Tom Hayes is an Iowa native, raised in Keokuk before joining the Hawkeye football program.  He was a Defensive Back and a letter-winner for 3 of his seasons with the Hawkeyes. After graduating Tom became a high school coach for 5 years before making a one year stop at Coe College. In 1977, Hayes re-joined the Iowa program as a Secondary Coach for a couple seasons. He headed West in 1979 and became the Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach at Cal State Fullerton. He was only there one season before joining the UCLA coaching staff under Head Coach Terry Donahue. He began as the Secondary Coach for two seasons before taking over as Co-Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach from 1982-1988. While there, the Bruins won the Pac-10 four different times. He left in 1989 to take over as Assistant Head Coach and Secondary Coach at Texas A&M under Head Coach R.C. Slocum. He remained at A&M for two seasons before joining the Oklahoma coaching staff in 1991 as Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach under Head Coach Gary Gibbs. He remained at Oklahoma for four seasons before jumping to the NFL ranks as the Secondary Coach for the Washington Redskins under Head Coach Norv Turner in 1995. He remained with the Redskins until 1999. In 2001, Hayes was the Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach at Kansas and eventually took over as interim Head Coach for the final three games of the season. After a couple years away from the game, Hayes joined the Stanford staff as Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach for one season before jumping to the NFL again and becoming the Defensive Backs Coach for 2006 & 2007. He joined the Tulane staff as Secondary Coach for one season before joining the Wildcats for the 2011 season as their Defensive Coordinator and Safeties Coach.