Looking back, it makes perfect sense why the lockers belonging to Jim Sweeney and Woody Hayes sat side-by-side in Larkins Hall. Because each Ohio State coach stood in contrast with himself.
Woody was the bombastic football legend who berated players, tore up yardage markers and once threw a projector through a screen. But he also was the solitary figure walking to and from work each day and behind the scenes caring for former down-on-their-luck players.
Sweeney, 80, who just retired as pistol coach after serving all but seven of the past 63 years as an Ohio State student-athlete, coach and educator, is known on campus as a gentle soul; a man who taught athletes to control their breathing and maintain their composure at all times.