big yell yet but I'm extremely happy for this school."
The third-ranked football team is 13-0 and will play Saturday in the semifinals of the Division II playoffs against Wayne State at Bowman Gray Stadium. The Rams are making noise on the national level, and Hayes is relishing what's going on.
Since he's come aboard to help steer the school out of an abandoned move to Division I, he's brought alumni back, brought fans back and has tried to focus on the little things that make a big difference.
Winning CIAA titles doesn't hurt.
"To get to this point we've gone through a lot," Hayes said. "And a lot of that was behind closed doors but we refuse to be average. I just can't deal with average and I think we feel it now and everybody is stepping up."
Hayes left his job as an assistant coach at Wake Forest in the mid-1970s to become the head coach at Winston-Salem State. Back then, there was no weight room and very little space on campus for the football team, but Hayes made it all work and by 1977, he had one of the best teams in CIAA history. He left after the 1987 season for N.C. A&T, where he became the school's all-time wins leader.
Once he got into athletics administration — first at N.C. Central and then at Florida A&M — he found out all of his years of coaching football came in handy. He's used those experiences to his advantage.
Since Hayes has been at WSSU the school has won eight CIAA titles, including this year's football title, its first since 2000. Hayes, as either as a coach or AD, has been a part of four of the nine CIAA titles that WSSU has won.
Hayes has also brought a sense of pride to WSSU, something his former players knew would happen.
Timmy Newsome, who was part of those powerful teams in the late 1970s, said that Hayes' knowledge of football and what makes players tick can't be ignored.
"The one common denominator in all of this is coach Hayes and what he's been able to accomplish — both as a coach and now athletics director," Newsome said in an email. "He's been a winner everywhere he's either coached or served as AD. He's always had the unique ability to inspire and motivate those around him."
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