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NCCU Alumnus Hayes Selected For Induction Into Black College Football Hall Of Fame

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Atlanta, Ga – Legendary student-athlete, coach and athletics administrator William “Bill” Hayes has been announced as one of seven inductees for the Black College Football Hall of Fame (BCFHOF) Class of 2018.

The BCFHOF Class of 2018 includes Harold Carmichael (Southern), Raymond Chester (Morgan State), Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson (Langston University), Leo “Lincoln Locomotive” Lewis (Lincoln), Greg Lloyd (Fort Valley State), Everson Walls (Grambling State) as player inductees and Hayes (Winston-Salem State and North Carolina A&T) as a coach.

Hayes grew up in Durham, just a few blocks from NCCU, where he played four seasons as a linebacker and center for the Eagles. He earned three All-America citations (1962-64, Pittsburgh Courier) before graduating in 1965 with a degree in physical education.

During his 27 seasons as head coach at Winston-Salem State University (1976-87) and N.C. A&T (1988-2002), Hayes amassed 195 wins to go along with six conference championships.

Prior to becoming a college head coach, he coached on the high school level in North Carolina at Paisley High School (1966), North Forsyth High School (1967-71) and his alma mater Hillside High School (1972), before accepting his first college job as offensive backs coach at Wake Forest University (1973-75), making him the first African-American coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

After his coaching career, Hayes returned to NCCU to serve as Director of Athletics from 2003-07. Under his direction, NCCU won 10 conference championships and he was chosen as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Athletics Director of the Year in 2006 and was presented with the Jeanette A. Lee Athletic Administration Award, recognizing the conference’s top athletic administrator, in 2007.

Hayes has been inducted into the NCCU Alex M. Rivera Athletic Hall of Fame, the Winston-Salem State University Clarence E. “Big House” Gaines Athletic Hall of Fame, the North Carolina A&T State University Sports Hall of Fame, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Hall of Fame and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.

He was presented with the NCCU Department of Athletics Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2016.

The Class of 2018 will be honored at the ninth annual Black College Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, presented by the Atlanta Falcons on Feb. 10, 2018, at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.

The inductees will also be recognized on ESPN at the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta on Dec. 16.

For more information, visit www.BlackCollegeFootballHOF.org.