Birch Evans Bayh is a 1917 Indiana State graduate. Bayh had a tremendous early impact on ISU athletics as an athlete, coach and official. In the fall of 1915, while still a student at ISU, he was named principal of Clay City High School.
As a student, Bayh was instrumental in founding the Indiana State Normal School Students Athletic Association, which collected dues from students to provide expenses for equipment to run the program. He was offered the job as full Professor and Physical Education and Training Director before he even graduated from ISU.
While at ISU he coached baseball, track and field and basketball, including the school's first twenty-win season. Bayh currently ranks eighth on ISU's all-time coaching list with 57 wins in five years. His winning percentage of .640 is also eighth best.
Bayh was also responsible for rekindling the school's football program which had been dormant for several years. He coached the baseball team from 1919 until 1923 and posted a sixth best all-time mark of 40-13-1.
He later officiated 10 IHSAA state finals - a record that stands today.
For 28 years he was the Director of Physical Education for the entire Washington, D.C. school system.
