Where Bob Ufer Laid Woody Hayes Away

Ed. 11/28/22, Bumped for posterity!

On November 20, 1976, Bo Schembechler and his Michigan Wolverines were about to continue their Ten Year War with Ohio State coach Woody Hayes, this time down in the snake pit Columbus. Bo was prepared all season to battle his mentor and rival, but he wasn’t alone.

That November, Michigan man, letterman, and broadcaster Bob Ufer prepared a special message to the old coach from Columbus he called Dr. Strangehayes…it was this poem:

“Ohio Came To Bury Michigan, All Wrapped In Maize And Blue
The Words Were Said, The Prayers Were Read And Everybody Cried
But When They Closed The Coffin, There Was Someone Else Inside!

The Bucks Came To Bury The Wolverines – But Michigan Wasn’t Dead,
And When The Game Was Over, It Was Someone Else Instead.

Twenty-Two Michigan Wolverines Put On The Gloves Of Gray,
And As Cavender Played “The Victors”, They Laid Woody Hayes Away!”

As the game approached, Bob Ufer’s wife built a makeshift coffin out of a shoebox and a doll to represent the Woody burial. Ufer showed the box to his friend and engineer Jack Decou who fashioned an actual wooden coffin for his buddy:

#4 ranked Michigan defeated Hayes and #8 Ohio State that day 22-0. When Ufer died of cancer in 1981, the family gave the coffin back to Decou and yadda, yadda, yadda, it ended up on eBay.