Archie Griffin Stadium? Wayne Woodrow Hayes Stadium? The Woody Hayes Memorial Stadium? All were once proposed as name changes for Ohio Stadium.
The prestigious, state-of-the-art stadium earned its name the moment it opened in 1922, honoring the people who paid for the stadium. But, while Hayes and Griffin will be part of Ohio State football's history forever, some Ohio State fans wanted two of the most prominent names in OSU football's past to be etched in the stadium's name as well.
In 1976, State Representative Michael Stinziano – who thought Ohio Stadium wasn't a good name – proposed House Bill 1353, which would have renamed Ohio Stadium to honor the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner ever: Archie Griffin Stadium.
Here's the excerpt from The Lantern on March 3, 1976:
Even though Stinziano tried his best to make it happen, the proposal was rejected by many for multiple reasons, the most important one being tradition.
Three years later, WBNS, a Columbus radio station, sponsored a postcard petition to rename Ohio Stadium to Wayne Woodrow Hayes Stadium.
"We want to show that there is public support for renaming the stadium," then-WBNS program director George Joachim said.
From the January 4, 1979 issue of The Lantern:
Like the proposal in 1976, the petition in 1979 also failed to gain traction.
Then, in 1987, the Undergraduate Student Government tried once again to honor Hayes by renaming Ohio Stadium to The Woody Hayes Memorial Stadium, a petition that the group planned to give to the Board of Trustees.
"The coach gave an awful lot to the university, and it's only befitting that the university give something back," then-USG president Brian Hicks said. "It would be nice if it was in a monumental way."
In an op-ed in The Lantern on April 1, 1987, a different proposal was made: to honor Hayes in another way, not by renaming the football stadium after him because "Ohio Stadium is Ohio Stadium. The name is an institution and should not be changed," it said.
Instead, the op-ed suggested that Ohio State rename its indoor football (and athletic) facility after Hayes, honoring the late coach without changing the name of such an iconic stadium.
Ohio State did just that, and the Woody Hayes Athletic Center was dedicated later that year in 1987, honoring the former head coach who led the Buckeyes for 28 years.
In an era of college sports where NIL and revenue sharing have changed the landscape forever, Ohio Stadium’s name remains unchanged. That said, the stadium's playing surface was renamed to Safelite Field in 2022.
While proposals to rename Ohio Stadium to honor Buckeye greats such as Griffin and Hayes didn't come to fruition, Ohio State has honored them in other ways, including the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, which was dedicated in November 1987, and a statue of Griffin outside Ohio Stadium, which was unveiled before the 2024 season opener.
