Howard Baughman Explained

Howard Baughman
Birth Date:27 January 1911
Birth Place:Ashtabula County, Ohio, U.S.
Death Place:Hamilton County, Ohio, U.S.
Alma Mater:Kent State University
Coach Sport1:Football
Coach Years1:1938–1939
Coach Team1:Bremen HS (OH)
Coach Years2:1940–1943
Coach Team2:Harvey HS (OH)
Coach Years3:1944–1948
Coach Team3:Cleveland Heights HS (OH)
Coach Years4:1949–1950
Coach Team4:Muhlenberg
Coach Years5:1951–1954
Coach Team5:Lincoln HS (OH)
Coach Years6:1955–1961
Coach Team6:Portsmouth HS (OH)
Coach Sport7:Men's basketball
Coach Years7:1938–1940
Coach Team7:Bremen HS (OH)
Coach Years8:1942–1944
Coach Team8:Harvey HS (OH)
Coach Years9:1946–1947
Coach Team9:John Carroll
Admin Years1:1942–1944
Admin Team1:Harvey HS (OH)
Admin Years2:1955–1962
Admin Team2:Portsmouth HS (OH)
Overall Record:127–67–4 (High school football)
4–11–2 (College football)
58–11 (High school basketball)
9–11 (College basketball)
Championships:Football
Lake Shore League (1941)
Lake Erie League (1945)
Basketball
2 Lake Shore League (1942–43, 1943–44)

Howard Wesley Baughman (January 27, 1911 – November 17, 2000) was an American football coach who was a high school football coach in Ohio and spent two seasons as the head football coach at Muhlenberg College.

Early life

Baughman grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio. He was a three-sport letter winner at Ashtabula High School and was All-Lake Shore League in football and basketball. He played football, baseball, and basketball for the Kent State Golden Flashes and graduated from Kent State University in 1938.

Coaching

Baughman began his coaching career in 1938 at Bremen High School in Bremen, Ohio. In his two seasons at BHS, Baughman's football teams compiled a 14–4 record and his basketball teams went 28–5. In 1940, he became the head football coach at Thomas W. Harvey High School in Painesville, Ohio. He complied a 25-6-4 record in four seasons and led the Red Raiders to a Lake Shore League championship in 1941. In 1942, he took over the basketball team and in his first season, the Red Raiders went 14-5 and won the Lake Shore League Championship. The team went undefeated in the regular season the following year and repeated as league champions. He also served as athletic director during his final two years at Harvey High School.[1]

In 1944, Baughman became the head football coach at Cleveland Heights High School. Here he complied a 38–7 record and led Cleveland Heights to the 1945 Lake Erie League championship.[2] He also coached the John Carroll University men's basketball team during the 1946–47 season.[3] [4]

In 1949, Baughman was named head coach of the Muhlenberg Mules football team. He succeeded Ben Schwartzwalder, who took the head coaching job at Syracuse University.[5] Muhlenberg went 4–11–2 in its two seasons under Baughman.[6] One of his players, Sisto Averno, went on to play in the National Football League.[7]

In 1951, Baughman returned to high school football at Lincoln High School in Canton, Ohio.[8] Four years later, citing his desire to no longer play "second fiddle" to Canton McKinley High School, he took the head coaching job at Portsmouth High School in Portsmouth, Ohio. The move reunited him with H. W. McKelvey, Portsmouth's superintendent who was principal of Harvey High School when Baughman coached there.[9] Baughman posted only two winning seasons at PHS (6–3 in 1957 and 7–2 in 1958) and when his contract was up for renewal in 1961, many opponents and supporters appeared before the school board, which ultimately decided to give him a two-year extension. Later that year, Baughman and McKelvey filed a complaint with the Ohio High School Athletic Association after two Portsmouth players, James and Larry Austin, joined the Canton McKinley football team. An investigation by the OHSAA resulted in the cancelation of Canton McKinley's 1962 season and the Austin brothers being ruled permanently ineligible to play football for CMHS.[10] Portsmouth finished 1961 with a 3–7 record and Baughman was hanged in effigy several times during the season. He resigned at the conclusion of the school year to take a teaching position at Mentor High School.[11]

Personal life

On December 31, 1933, Baughman married Julia Cooper in Ashtabula. They had two daughters. Julia Baughman died on October 31, 1996, in Cincinnati.[12] Baughman died four years later.[13]

Notes and References

  1. News: Baughman To Take Heights Football Post . 22 June 2024 . Painesville Telegraph . June 7, 1944.
  2. News: Canton Lincoln High Coach Selected For BHS Football Berth . 22 June 2024 . The Portsmouth Times . June 8, 1955.
  3. News: Cooper . Jack . Sporting Around . 22 June 2024 . The Carroll News . November 15, 1946.
  4. Yearly Record . 2023-24 Men's Basketball History & Records Guide . 29 . 22 June 2024 . John Carroll University.
  5. News: Muhlenberg Names Baughman Grid Coach . 22 June 2024 . Reading Eagle . June 26, 1949.
  6. All Time Results . Muhlenberg College Football 2013 Media Guide . 36 . 22 June 2024.
  7. https://archive.org/details/colts-1950-media-guide-baltimore 1950 Baltimore Colts: Press, Radio, Television Guide.
  8. News: Baughman Is Canton Lincoln Grid Mentor . 22 June 2024 . Painesville Telegraph . May 12, 1951.
  9. News: Lawson . Fred . Portsmouth High Football Card Makes Baughman Wince . 22 June 2024 . The Portsmouth Times . June 24, 1955.
  10. Book: Coughlin . Dan . Let's Have Another: Even More Stories About the Most Unusual, Eccentric & Outlandish People I've Known in Four Decades as a Sports Journalist . 2015 . Gray & Company . 22 June 2024.
  11. News: Chamis . Chris . Search For Grid Coach On After Baughman Resigns . 22 June 2024 . The Portsmouth Times . July 11, 1962.
  12. News: Julia Baughman, 84, Librarian . 22 June 2024 . Portsmouth Daily Times . November 7, 1996.
  13. News: Howard Baughman . Cincinnati Enquirer . November 18, 2000.