Every new football season on The Hill starts with the same old story — one that coach Jack Hatem never gets tired of telling.
It involves a gridiron icon, a granite stone, and a forklift. It involves a nod to tradition, the power of belief, and the most serendipitous 50-yard drive in Big Red history.
Not that Hatem goes into all these details as he gathers his players around the Woody Hayes rock before their first practice.
“This rock is here in honor of a famous Denison Big Red football alum, Woody Hayes,” Hatem tells his players on a cloudless August evening. “Woody played here, he coached here, and he went on to become one of the all-time greatest coaches in college football. This rock is our touch-in. When we walk by, especially before practice or a game, we touch that rock. It says we’re all in for the Big Red.”
The rock arrived on campus in the early 1990s, but it wasn’t until administrators moved it inside the stadium in 2007 that it gained campus prominence
To reverse years of losing, Hatem was desperate to find a link to the program’s glorious past after being named head coach in 2010. Among his first acts was to ask players to touch the Hayes rock — a gift from Denison’s graduating classes of 1935-37 — before and after every practice and on game days.
“The idea was a collaboration between me and the players at that time,” Hatem recalls.
Few American sports lean harder into traditions than college football. Picture Notre Dame players tapping the “Play Like A Champion Today” sign before games and Ohio State University players singing Carmen Ohio to fans after games. But for every enduring tradition, there are hundreds of others that fall flat or fade away.
“You never know if things like this are going to work,” Hatem says.
His vision helped launch a Big Red renaissance.
Denison posted a 47-83 record in the 13 years before the 2010 season. They are 86-46 since Hatem took charge, including two conference titles, a 2018 NCAA playoff berth, and 10 consecutive winning seasons.
“Once you touch the rock, you let all your problems outside of football go for a few hours,” says receiver Josh Aiello ’24. “You focus on the goals you’re working toward. It’s a commitment to the team.”
Plucked from obscurity
The origin of many famous sports traditions features a bit of good fortune and timing. In the case of the Hayes rock, heavy machinery also was required.
When the stone arrived on campus in the early 1990s, it was placed just outside the stadium gates — about 50 yards from its present location.
“A lot of people didn’t know it was down there,” says former athletic director Larry Scheiderer. “I don’t remember anyone talking about it.”
In 2007, the same year Hatem was named Big Red defensive coordinator, the university completed a stadium renovation project. The architects relocated the Hayes stone to a position of prominence on a pathway between the locker room and the field.
“They needed a big forklift and these thick straps around the rock to secure it,” recalls former head of athletic communications Craig Hicks. “But they couldn’t have found a better spot for it.”
Woody Hayes ’35 played football for the Big Red and later coached them to two undefeated seasons before later winning national titles at Ohio State.
A tradition, an emotion
Hatem grew up in nearby Lancaster, Ohio, adoring the Ohio State Buckeyes and their legendary coach.
Many longtime football fans know Woody Hayes as the Michigan-hating, down-marker shredding force of nature who stalked the Buckeyes’ sidelines for 25 years, leading them to three national titles. What a lot of fans don’t realize is that Hayes played tackle for the Big Red from 1933-35 and coached them to back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1947-48.
Hatem makes it his mission to educate all incoming Big Red players on Hayes’ legacy at Denison.
“I’m kind of a college football history nerd,” says defensive back Jack Nimesheim ’24. “Knowing that Woody Hayes represented the program where I’m playing is really special to me.”
On game days, alums and parents of players form a human tunnel before the start of home games. Players and coaches run through the crowd touching the rock on the way to the field.
“It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it,” says Hatem, the second-winningest coach in program history.
The tradition has become so ingrained that many players and coaches touch the rock each time they pass it. The habit isn’t restricted to current Big Red members.
“I absolutely love it,” says former running back Brian Mason ’09, the Indianapolis Colts’ special teams coordinator. “Every time I come back to campus, I make sure to touch it.”
Mason is one of seven Denison alums currently working in the NFL as a coach, scout, or data analyst. The school has never boasted so many former players in the league at one time.
It’s a tribute to Hatem’s desire to couple the program with its past glories. It’s also evidence of the rock’s hold over the Big Red.
“As I’ve gotten older, I don’t just tap it,” Nimesheim says. “It’s more like a firm embrace.”
Seated in his office, Hatem’s voice cracks as he describes quiet moments when he stands beside the rock and talks to his coaching idol.
“I’ll put my whole hand on it, and I’ll say, ‘Coach, I’m still here.’”
Head coach Jack Hatem (right) watches players during a pre-season practice.
