Art Baker (born November 30, 1929) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

Furman University Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...

(1973–1977),

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

(1978–1982) and

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

(1985–1988). Baker is a 1948 graduate of Edmunds High School (now

Sumter High School Sumter High School is a co-educational four-year public high school serving grades 9 through 12 in Sumter School District located in the south side of Sumter, South Carolina, United States. With an enrollment of approximately 2,300 students, Sumt ...

) in

Sumter, South Carolina Sumter ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. Known as the Sumter Metropolitan Statistical Area, the namesake county adjoins Clarendon and Lee to form the core of Sumter-Lee-Clarendon Tri-county (o ...

and a 1953

Presbyterian College Presbyterian College (PC) is a private Presbyterian liberal arts college in Clinton, South Carolina. History Presbyterian College was founded in 1880 by the William Plumer Jacobs. He had served as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Cl ...

graduate and also was a former assistant football coach there. Baker played football for the Blue Hose from 1950 to 1952, starting at halfback his last two years. He was a member of Mu chapter of

Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 30 ...

fraternity. Baker is a recipient of Presbyterian's

Bob Waters Robert Lee Waters (June 22, 1938 – May 29, 1989) was an American football player, coach, and administrator, best known for his contributions to athletics at Western Carolina University. Waters coached the Western Carolina Catamounts football tea ...

Award. He was an assistant coach for Frank Howard at Clemson from 1965 to 1969. From 1970 to 1972, Baker was an assistant coach at

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. Baker succeeded Bob King at Furman for the 1973 season. As head coach at Furman Baker hired

Dick Sheridan Dick Sheridan (born August 9, 1941) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Furman University from 1978 to 1985 and North Carolina State University from 1986 to 1992, compi ...

Jimmy Satterfield James Satterfield (October 11, 1939 – May 6, 2019) was an American football coach. He served as head football coach at Furman University from 1986 to 1993, where he compiled a record of 66–29–3. Career Satterfield was named the AFCA Coach ...

and

Bobby Johnson Robert Alan Johnson (born February 8, 1951) is a retired American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at Vanderbilt University, a position he held from the 2002 season until his retirement in 2010. In ...

as assistants and all later became head coaches at Furman. Baker was an assistant coach in 1984 for

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

. He was Associate Athletics Director for Development and Gamecock Club Director at the University of South Carolina for six and a half years before retiring on June 30, 1995.

Family

Baker is a native of

. He married Edith Edens of

Dalzell, South Carolina Dalzell is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,175 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Sumter, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Orange Grove and St. Phi ...

. They have four children and four grandchildren.

Head coaching record

References

Place of birth missing (living people) 1929 births Living people American football halfbacks The Citadel Bulldogs football coaches Clemson Tigers football coaches East Carolina Pirates football coaches Florida State Seminoles football coaches Furman Paladins football coaches Presbyterian Blue Hose football coaches Presbyterian Blue Hose football players Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches South Carolina Gamecocks athletic directors Sportspeople from Sumter, South Carolina {{1970s-collegefootball-coach-stub