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HESPERIA — The Michigan High School Coaches’ Association selected longtime Hesperia coach Doug Baird for induction into the Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will take place at Central Michigan University Sunday, Sept. 15.
Doug Baird has coached three different sports for a total of 99 seasons over 35 years and continues to coach, states a press release from MHSCA. He has coached middle school boys and girls track in Mount Pleasant (1990-94) and Hesperia (1995-96/99), and was the girls high school head track coach in Hesperia (1996-98). He was the boys and girls head cross country coach at Hesperia High School from 1995-2015 and from 2017-2022.
His girls cross country teams have won 10 conference championships, three regional championships, two state titles, 36 invitational wins, and have a win/loss record of 69/22. His boys cross country teams have won 15 conference championships, four regional championships, one state runners up finish, two state titles, 65 invitational wins, and have a win/ loss record of 89/19.
Coach Baird also had three girls cross country academic all-state teams and six boys cross country academic all-state teams. In 2023, he returned as the assistant coach of the Hesperia High School boys and girls cross country teams.
Coach Baird began his career as a wrestling coach in Mount Pleasant as the middle school wrestling coach in 1989. He served as the assistant head wrestling coach at Coleman High School (1990-91); at Mount Pleasant High School (1991-94); and Hesperia High School (1995-03 and 2023-24). He was the head wrestling coach at Hesperia High School from 2004 to 2013 and again from 2016 to 2021. His teams accumulated 11 conference titles, 15 district titles, 10 regional titles, four state runners up finishes, one state title, 53 invitational wins and have a win/ loss record of 503/99.
He has had nine academic all-state wrestling teams, and in 2006 his team won the, Michigan High School Athletic Association’s “Good Sports are Winners Award.” Ten of Coach Baird’s wrestlers were Academic All-Americans; 43 wrestlers won 100+ matches; and nine wrestlers won 200+ matches.
In all sports coached combined, Coach Baird’s athletes earned 112 MHSAA all-state individual medals, 22 MHSAA individual state champions, and 12 MHSAA individual runners up.
Coach Baird has coached two Mr. Wrestler athletes which is an accomplishment that no other Division 4 team has yet to match. Many of his athletes went on to compete at the collegiate level. Throughout his coaching career Baird has been honored for his service to his teams and sports on numerous occasions. He was named the Michigan Wrestling Association (MWA) Regional Coach of the Year nine times, the MWA State Coach of the Year in 2008, the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s Michigan Coach of the Year Nominee two times, and the MWA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2001. He was also selected to coach in the MWA East/West All-Star Wrestling Match in 2008, and coached Team Michigan Fargo National Championships for Freestyle/Greco in 2019.
He was named the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year two times and the MITCA Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year two times. In 2019, he was inducted into the MITCA Hall of Fame. Coach Baird has been an active member of the MWA, serving as the treasurer from 2000-2022; served on coaches committees to seed both individual and team state MHSAA finals; was a MWA Coaches Clinic presenter in 2009; and founded the White River Wrestling Camp (1995-present). His wrestling teams have also collected for Toys for Tots for 15 plus years and have raised $50,000 with their annual “Pink Out” meet to raise money for those battling cancer.
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