Unsolved History: The Mystery of Coach Baxter

Like many kids growing up in the 1990s, few things terrified me like hearing the theme of Unsolved Mysteries. The show, dedicated to solving crimes while also delving into conspiracy theories and the paranormal, did attempt to truly solve mysteries that had baffled police officials, families, and internet sleuths for years. It is with this in mind that I ask for your help in solving a part of Troy’s Unsolved History.

Troy has had 22 coaches across its 100 football seasons. However, I believe that number to be incorrect. For as long as I’ve studied Troy football, 1930 has always been listed as the year without a coach. Based on a newspaper article I found, it would seem that Troy had a 23rd coach that year. (It is helpful to remember that the team took the 1929 season off. The 1930 squad would have been truly starting from scratch, hence no hired coach listed.)

Unfortunately, this is where the Unsolved History comes in. I typically try to find as much information as I can to piece the story together, but this story lacks the usual dearth of resources I can draw from. Most directly, the Messenger does not have records online for the years 1927-1932, though this is potentially due to them not printing during those years. Along similar lines, the Tropolitan has no online database. (Understandably so. It would be a massive undertaking to upload all of them.)

Furthering the issue of finding sources, there was no Palladium produced in 1931, covering the 1930 football season. All I am able to go on is the one article mentioning Coach Baxter. Along with this, I have tried to find other mentions of Baxters at Troy in 1930 in other area newspapers, as well as the Troy State Teachers College Catalogs for 1930, which contain student lists. These have all come up well short of what I hoped to find.

The Teachers only played three games that season, against Maxwell Field, an Alumni group in Troy and away at Marion Institute. The article in question was a preview writeup from Oct. 11, 1930, published the day of the Troy-Maxwell Field clash. It says Coach Baxter was “optimistic over the outlook” for the team’s season and that this was the strongest Troy squad ever seen. For this reason, I believe it is safe to assume this Coach Baxter was Troy’s coach for the entire year. But who was he?

When searching through the catalogs, the only male named Baxter at the school, employed or enrolled, in 1930 was Roy C. Baxter of Ashford, Alabama. Mr. Roy Baxter was a sophomore in the 1929-1930 year and was listed in the 1931 Summer Session. He was selected for inclusion in the History and Geography Club and the Men’s Council of the Student Government Association in 1930.

Given the football team was rebuilding, it’s possible the club was officially sanctioned and student-run at the same time. Without any further information on the team, we have no way of knowing for sure.

That is where you come in. If you have any information on who this mysterious Coach Baxter could be or is, please contact us at The Trojan Wall so that we can update this story.