Magoffin first played football on a Kansas high school team. He later ran track and played two years of football for Central High School in Washington, D.C. He later attended the Academy at Marietta and played one year for of football for Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio. At Marietta, Magoffin played for William C. "King" Cole, who had previously been a star player for Fielding H. Yost at the University of Michigan.