University Southern California Trojans
Receiver Windrell Hayes Finally Getting Used To Winning
September 12, 1999 | Football
Sept. 12, 1999
On a hot September day in the Coliseum, Windrell Hayes runs a precise pattern toward the sideline. As the pass zips toward him, he uses his body to screen himself from his defender. He clutches the pass, dragging his feet three yards past the marker. It's a 13-yard gain and a first down-- the first catch of his college career. Only it's not as a Trojan, but as a Spartan. His defender is Sammy Knight, now the starting strong safety for the New Orleans Saints. Hayes' team is San Jose State. The year is 1995. His stats that day: four catches for 40 yards. But the scoreboard reads USC 45, San Jose State 7.
Hayes just couldn't get used to scores like that. But he could get used to scenes like that-- the Coliseum, the crowd, the band and the attention that being a USC receiver brings. I should have been playing here, he thought. But he filed those thoughts away. Two years later, they re-emerged and Hayes made his mind up to become a Trojan.
" USC has had a history this decade of putting out premier receivers like Keyshawn Johnson, Curtis Conway and Johnnie Morton," says Hayes, a senior who caught 97 balls in his two seasons with San Jose State and 24 with USC last year. "I felt that by coming here I could get recognized for my accomplishments as well as play on a successful team."
Nicknamed "Scissors" by senior flanker R. Jay Soward because of his sharp route running, Hayes is starting to get the recognition he craves, though he was hardly unrecognized coming out of high school. In his senior season at Franklin High School in Stockton, Calif., Hayes had 62 catches for 1,054 yards and 15 touchdowns. Accolades poured in and so did the scholarship offers from hopeful college suitors.
" Any college you name, I could have gone there, " says Hayes. " But when it came down to it, I was scared about going to a big-time school right out of high school. I don't want to say that I questioned my ability. I really don't know what it was. Maybe I just wanted to stay closer to home.
But after two years at San Jose State, I knew I could play anywhere and that I had the ability to do that."
In Hayes' last year as a Spartan, he caught 58 passes for 848 yards and four touchdowns. As a result, he was named to the All-WAC Pacific Division second-team. But the Spartans struggled on the field, so in his mind things had to change. His game never went south, but his thoughts moved that way-- towards Los Angeles and USC.
"I actually committed to USC when John Robinson was still the coach," he said." When Paul Hackett came along, I still stuck with USC. His offense is similar to what we had been doing at San Jose State: lots of timing routes and short passes. But it didn't really matter who was going to coach here. I just wanted to come here. I thought it would be the best place for me to play right away."
But that's exactly what he didn't do right away. The 1998 Trojans featured a receiving corps of experienced seniors like Billy Miller and Larry Parker, as well as exciting junior Soward. Early on, Hayes found trouble even getting on the field, much less having a pass thrown his way. It didn't help that after a year's layoff, during which he attended San Joaquin Delta College but didn't play football, he was rusty and a little out of shape.
"It was really frustrating," he admits. "I had to keep my head on straight, because I knew I was talented and as good as most of these guys but I still couldn't get much playing time. And I wasn't playing up to the standards I had set for myself. I was still good, but not by my standards.
Some games I didn't even care if I played or not, that's how frustrating it got."
But Hayes kept working hard. By the end of the year, Trojan fans caught glimpses of just how talented he could be. Against UCLA he caught nine passes, the highest single game total for any USC receiver in 1998. Inspired, Hayes rededicated himself to football in the spring and emerged as the number one target for quarterback Carson Palmer in 1999.
"He's been at the forefront of everything we've done," says head coach Paul Hackett. "I see him as a premier, go-to, clutch guy. He may not be the fastest player, but he has the best hands."
And maybe the best work ethic, too. As spring gave way to summer, Hayes could be seen around campus running routes, lifting weights, catching balls from Palmer and, basically, preparing for what he hopes is a huge season for himself and the Trojans.
"I feel that if I reach the goals that I have for myself, it's going to do nothing but help the team get to where we want to be," says Hayes. "Our goal is to go to the Rose Bowl at least, and hopefully get into the BCS with the chance to win a national title."
His personal goals are equally lofty.
"I want to set the Pac-10 single season record for passes caught (the current record is 100 set last season by California's Demeane Douglas). He (Douglas) only averaged about 10 yards per catch, but if you think about it, that's 100 first downs he gave them. Our offense is set up perfectly to do this. My main focus is to keep the ball moving, to keep the offense on the field. That gives guys more chances to make plays and makes the offense better."
Hayes is not one to shrink from the label "possession receiver." In fact, he accepts that description of himself just fine. He likes being the workhorse, and feels that the starting duo of Soward and Hayes will get the job done.
"We both have our roles" notes Hayes, "I give up touchdowns for catches, and R. Jay gives up catches for touchdowns. It works out fine."
Things worked out fine for the Trojans in game one, too. Hayes caught his six balls in a little over one-half of the game. And he averaged a workmanlike 13 yards per catch. His 32-yard catch and run was USC's first touchdown of 1999. But what's important to Hayes are goals. Two key numbers remain: 95 and 12. As in: 95 more catches needed to break that Pac-10 record, and 12 more wins needed to greet the new millennium in New Orleans. Then, finally, hard working Windrell ?Scissors' Hayes might get his day off.
