Beginning his career as a stunt performer, he was hired to perform stunts in number of notable television series namely Police Story, Harry O, Rich Man, Poor Man Book II, Gemini Man, Roots and M*A*S*H. He worked as stunt coordinator and second unit director on The Dukes of Hazzard and The A-Team (on which he later made his directorial debut), along with the pilot of Hunter as second unit director.
He was stunt coordinator on the feature films The Warriors (1979) and The Long Riders (1980), as well as second unit director on Reds (1981) and Predator (1987).
[1] Baxley also appeared in eight episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, as well having small roles in Chase, Mannix, Bearcats!, Marcus Welby, M.D.
Baxley's other television directing credits include miniseries based on Stephen King works namely Storm of the Century (1999), Rose Red (2002), The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (2003), Kingdom Hospital (2004), as well as The Triangle (2005) and The Lost Room (2006).
Some of his television film credits include A Family Torn Apart (1993), Twisted Desire (1996) and Silencing Mary (1998) both starring Melissa Joan Hart.