Dec. 23, 2008
OXFORD, Ohio – Michael Haywood, offensive coordinator at Notre Dame the past four years and a former staff member under some of college football’s greatest mentors, has been named Head Football Coach at Miami University, Director of Athletics Brad Bates announced today.
Haywood, 44, will remain on Notre Dame’s staff for the team’s game against Hawai’i in the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl on December 24 (8 p.m. EST). He will be introduced to the local media next Tuesday (December 30, time TBA) at Miami University’s new Voice of America Learning Center in West Chester.
“The Notre Dame program is very happy today for Michael Haywood and wishes him only the best at Miami University,” Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis said. “They made a great selection of a coach who is very well prepared for an assignment like this — and although we will dearly miss him we realize it’s time for him to run his own program. Michael has both the coaching pedigree and the personal character which will carry him to a successful career as a head coach.”
“First of all, I’d like to thank President Hodge and Brad Bates for the tremendous opportunity to become head coach at Miami University,” said Haywood. “It’s an institution with outstanding academics and a storied football tradition. The Cradle of Coaches, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, Bill Mallory, Jim Tressel … what an unbelievable coaching tradition. I’m so excited about joining the Miami family, with a fan and alumni base that is nationwide. Ohio is a great state for high school football, with tremendous coaches and unbelievable student-athletes. We are looking forward to developing a relationship with the high school coaches and to recruit their student-athletes to Miami University. I can’t wait to get started!”
Bates said that Haywood’s experience and success at five different Bowl Championship Series (BCS) schools made him the leading candidate at Miami.
“Mike’s experience with scholar-athletes at the United States Military Academy, the University of Texas and the University of Notre Dame has instilled in him high intellectual expectations for our students,” Bates said. “His mentors have included some of the most successful coaches in college football and have given him the organizational, recruiting and leadership skills to inspire our team, program, campus and fans. And Mike’s competitive success in the MAC, Big Ten, Southeastern Conference and Big 12 provides him with the knowledge and pragmatism to surround himself with a great staff to develop champions at Miami University. We are thrilled to have Mike Haywood as `our’ head football coach.”
Dr. David Hodge, President of Miami University, echoed Bates’s praise about the new RedHawk coach.
“We are very excited to have Mike join the Miami family,” said Hodge. “His extraordinary experience with some of the most successful football programs in the country makes him an outstanding choice. He is passionate about the future of our program and has a well-thought out plan to assure success both on and off the field. Mike’s values align exceptionally well with Miami, and he is a great fit for our institution.”
Since 1995, Haywood has been associated with three Top Ten teams and six other Top 25 clubs. His mentors have included former Coaches of the Year Nick Saban, Mack Brown, Weis and Lou Holtz.
Through Haywood’s four seasons as the offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Notre Dame (2005-08), the Fighting Irish have averaged nearly 27 points per game. He took over the majority of Notre Dame’s offensive play calling in 2008 and the result was an additional 103 yards per game over the previous season.
Haywood has coached running backs since 1994 at four different schools and tutored rushers that received All-America and all-conference accolades. He helped develop the talent in players that etched their name in their respective school’s records book and produced future National Football League players in Darius Walker, Cedric Benson, LaBrandon Toefield, Domanick Davis, Kevin Faulk, Rondell Mealey and Cecil Collins.
A key figure in Notre Dame’s offensive explosion in 2005, Haywood was named NCAA Division 1-A Assistant Coach of the Year that season by the American Football Coaches Association. The honor recognized not only Haywood’s outstanding coaching credentials, but also his stellar work in the community throughout his coaching career.
Haywood’s return to familiar turf in South Bend was the latest stop in a successful career as one of college football’s top assistant coaches for the past 22 years. A four-year football letterman at Notre Dame (1982, 1984-86), Haywood has been a collegiate coach for the past 22 years. He joined Weis’s staff following two years at Texas under Brown. Prior to that, he was running backs coach at LSU for coaches Gerry DiNardo and Saban.
Haywood is no stranger to the Mid-American Conference, having served as an assistant coach at Ohio (1991-92) for Tom Lichtenberg and at Ball State (1993-94) for head coach and former Miami player Paul Schudel. He was Coach Jim Young’s assistant for two seasons (1989-90) at Army, and began his coaching career at Minnesota (1988) as a graduate assistant for Coach John Gutekunst.
Haywood has coached every position and has coordinated offense, special teams and recruiting. He has recruited the Midwest as well as Florida, Texas, Louisiana, California, Canada, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Born Michael Anthony Haywood on Feb. 26, 1964, in Houston, Texas, he played flanker during his freshman season at Notre Dame (started five games and caught 13 passes for 128 yards in 1982), then moved to cornerback where he was a significant contributor and starter from 1984-86 (13 career starts, 78 tackles, five interceptions, two blocked kicks). Recruited by Gerry Faust, Notre Dame’s coach during Haywood’s senior year was Lou Holtz.
Haywood is a 1986 graduate of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s degree from the College of Arts and Letters.
THE HAYWOOD FILE Year School Assignment Team’s Ranking
1988 Minnesota Graduate Assistant — 1989 Army Defensive Backs/Special Teams Assistant — 1990 Army Defensive Ends/Special Teams Coordinator —
1991 Ohio Outside Linebackers/Special Teams Assistant —
1992 Ohio Outside Linebackers/Special Teams Assistant —
1993 Ball State Receivers/Co-Special Teams Coordinator —
1994 Ball State Running Backs/Co-Special Teams Coordinator —
1995 LSU Running Backs 25th 1996 LSU Running Backs/Special Teams Coordinator 12th
1997 LSU Running Backs/Special Teams Coordinator 13th
1998 LSU Running Backs/Special Teams Coordinator —
1999 LSU Running Backs —
2000 LSU Running Backs 22nd
2001 LSU Running Backs/Special Teams Coordinator 7th
2002 LSU Running Backs/Special Teams Coordinator —
2003 Texas Running Backs/Co-Special Teams Coordinator 12th
2004 Texas Recruiting Coordinator/Running Backs/Co-ST Coord. 5th
2005 Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs 9th
2006 Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs 17th
2007 Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs —
2008 Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs —
2009 MIAMI HEAD COACH
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT Mike Haywood
FLOYD KEITH, Executive Director, Black Coaches Association “I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am, both personally and as a representative for the BCA. Mike has been a well-known candidate for several years, and his experience and resume speak for themselves. He understands how to win. Brad Bates couldn’t have hired a better candidate. Miami has done itself well.”
MACK BROWN, Head Football Coach, University of Texas “Mike is a perfect hire. He has earned the right to be a head coach with his great work at places like Texas, Notre Dame and LSU. He’s a great recruiter, respects the game, and is the kind of young person we need in college athletics.”