MONTREAL – It is with profound sadness that McGill Athletics & Recreation announces the passing of legendary football coach Charlie Baillie, who was inducted in the builder category to the University's Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.  He was 90.
 
After dealing with health and mobility issues for the past year, Baillie died in his sleep on Feb. 17 at his home in the N.D.G. borough of Montreal.

"I always wanted to grow old but not this old," he recently quipped.

A former Canadian Football League player with the Montreal Alouettes and Calgary Stampeders, Baillie went on to a lengthy coaching stint at McGill, including three seasons as an assistant coach (1967-1969), then he spent two seasons on staff at Sir George Williams University, before returning to McGill in 1972, where he toiled 29 years as head coach until his retirement after the 2000 season.

He was the only coach to serve as part of the three McGill teams that advanced to the Vanier Cup national championship game. An assistant on the 1969 Yates Cup squad that lost 24-15 to Manitoba in the the Canadian final, Baillie was head coach with the 1973 QUAA championship group that fell 14-6 to Saint Mary's in the title game and the 1987 Dunsmore Cup champs that went the distance and defeated UBC 47-11, becoming the first Quebec school to capture the Vanier Cup.
 
"This is a very sad day. We have lost a coach, mentor and friend," said Vincent Gagné, president of the Friends of McGill Football alumni support group and a star defensive back who played five seasons for Baillie, including the 1987 campaign. "Coach Baillie had such a positive influence on thousands of McGill graduates. It's hard to say farewell."

The Baillie name is synonymous with the University's sporting history as his late father Donald Baillie played for McGill in the 1920s and was the first Canadian university quarterback to attempt a forward pass in a game when McGill hosted Syracuse in 1921 at Percival Molson Stadium.
 
Charles Bishop Baillie was born in Montreal on Valentine's Day in 1935 and was educated at Westmount High School. A six-foot, 208-pound running back, lineman and defensive back, he was selected as the high school League MVP in 1951 by The Montreal Gazette, which described him as "Westmount's triple-threat backfielder".

He was also a key member of the 1953 Lakeshore Flyers that won a national intermediate championship. Upon entering McGill, he had to play junior varsity football as a freshman because rules prohibited playing at the varsity level during the first year of school. He later attended a football spring camp at Ohio State University, where he and his twin brother Ray were offered a roster spot by legendary head coach Woody Hayes, until it was discovered that the Baillie brothers had both played in the CFL and were thus ineligible. Nonetheless, they stuck around long enough to help launch a varsity hockey program as OSU. Ray passed away in Montreal on May 10, 2015, at the age of 80.

Baillie returned to Canada to play seven seasons in the CFL for the Alouettes (1954, 1956-1957, 1960-61, 1965) and Stampeders (1955), as well as a stint with the Quebec Rifles (1964) and Montreal Beavers (1966) of the Continental Football League.
 
Baillie guided McGill to more victories than any other football coach at the University. He implemented a national recruiting plan, played a major fundraising role and nurtured the Friends of McGill Football alumni support group. He posted a 119-111-2 regular-season record at McGill and an overall mark of 124-129-2.

"I am deeply saddened to hear that Charlie has passed away," said Pat Sheahan, a former McGill assistant for five years, who went on to coach at Concordia, Queen's, Calgary and Guelph. "He took a leap of faith by hiring me back in August of 1984. He gave me the opportunity to become a college football coach and I am forever grateful. I am pleased to have shared the national championship with him in 1987. It was a moment we shared that never fades from memory.
 
"Charlie was a great guy, a charismatic leader with great people instincts and a dedicated family man. A proud Montrealer and McGillian, he now takes his place among the greats who have passed on. I offer my sincere condolences to his family. He appreciated how they rallied to support both he and his late wife Alice these past few months."

During his McGill tenure, Baillie produced 18 players for the CFL, including two who also made the NFL (Jean-Philippe Darche and Randy Chevrier) and three who participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl Game. He coached 103 Academic All-Canadians, 128 conference all-stars, 30 All-Canadians and seven major trophy winners at the national level.

Three of his assistants at McGill went on to lengthy coaching careers in the Canadian university ranks, including Sheahan, Sonny Wolfe (Acadia, McGill) and Larry Ring (Ottawa).

"It's a sad day for me," said Ring. "Charlie gave me my start as a coach when I was young and inexperienced. He was an excellent mentor, encouraged everyone to be the best and allowed his coaches the latitude to do their thing. We had many great talks about football and coaching. He was a great leader, made those around him better and never once talked about himself. Instead, he constantly praised others. He was professional, poised, patient, intuitive, wise and classy. He was McGill to the core and will be sorely missed."
 
Baillie was voted four times as OQIFC "Coach of the Year" (1981, 1983, 1993 and 1994), named the 1987-88 Quebec Foundation "University Coach of the Year" and was the recipient of a Quebec Amateur Football Federation achievement award in the fall of 1988.

"I am deeply saddened and have known Charlie for five decades," said Mike Maurovich, who played for and coached with Baillie at McGill. "He was a maker of men, held you to an expected standard without having to say so.  Loyal to a fault, he always had a way to make you feel part of something special and made it a point to know you, and your family. He stayed in touch well beyond your playing years. It was a privilege to play for him and then coach with him. This is end of an era. He set the standard for the oldest football program in North America."

Predeceased by his wife Alyce and daughter Sharon, he is survived by his children Steven, Scott and Isabelle, Peter, Christine and Clifford and nine grandchildren, Vanessa, Miranda, Brandon, Rosie, Charlotte, Madison, James, Emma and Jordan.

A memorial tribute will be held on March 22, 2025, at Mount Royal Funeral Home.between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. located at 1297 Chemin de la Forêt, in the Outremont region of Montreal. All are welcome to celebrate his great life.The event will be streamed live, beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Messages of condolences can be left online.

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca