Mirror file photo Dave Baker won seven District 6 football titles at Central.

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series on the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame’s class of 2026 honorees:

For Dave Baker, it wasn’t always about winning or losing.

“Coach Baker never talked about winning or losing — ever. His message to us was simple: Practice and play with integrity, pride and courage, and, whatever the outcome, it was not a reflection on you as a player or him as a coach. Put a smile on your face and enjoy the competition, and that message never changed,” said Christian Appleman, quarterback on Baker’s 1984 undefeated football team at Williamsburg High School.

Baker, who served as head coach at both Williamsburg and Central High School during a 44-year career, won 245 games — 126 at Williamsburg and 119 at Central — becoming the all-time winningest coach at both schools.

At Central, his teams won seven District 6 titles and advanced to the PIAA semifinals four times from 2015-22. His 1984 Williamsburg team went undefeated, and his last four teams at Central went 46-6.

The low-key, humble Baker was taken by surprise about his Hall of Fame recognition.

“It is an honor for me,” he said. “I never really thought about being in the Hall of Fame. We never had a plan. I got married, moved to Williamsburg and started a family. I didn’t want this job or that job here and there. Things happened to us more than we made them happen. I got the best results from being low key.”

Baker, who coached for 58 straight years, was also a 2025 inductee into the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame and was awarded the Lifetime Contribution to Football Award by the National Football Foundation’s Central Pennsylvania chapter in 2017.

He is a native of Roaring Spring and a 1963 graduate of Central High School, where he earned 12 letters in football, basketball and baseball.

He graduated from IUP in 1967 with a major in biology education and was a member of the baseball team as a catcher.

He followed in the footsteps of his father, Max, who coached basketball, football and baseball and served as a physical education teacher and later became a principal at the Spring Cove Junior High.

Baker came to Williamsburg in the fall of 1967 as a biology teacher. He became head football coach in 1971, succeeding Jerry Campbell.

Baker had some good teams at Williamsburg over the years but admits his teams struggled at times.

“A lot of times, we weren’t real good,” he said. “We had kids that played good and worked hard at it, whether we were lucky or just played hard we were able to win a game or two we were not expected to win. It was a good place to be although not always successful.”

Baker said the biggest challenge at Williamsburg was finding enough players. Some of his teams had fewer than 20.

“You had to think what you could do if you didn’t have enough,” he said. “One thing I learned: You have to be on their side. You had to know you are doing the right thing for them — that we are all in this together.”

Baker said he didn’t seek out other coaching jobs over the years because his teaching position was his top priority.

“I really enjoyed what I was doing, and the best thing was to stay here,” he said.

As far as a coaching style, Baker stressed teaching fundamentals.

He retired from his teaching and coaching positions at Williamsburg in 2001.

Shortly after he retired, the PIAA changed the rule that you didn’t need to be a teacher in order to coach. Baker then served as an assistant coach at Chestnut Ridge for six years and then three years at Central before becoming head coach at his alma mater in 2011.

Baker said the reason for his success at Central was simple: He had more good players.

“There was a big difference as far as size, but not different on how you coach the team,” he said. “You became a better coach when there were veteran players and when you had an influx of people and more students.”

Baker finally retired after the 2023 season.

“Things were going well, and I liked it, but it got to the place when physically and mentally I didn’t have the stamina,” he said. “I knew it was time.”

Baker called Campbell his role model and mentor.

“He was the person I learned the most about the fundamentals of football and how to act and treat other people,” Baker said.

Campbell said Baker’s award is well deserved.

“He spent a lot of years at Williamsburg,” Campbell said. “It is not an easy job there. We had some good kids but not many of them.”

Baker also cited long-time Williamsburg basketball coach Don Appleman as a role model. Baker served as Appleman’s junior varsity basketball coach for many years.

“Don and I worked well together, he also had an influence on the way I coached in a contemporary way,” Baker said.

“Dave was very analytical and quiet,” Appleman said. “He was a steadying influence for me. (As the football coach) he was always an underdog playing teams with more players. It was amazing how he did that with only 17 or 18 players. No one can realize how hard it was to coach football at Williamsburg. It is to his credit football survived those years.”

Williamsburg has since merged its football program with nearby Juniata Valley.

Baker was always well respected by opposing coaches.

“Dave is a great example of a role model for young athletes,” long-time Northern Bedford coach Joe Nastasi said. “He was always a gentleman and a hard-working coach. He worked and coached in a small school but was always very competitive and well prepared. He represents all the attributes that a Hall of Fame coach is expected to have.

“I always felt that Dave got the best out of his players. His loyalty and dedication to Williamsburg was second to none.”

“I am very happy for Dave, and he certainly deserves it,” Jeff Lingenfelter, long-time coach at Claysburg-Kimmel, said. “You have to be a special person to coach as long as he did. Dave was always an excellent football coach. He did a lot of exceptional things at Williamsburg that a lot of people forgot about. He went through a lot of hard times. It is not easy.”

Baker, 80, and his wife Nancy have three sons — Jay (55), Matthew (53) and Andrew (50). They and their wives are teachers in Pennsylvania and Maryland. All three boys played for their father at Williamsburg. The Bakers have seven grandchildren.

“They were the reason I could do this,” he said. “Without their support I wouldn’t have been able to coach all of these different sports that long.”

Baker had a good relationship with his players.

“The one thing I remember most about Mr. Baker is how much he loved the game of football,” Christian Appleman said. “Football practices can be a form of mental and physical torture, but to Coach Baker, every day was an opportunity for him to teach us new things about this great game. And as players, we, in turn, learned to love the game as much as he did.”

Appleman, currently a tennis professional at the Guilford Racquet and Swim Club in Connecticut, will be Baker’s presenter at the Hall of Fame banquet.

Jeff White played for him in the mid-1970s.

“Coach Baker was ahead of his time,” White said. “Coach Baker was a players’ coach, realized the situation of coaching football at a small school and made playing football fun. It was a blessing to be able to play for coach.”

Matt Neri played for Baker at Williamsburg in 1996.

“That honor is well deserved,” Neri, later an assistant at Williamsburg and Juniata Valley, said. “When I heard the news, I had goose bumps. He meant so much to me. We were outmanned against a lot of teams, but we never felt that way. We felt prepared. No one knew football like that man, and you felt you had a chance. He prepared us mentally and physically, the guys loved playing for him.”

Jeff Hoenstine played quarterback for Baker at Central, where he was two-time 3A PA Player of the Year and three-time first-team all-state selection.

He said it was a pleasure to play for Baker.

“He was a wise head coach that you could tell had a lot of experience coaching football,” Hoenstine said. “He had a calm demeanor and always stayed focused no matter the situation. He was very dedicated and cared a lot about his players. He always taught us respect for the game and show good sportsmanship. Coach Baker had a large impact on me.”

Baker, who always maintained a sense of humor, said he has another distinction. He points to his career record of 245-211-11.

“I am also the losingest coach in the history of Pennsylvania football,” he said. “It was good to win but when coaching that long, you also get a lot of losing. If you do something long enough, bad things will happen. I just loved coaching football.”

When: Saturday, April 11

What: Blair County Sports Hall of Fame’s 21th induction

Inductees: Dave Baker, Cathy Beam, Lori (McConnell) Elgin, George Geishauer, Kristi (Little) Kaack

Team inductees: 1994-95 and 1995-96 Altoona Area High School girls basketball teams

Lifetime Achievement Award winner: Bob Moore

Guest speaker: Hannah Storm

Emcee: Bob Pompeani

Tickets: $100 each or $1,000 for tables of 10. Call Kathy Millward at 814-312-4753 or email kmillward@beardlegalgroup.com. Ticket forms are available at blaircountysportshof.com.