Baylor School

Heywood Stadium, named for Baylor's longest tenured head coach "Humpy" Heywood, has been home to some of the most storied football teams in Tennessee sports history, including the 1973 State and National Champions, 2022 State Champions, and state runners-up in 1972, 1977, 2010, 2011 and 2023. The artificial field turf is named after legendary coach E. B. "Red" Etter. The surrounding mountains and the nearby Tennessee River make "Heywood/Etter" an inspiring setting for high school football on a cool fall evening.

Baylor has varsity and junior varsity teams for Upper School students, and fields three teams at the Middle School level for grades 6-8.

FAST FACTS ON BAYLOR FOOTBALL

• Baylor won the DII-AA State Championship in 2022.
• Baylor won the AAA state championship and was named National Champs in 1973.
• Baylor was the TSSAA Division II state runner-up in 2010, 2011 and 2023 and was AAA runner-up in 1972 and 1977.
• Seven Baylor players have been named the TSSAA Mr. Football - Scott Abelson (Lineman, 1997), Jacques McClendon (Lineman 2005), Jacob Huesman (Back, 2010), Henrique Ribeiro (Kicker, 2011), Barrett Gouger (Lineman 2011), Rafael Gaglianone (Kicker, 2013), Ryan Parker (Lineman, 2015) and Amari Jefferson (Receiver, 2024).
• At least five noted college football coaches sent their sons to Baylor: Tennessee's Robert Neyland, Alabama's Frank Thomas and Red Drew, Ole Miss' Johnny Vaught, and Arkansas' Frank Broyles.
• At least two Baylor players became college head football coaches. Herman Hickman was head coach of Yale from 1948-51, while Russ Faulkinberry was head coach at Southwestern Louisiana from 1961-73.
• Baylor football teams have played opponents featuring such future pro stars as Fran Tarkenton, Paul Hornung, and Reggie White.
• James B. Rike, the highly successful Baylor coach of the pre-World War II era, was an outstanding player at Ohio Wesleyan for a young and relatively unknown coach named Branch Rickey. Rickey went on to gain nationwide recognition in 1947 when, as president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he broke the major league baseball color barrier by playing Jackie Robinson.
• A former Baylor player once won the prestigious Outland Trophy, which is given to the outstanding interior lineman in college football. Army's Joe Steffy, a 1944 Baylor graduate, won the award in 1947, the second year it was given. While at West Point, he was a teammate of Heisman Trophy winners Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard.
• And speaking of the Heisman, Baylor's outstanding halfback Eddie Prokop finished fifth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1943 while starring for Georgia Tech.

Baylor competes in the TSSAA's Division II AA, perhaps the toughest football league in the state.