Coach Woody Hayes said Wednesday he was 'terribly shocked' over the sudden death of Paul 'Bear' Bryant.
'I shall miss him as a friend and as a great leader,' Hayes said of the long-time head coach at the University of Alabama, who retired following the end of the 1982 season and died Wednesday of a heart attack in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
'He was truly a great man,' Hayes said, 'and no one in coaching has had a more profound affect for good on college football than Coach Bryant.
'The impact that Coach Bryant had upon his players and his coaches was the greatest of any coach in football.'
Hayes, who coached Ohio State for 28 years before he was fired following the 1978 season, at the time was second in victories only to Bryant among active coaches. He finished his 33 years of coaching with a 238-72-10 mark.
That included one loss to a Bryant-coached Alabama team, 35-6 in the 1978 Sugar Bowl.
In later years, Hayes and Bryant, who were both 69 years old, became good friends. Bryant spoke at the annual OSU coaches clinic and Hayes returned the favor by addressing the quarterback club in Birmingham, Ala.
