Luke Worsham, born in Birmingham, Alabama, lived an inspiring life and touched countless students in his career as a teacher and coach. Worsham was a World War II Army veteran who served as an infantryman in the European Theater.
After his military service, he graduated from the University of Chattanooga where he was a member of the football and wrestling teams and was the student body president.
Upon his graduation in 1949, he agreed to teach one year at the Baylor School while he prepared for entrance to medical school. He found his calling and enjoyed teaching and coaching so much, he never left Baylor where he was a member of the faculty for 41 years.
Worsham is a giant in the history of the Baylor School. He is known for not only his toughness and strength, but for his love and compassion for the students he taught. When John Hannah, a former Baylor student-athlete, was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, the first person he mentioned in his acceptance speech was his former coach and mentor, “Maj.”
Worsham was affectionately known as “Maj,” a nickname for Major, his rank during Baylor’s military preparatory school era. He was there when the institution dropped military prep in the late 1960s and when the school made the transition to coeducation in the mid 1980s.
During his tenure, he coached football, track, swimming and wresting. He is most recognized as a pioneer in the development of high school wrestling. Worsham’s wrestling teams won 14 Mid-South championships and were runners-up on six other occasions from 1950-70 and also captured a national prep school championship in 1970. Baylor entered the TSSAA in 1970 and won three state championships in 1978, 1979 and 1981. “Luke was competitive,” said Ronnie Carter, executive director of the TSSAA. “He had a great love for the sport, but he had a greater love for kids.”
Worsham was named Tennessee’s Wrestling “Coach of the Year” in 1978. He was inducted into the Baylor School Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and received the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Lifetime Service Award in 1994. Since his death in 2002, the new wrestling facility at the Baylor School has been named in his honor.