William "Bill" Hayes

Football coach William “Bill” Hayes was born on June 1, 1943 in Durham, North Carolina to Margaret Baines Hayes and James E. Hayes. Hayes graduated from Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina, where he played on the football team. Hayes received his B.P.E. degree in physical education from North Carolina Central University in 1965 where he played football as a center and linebacker, earning three All-American citations.

Hayes worked as an assistant high school football coach at Northside High School in Gretha, Virginia in 1965, Paisley High School in 1966, and North Forsyth High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1967. In 1972, Hayes returned to his alma mater, Hillside High School, as an assistant football coach and, in 1973, Hayes joined Wake Forest University, making him the first African American football coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Hayes then became the head football coach at Winston-Salem State University in 1976, where the Winston-Salem State University football team went undefeated in the 1977 and 1978 regular seasons and won three Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championships as well as seven division championships over a ten-year period. Hayes then joined North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 1988, where he led the football team to the Sheridan Broadcasting Network Black College National Championship in 1999. Hayes worked as a head college football coach for twenty-seven seasons, amassing a 195-104-2 overall record and completing his coaching career with more victories than any other head college football coach in North Carolina state history. Hayes went on to serve as the athletic director at his alma mater, North Carolina Central State University, for four years beginning in 2003. Hayes then became the athletic director of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida in 2007. In 2009, Hayes returned to Winston-Salem State University as the athletic director before his retirement in 2014.

Hayes served in numerous organizations including the Boy Scouts of the USA’s Southern Region Executive Board.

Hayes received numerous awards and honors including the Silver Antelope Award from the Boy Scouts of the USA in 2001, the Athletics Director of the Year Award from the CIAA in 2006, the Jeanette A. Lee Athletic Administration Award from the CIAA in 2007, the North Carolina Central University Department of Athletics Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, and the Atlantic Coast Conference UNITE Award in 2024. Hayes has been inducted into the following halls of fame: the Winston-Salem State University Clarence E. “Big House” Gaines Athletic Hall of Fame, the Alex M. Rivera Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986, the CIAA John B. McLendon, Jr. Hall of Fame in 2007, the North Carolina A&T State University Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 2014, and the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

William “Bill” Hayes was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 19, 2023.