GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
“Hey, baby.”
That friendly greeting will be missed from anyone who happened to bump into former LSU coordinator of football operations Charles Baglio, who passed away Friday night after a car accident near his home in Independence. He was 81.
Known as “Bags” around the LSU football office from 2002 until his retirement after the 2021 season, Baglio lived his job title – coordinator of football relations. Baglio was all about relations and relationships with everyone – from the big timers like former LSU coach Nick Saban, who hired him before the 2002 season, and the small timers, like sportswriters or walk-on LSU football players.
“He was a great bridge for coach Saban with the high school coaches around the state,” former LSU player Gordy Rush, general manager of Guaranty Radio in Baton Rouge, said on the Ronnie Rantz “Sports Shorts” radio show Saturday morning on ESPN 104.5 FM.
And Saban, who had only been to New Orleans on recruiting trips as Michigan State’s coach before coming to LSU after the 1999 season, needed some bridges in south Louisiana. Baglio, a legendary football head coach at Independence High for two decades, was perfect for that role.
“I smooth everything over for Nick,” Baglio once told me. “Because you know, he’s a little rough around the edges, but I love him.”
Baglio also loved LSU, and LSU football staff and high school coaches across the state loved him, so he was perfect for the job.
He also knew football and players. Baglio, or “Coach Bags,” compiled a record of 206-61 as Independence’s coach for 22 seasons before coming to LSU. He won nine district titles and led his team to the Class 3A state championship in 1997 and ’98.
Among Baglio’s former Independence players who starred in college and played in the NFL was former LSU tailback LaBrandon Toefield, who was a prominent part of Saban’s first three teams at LSU from 2000-02. He was an All-Southeastern Conference tailback in 2001 when the Tigers won their first SEC title since 1988.
Baglio graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1967 with a health and physical education degree and in 1973 with a master’s in administration. He was an assistant coach at Independence High for more than 10 years before becoming head coach. He also helped start and manage the Louisiana Football Coaches Association.
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