Football | 1/28/2022 4:28:00 PM

AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University football program is pleased to announce the hiring of Gage Hayes as the team's new offensive coordinator. Hayes, an alumnus of Ave Maria University's class of 2014, has been in the collegiate coaching ranks for seven seasons, most recently as the offensive coordinator at Erskine College. Hayes takes over an offense that showed exceptional promise in 2021, and included an Honorable Mention All-American in Joshua Jenkins.  Further, nine of the eleven starters from 2021 will return for the 2022 season.
 
"We are thrilled that Coach Hayes is returning to AMU," said Head Coach and Athletic Director Joe Patterson.  "His experience as a Division-II offensive coordinator, his passion for AMU and its mission, his intelligence, and his energy were very attractive during the search process."
 
Hayes served as the inaugural offensive coordinator at Erskine from 2019-2021, and oversaw an offense that threw for more than 200 yards per game in 2021 and featured two quarterbacks in the Top 25 in the country in completion percentage along with a wide receiver who was a nominee for the Harlon Hill award. Hayes led the Flying Fleet offense as the program was resurrected, playing football for the first time since 1951.
 
Before his time at Erskine, Hayes was the quarterbacks coach at the University of New England, a Division III program in Maine. During his season at New England, Hayes again helmed a group of quarterbacks that averaged more than 200 yards through the air per game. 
 
He went to the University of New England after serving as the wide receivers coach at NCAA Division I Bryant University in 2016. During his one season of Division I coaching, Bryant's wide receivers averaged more than 250 yards per game and broke several group and individual school receiving records.
 
His coaching career started with a familiar foe to the Gyrenes, as Hayes was a graduate assistant at Southeastern University for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Southeastern won the Sun Conference in his second year there, and were ranked in the top 25.
 
Hayes' playing career at Ave Maria was a storied one. He made contributions to the Gyrenes both on defense and on special teams. He remains, to this day, Ave Maria's career leader in interceptions and pass breakups, and ranks second in school history in kick return yards. In his senior season, he logged five interceptions, a total that still stands as a single-season program record.
 
"I am so excited and humbled for the opportunity to return to Ave Maria and serve this program, school, and community," said Hayes. "Ave is a special place.  It deserves a special football program, and that is what we are going to work every day to deliver."
 
The Ave Maria football program is slated to begin spring practice in February 1 and will play its Spring Game Thursday February 24 at 7pm at Gyrene Field.