Paul Haynes

Paul Jeffrey Haynes III (born July 11, 1969) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the cornerbacks coach for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a position he has held since 2023. He was the head football coach at Kent State University from 2013 to 2017. Haynes was an assistant coach at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels for 20 years, including stints as defensive coordinator at Ohio State University and the University of Arkansas. Before his coaching career, he was a four-year letterman as a defensive back at Kent State between 1987 and 1991.

Early life and education Born in Columbus, Ohio, Haynes graduated from St. Francis DeSales High School and lettered in football, basketball, and track while in high school. Missing the 1989 season with a knee injury, Haynes earned letters for the 1988, 1990, and 1991 seasons and ended his collegiate career with 440 career tackles and second-team All-MAC honors in his junior and senior seasons. Haynes completed his bachelor's degree in criminal justice at Kent State in 1992.

Coaching career In 1993, Haynes returned to St. Francis DeSales High School as secondary coach. During this period, Ohio State finished in the year-end top ten of the AP Poll every season from 2005 and 2010 and were runners-up in the BCS National Championship Game after the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

On December 18, 2012, Kent State hired Haynes as its 21st head football coach. Haynes was fired after the 2017 season, finishing his tenure with a record of 14–45 overall, 9–30 in conference play. Shortly following his tenure with Kent State, Haynes was hired as defensive backs coach at Michigan State.

In February 2020, he was hired as cornerbacks coach at the Minnesota.

Head coaching record