New Orleans native Calvin Magee, former NFL receiver and college coach, dead at 59

A local prep star and native New Orleanian who built a tremendouns career in football, Calvin Magee has died from a heart attack at age 59.

Magee starred at Booker T. Washington High School as a multi-sport athlete and continued his football career at Southern University. He led the Jaguars in receiving during his stay, earning All-SWAC honors in his final two college seasons (1983-’84).

Undrafted but undaunted, Magee accepted an camp invitation from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under head coach Leeman Bennett and yielded dividends. Magee led the Bucs in receiving in his second NFL campaign, catching 45 balls for 564 yards and five touchdowns in 1986 from quarterbacks Steve DeBerg and Steve Young.

Playing in 56 contests with 34 starts under Tampa Bay head coaches Bennett and Ray Perkins, Magee totaled 114 receptions for 1,379 yards and 11 scores.

Next came Magee’s college football coaching journey starting as a high school assistant in Tampa before his first college job in 1996 as tight ends coach at South Florida where he later coached running backs and became run game coordinator.

Among his coaching career stops, he joined Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia from 2001-’07, following Rodriguez to Michigan and finally Arizona in roles including offensive coordinator. While at West Virginia, he was tabbed AFFA assistant Coach of the Year and an Broyles Award finalist.

Upon his passing, Magee was preparing for his first season as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Jacksonville State.

Although he never coached here, Magee really left the Crescent City, making trips back home for family and recruiting purposes.