Laird Hayes

San Marcos alumni Laird Hayes showcased many of his talents during his high school career. Hayes played the sousaphone in the orchestra, acted and sang in the school musical and was elected Student Body President his senior year. Athletically, he was an All-League place kicker in 1966, defeating Santa Barbara High 7-6 which earned the Royals the opportunity to play in the CIF playoffs. As catcher for the Royals baseball team, Hayes earned All-League honors as a senior; he was also a reserve for Coach Halleck’s basketball team.

Attending college at Princeton, Hayes played on the schools baseball team while earning his degree in Politics. Princeton also provided his him with his first officiating experience through an intramural basketball game. Continuing his education, Laird attended graduate school at UCLA from 1971-76 earning a Master’s and a Doctorate in Education.

In 1976, Hayes was appointed assistant dean of student affairs at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA where he taught leadership skills, founded and coached the OCC surf team. Since 1987, Hayes has held the position of Men’s Soccer Coach at Orange Coast College. Having never played soccer himself, his teams have won the college’s only two state soccer championships in 1989 and 1991.

In addition to coaching soccer, Laird continues the Quarterback and Receiver Camp (QBR) founded by his father in 1964. Six-4-day camps are held each summer in California, New Jersey, Michigan, Arkansas and Georgia serving 1,500 high school and youth players. Working his way up from Princeton intramural officiating to high school JV and varsity football and Pac-l0 football, the NFL hired Hayes in 1995 as Side Judge #125. He has worked a post-season game in 10 out of 11 seasons; including officiating two Super BowIs – XXXVI and xxxvrn.

Hayes lives in Newport Beach, CA with his wife of 19 years, Maggie. They have two children, Katie, 23 and Andy, 15.

Download this page from the 2006 Hall of Fame Banquet Program