Ron Baines

Pierce County Bengals / Auburn Panthers / Northwest Football League

Flanker / Quarterback / Coach / Owner / League Commissioner

1973-2020

Fifty seasons have passed since Ron Baines first stepped on a semi pro field for the Pierce County Bengals, and until the Covid-19 shut downs of 2020, held court with the Bengals from start to finish which included two stints with the franchise interrupted briefly as he developed his teaching and coaching career from 1982-1983.  From 1973-1981, the Bengals were a virtually unstoppable force in the Northwest posting an 88-8-1 record.  Baines was a key receiver and player-coach during that stretch being named All-League Flanker 5-times, and Northwest Player of the Year in 1976 with a league-high 13 receiving touchdowns.  The Bengals won 7 league championships, 2 Can-Am Bowls and 2 Pro Football Weekly National Championships (1977, 1979) during the stretch.

Not only was Ron one of the most effective flankers in the Northwest, he was also regarded as one of the most dangerous return specialists from day one, notching his first 89-yard punt return as a rookie in 1973.  Steve Harshman, offensive guard and later coach of the Bengals called Baines "the best pure athlete I have ever seen."

When the Auburn Panthers formed in 1984, Harshman brought Baines back as a player-coach and for the next four years, the Panthers owned the West Coast posting a 57-1 record and 4-straight Northwest Football Alliance championships, the 1985 West Coast Championship, and the 1986 American Minor League National Championship.  The Panthers won an astonishing 57-straight games, losing only the finale of 1987 at the San Jose Bandits.

The Panthers closed down following the 1987 season, but Baines and Ed Bemis resurrected the Bengals for the 1988 season in the newly formed Northwest Football League, with Ron as head coach.  The NWFL rivalries with the Eastside Express and later, Oregon Thunderbolts would run through the mid-1990's with the Bengals co-claiming the 1990 league title and winning the 1992 title outright.

Over the next 30-years Coach Baines would cultivate a family atmosphere around the Bengals and produce countless all-league performers, all-american selections, and see many former Bengals picked up by other area teams for their National Championship aspirations, some coached by his former pupils. 

Baines would eventually take over as commissioner of the NWFL and provide the structure and stability for the league into the new millenium again claiming a league championship in 2014.  Over the course of his career as a player and coach, Ron did everything to keep the league and his team going.  His highlights include suiting up as a 47-year old quarterback in 1994, 177 career head coaching victories, 20 playoff appearances as head coach, including 13-consecutive years of league playoff appearances, along with a number of individual records as a player.  As a player and coach, Ron has been apart of at least 320 victories over his 47 year career.

A 14-time league champion and three-time National Champion, Ron Baines remained a Tacoma fixture in football for over 47 years while bringing numerous family members like brothers Ken and Darryl, daughter Ronda, wife Deborah, nephews and grandsons into the fold to continue their football careers and give many young men a family of their own, where one may be lacking at home.

Prior to his semi-pro career, Ron was a star at Lincoln High and Grays Harbor Junior College, and 1969 draft choice of the Buffalo Bills out of the University of Montana, receiving return tryouts during the 1970's playing in preseason games in 1974 and clocking the fastest 40-yard dash time for wide receivers during the Seattle Seahawks 1976 open tryout.  Unsigned, Ron went on to his best season ever as a Bengal culminating with his Northwest MVP honor and being named as one of only 2 Northwest Players on the Pro Football Weekly All-Minor League team, a 26-member list released from Danbury, Connecticut in January 1977.  Teammate and linebacker Steve Dionas was the other Tacoman on the list and fellow GNFA Hall of Famer.

In recognition of the nearly 50-years of constant service to the semi-pro football scene in the Northwest, Ron Baines stands alone as the only inductee of this 2022 Class.

The complete biography and story of Ron Baines and his family-first standard will be featured in the 2023 Greater Northwest Football Records and Information Guide available Spring 2023 at Amazon.

1997 American Football Association Hall of Fame Inductee - Canton, Ohio

2007 NWFL Coach of the Year