What Happened to Coach Baker on ‘All American’?

Coach Baker was the heart and soul of All American, fighting to bring the best out of his team as the head football coach at Beverly Hills High and then at South Crenshaw High.

Baker was a father figure to many of the characters on the show, well literally a father figure to his children Olivia and Jordan, which makes what happened to his character all the more tragic.

Billy Baker, played by Taye Diggs, was one of the central characters of All American. As a former NFL player, Billy has lived out his dreams, but he still can’t seem to let go of his glory days. He started out the show working as the head football coach for Beverly Hills High and encouraged the star player of South Crenshaw High, Spencer James, to join his team.

Throughout the seasons, alongside dealing with his role as a coach and mentor, Billy also grew as a person. He is not perfect, having had an affair, struggling with his past trauma, and having to make difficult career choices, but he proves himself a worthy mentor to his children, to Spencer, and to all those under his care. We’ve seen this reflected in his career changes, returning to his own school, South Crenshaw High, to coach before being promoted to principal and then getting offered a job at Golden Angeles University.

What happened to Coach Baker?

Spoilers ahead for season 5 of All American

In season 5, episode 11 tragedy struck when the team was returning from a combine to show off their skills to colleges. The team’s bus blew a tire, causing it to careen towards a cliff edge. The bus hovers precariously, but it appears that everyone has made it out alive; at least that’s what Billy thought initially. He then realizes that they’re missing Jebari (Simeon Daise) and he heads back onto the bus to find him.

We then discover later that, whilst Jebari was saved the Coach himself didn’t make it. He died a hero’s death saving a member of his team. The reasoning behind Billy Baker’s death in the show is that Diggs was ready to say farewell to the series, and rather than minimize his character, the show felt it better to give him a hero’s sendoff, befitting of the character’s fatherly and brave nature.

Though the show is based on real-life events, with Spencer’s character inspired by football legend Spencer Paysinger, the real-life individual Carter Paysinger (Paysinger’s uncle and coach), on whom Billy Baker is based, did not die tragically in a bus accident. He is alive and well.

Gone but not forgotten

Despite Diggs’ departure, he was very open about making return appearances in the form of flashbacks or dream sequences. We see something similar employed in season 6 when his children and Spencer read letters and journals Billy wrote for them. The scene brought Billy back to sit beside them as if he were reading the notes for them himself. It was a bittersweet moment for the characters and audiences alike, as his notes seemed to contain exactly what each of them needed to hear allowing them to move forward in their lives knowing that Coach was proud of them and wanted only the best for them.

You can now watch season 6 on Netflix.