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Coaching Career: In his 11th year at Fresno State, Baxter has served the program in many roles. He is the associate head coach as well as the special teams and wide receivers coach ... he served as the wide receivers coach during the 2002 season, and will again be the receivers coach for a fourth consecutive season ... he served as tight ends coach for the first five seasons and returned to coach that position in 2003 ... Baxter is also the author of the highly successful program "Academic Gameplan" ... the Academic Gameplan, which has been featured in Sports Illustrated as well as many other publications, has been the main reason for the academic success of the football program in Pat Hill's tenure (see Academic Gameplan, pg. 140, for specific results) ... since the inception of the Academic Gameplan, more than one-third of the team has earned at least a 3.0 grade point average each semester and Fresno State's graduation rates and APR have improved significantly ... additionally, he co-authored the program, "Where There's a Will There's an `A,'" which has been featured nationally on cable television ... he has become one of the pre-eminent special teams coaches in the nation, turning the Fresno State special teams corps into one of the best units in college football ... in 2004 and 2005, the Dogs led the NCAA in fewest punt return yards allowed each year, with a low of 27 yards in 2004 and 40 yards in 2005 ... kicker Clint Stitser, in two seasons as a starter was selected a Lou Groza Award semifinalist ... under his watch, the Bulldogs have become nationally known for blocking kicks. The special teams have blocked 70 punts or kicks, including 31 over the last five seasons, putting Fresno State among the nation's leaders ... Fresno State's punt defense was extraordinary in 2004, finishing tops in the country by allowing an NCAA-low 27 return yards for the entire season ... in addition, the kickoff coverage team allowed just 17.4 yards per return ... since Baxter came aboard in 1997, the Bulldogs have blocked a punt or kick every 1.8 games ... since 1997, Fresno State has returned 11 punts, two kickoffs and eight blocked punts/field goals for 18 total touchdowns along with three safeties ... in 2004, placekicker Brett Visintainer kicked two game-winning field goals (Oregon State, Rice) and was named second-team All-WAC while punter Mike Lingua displayed flashes of brilliance in just his first year ... while at Fresno State, Baxter has coached five kickers/punters, four of which earned first-team All-WAC honors: punter Jeff Roberts (1997), kicker Jeff Hanna (1999), punter Jason Simpson (2001) and kicker Asen Asparuhov (2002) ... Asen Asparuhov was also a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award twice and became the first Bulldog in history to score 100 points in consecutive seasons ... under Baxter's watch, punter Jason Simpson became one of the nation's best, improving his average nearly nine yards over 2000. In 2001, Simpson finished with a 43.5 average and was a first-team All-WAC pick. He was then a second-team All-WAC selection in 2002 ... Simpson was the first WAC punter ever from a school at an elevation under 5,000-feet to lead the league in punting in consecutive seasons ... Fresno State was also deadly on punt returns, finishing tops in the WAC and fifth in the nation in 2001 ... in 2000, his special teams blocked seven kicks while in 1999, they blocked 10 kicks, including two in the EA Sports Las Vegas Bowl ... the Bulldogs held their opponents to 34.1 yards in net punting and limited the opponents to just 78 punt return yards for the season, fourth-best in the nation in 1999 ... also coached 1997 All-WAC punter Jeff Roberts ... his college coaching experience includes stints at Tulane (1994-96), Maryland (1992-93), Arizona (1990-91, 1988), Maine (1989), Iowa State (1986-87) and Loras College (1981-85) ... Baxter has become well-known nationally for his expertise in the area of special teams and has been a featured clinician at many of the nations biggest and finest football clinics ... Baxter and Head Coach Pat Hill were assistant coaches together at Arizona in 1990-91... Hill and Baxter were slected as the Co-Citizens of the Year for the city of Clovis in 2006.
Personal: Born June 28, 1963, in Chicago ... married to the former Jill McBride, daughter of Ron McBride, the former University of Utah head coach and the current head coach at Weber State ... they have two daughters, Kelly and McKenzie ... Baxter earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from Loras College in 1985 and his master's in higher education from Iowa State in 1987.
