Maxie Baughan

Maxie Callaway Baughan Jr. (August 3, 1938 – August 19, 2023) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, and Washington Redskins, and later coached linebackers and coordinated defenses at both the college and professional levels. Baughan played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Baughan attended Bessemer City High School in Alabama before playing at Georgia Tech from 1957 to 1959, where he started at both linebacker and center. In 1959, he served as team captain, earned consensus All-American honors, was named the Southeastern Conference Lineman of the Year, and was the Most Valuable Player of the 1960 Gator Bowl. That season, he set a Georgia Tech single-season record with 124 tackles.

The Philadelphia Eagles selected Baughan in the second round (20th overall) of the 1960 NFL draft, and he was also a first-round pick of the Oakland Raiders in the 1960 AFL draft. He started nine of 12 games as a rookie at rightside linebacker, helping the Eagles win the 1960 NFL Championship over the Green Bay Packers—the team’s last league title until Super Bowl LII in the 2017 season. That year, he was selected to his first Pro Bowl, where he recorded three interceptions, and finished as runner-up for the NFL’s rookie of the year award. Over his first six seasons with the Eagles, he earned Pro Bowl honors in all but one year and was an All-Pro selection seven times in his 10-year NFL career. In a 1965 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he helped the Eagles set a team record with nine interceptions in a 47–13 win, returning one interception for the only touchdown of his career.

By 1966, with the Eagles’ performance declining, Baughan wanted out of Philadelphia. New Los Angeles Rams head coach George Allen acquired him by sending linebacker Fred Brown and defensive tackle Frank Molden to the Eagles. Baughan and Allen developed a close relationship, spending extensive time studying game film together; Baughan later said he learned more about football from Allen than anyone else. He became the Rams’ defensive captain and signal-caller, earning Pro Bowl selections in each of his first four seasons with the team and first-team All-Pro honors three times. After an injury-plagued 1970 season in which he played only 10 games, Baughan retired.

On January 28, 1971, his contractual rights were traded from the Rams to the Washington Redskins as part of a large deal involving Jack Pardee, Myron Pottios, Diron Talbert, John Wilbur, Jeff Jordan, and a 1971 fifth-round pick, in exchange for Marlin McKeever and multiple draft picks. In 1974, Allen, now coaching the Redskins, convinced Baughan to return briefly as a player-coach. He appeared in two games, primarily as a backup to Chris Hanburger, then retired for good. He finished his playing career with 18 interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), 10 fumble recoveries, and an unofficial 24.5 sacks in 147 games.

After retiring, Baughan served as defensive coordinator at his alma mater, Georgia Tech, from 1972 to 1973. Following his brief 1974 playing return, he became defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Colts in 1975, helping the team win three straight AFC East divisional championships from 1975 to 1977. He left the Colts in 1980 and then worked as linebackers coach and defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions through 1982. In 1983, he was named head coach at Cornell University, leading the Big Red to the Ivy League championship in 1988—their first since 1971.

He resigned before the following season after an affair with an assistant coach’s wife became known. Baughan coached a team in Japan in 1989, then returned to the NFL as linebackers coach for the Minnesota Vikings in 1990. After two years there, he coached linebackers for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1992 to 1995, and for the Baltimore Ravens from 1996 until his retirement after 1998.

Baughan died in Ithaca, New York, on August 19, 2023, at age 85. On December 3, 2024, his family announced through the Concussion Legacy Foundation that he had stage 3 CTE.

He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 1965 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988, as well as the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame (1980), the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (1983), the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame (2012), and the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame. Despite his NFL accomplishments, Baughan has not been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and several sources consider him among the best players not inducted. In 2005, he was named to the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Hall of Very Good as part of its third class.