Frank Bridges
American sports coach (1890–1970)
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Frank Bogart Bridges Sr. (July 4, 1890 – June 10, 1970) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Baylor University from 1920 to 1925, Simmons University—now known as Hardin–Simmons University—from 1927 to 1929, and St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas from 1935 to 1939. Bridges was also the head basketball coach at Baylor from 1920 to 1926, at Simmons from 1927 to 1929, and at St. Mary's from 1935 to 1939, tallying a career college basketball mark of 102–137. In addition, he was Baylor's head baseball coach from 1920 to 1927, amassing a record of 95–73, and the head baseball coach at St. Mary's in 1938. 1944, Bridges served as the co-head coach with Pete Cawthon and Ed Kubale for the Brooklyn Tigers of the National Football League (NFL). He graduated from Harvard University.[1]
Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Bridges pictured in The Round-Up 1921, Baylor yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 4, 1890 Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | June 10, 1970 (aged 79) San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1919 | Fort Smith HS (AK) |
| 1920–1925 | Baylor |
| 1927–1929 | Simmons (TX) |
| 1933–1934 | Texas Military College |
| 1935–1939 | St. Mary's (TX) |
| 1943 | Brooklyn Dodgers (assistant) |
| 1944 | Brooklyn Tigers |
| Basketball | |
| 1911–1916 | Columbus YMCA |
| 1920–1926 | Baylor |
| 1927–1929 | Simmons (TX) |
| ?–1935 | Texas Military College |
| 1935–1939 | St. Mary's (TX) |
| Baseball | |
| 1920–1927 | Baylor |
| 1938 | St. Mary's (TX) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1920–1926 | Baylor |
| 1932–1935 | Texas Military College |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 82–53–17 (college football) 102–137 (college basketball) 95–73 (college baseball, excluding St. Mary's) 0–5 (NFL) 12–6–2 (junior college football) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 2 SWC (1922, 1924) 1 CTC (1933) Basketball 1 Alamo regular season (1938) Baseball 1 SWC (1923) | |
Coaching career
From 1911 to 1916, Bridges coached the YMCA basketball team in Columbus, Georgia, then "the cradle of basketball in Georgia."[2][3] In 1919, he coached high school football in Fort Smith, Arkansas.[1]
During his tenure as head football coach at Baylor University, Bridges compiled a 35–18–6 record. His winning percentage of .644 ranks third in school history, behind R. H. Hamilton (.786) and Bob Woodruff (.645). In 1921 and 1922, he led the Bears to consecutive eight-win seasons. Bridges won the school's first two Southwest Conference (SWC) championships, in 1922 and 1924. Baylor did not win another until 1974. From 1927 to 1929, he coached at Hardin–Simmons University where he posted a 16–13–4 record.
Bridges referred basketball games in the Southwest Conference during the 1931–32 season. In the spring of 1932, he was hired as the athletic director at Texas Military College in Terrell, Texas.[4] Bridges also coached football and basketball at Texas Military College, lead the football team to a Central Texas Conference (CTC) championship in 1933.[5]
Death
Bridges died on June 10, 1970, at a nursing home in San Antonio.[6]
Head coaching record
College football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor Bears (Southwest Conference) (1920–1925) | |||||||||
| 1920 | Baylor | 4–4–1 | 1–2–1 | 5th | |||||
| 1921 | Baylor | 8–3 | 2–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1922 | Baylor | 8–3 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1923 | Baylor | 5–1–2 | 1–1–2 | T–4th | |||||
| 1924 | Baylor | 7–2–1 | 4–0–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1925 | Baylor | 3–5–2 | 0–3–2 | 7th | |||||
| Baylor: | 35–18–6 | 13–8–6 | |||||||
| Simmons Cowboys (Texas Conference) (1927–1929) | |||||||||
| 1927 | Simmons | 5–3–2 | 2–1–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1928 | Simmons | 6–6–1 | 2–3 | T–4th | |||||
| 1929 | Simmons | 5–4–1 | 1–3–1 | T–4th | |||||
| Simmons: | 16–13–4 | 5–7–3 | |||||||
| St. Mary's Rattlers (Independent) (1935) | |||||||||
| 1935 | St. Mary's | 6–4–1 | |||||||
| St. Mary's Rattlers (Alamo Conference) (1936–1939) | |||||||||
| 1936 | St. Mary's | 7–3–2 | 1–1 | T–1st | |||||
| 1937 | St. Mary's | 7–2–2 | 1–0–1 | T–1st | |||||
| 1938 | St. Mary's | 6–9 | 0–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1939 | St. Mary's | 5–4–2 | 1–2 | 3rd | |||||
| St. Mary's: | 31–22–7 | 3–5–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 82–53–17 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
College basketball
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor Bears (Southwest Conference) (1920–1926) | |||||||||
| 1920–21 | Baylor | 13–11 | 8–4 | 2nd | |||||
| 1921–22 | Baylor | 10–8 | 8–8 | 3rd | |||||
| 1922–23 | Baylor | 7–16 | 7–13 | 3rd | |||||
| 1923–24 | Baylor | 11–23 | 7–17 | 6th | |||||
| 1924–25 | Baylor | 3–12 | 2–12 | T–7th | |||||
| 1925–26 | Baylor | 8–7 | 5–7 | 5th | |||||
| Baylor: | 52–77 | 37–61 | |||||||
| Simmons Cowboys (Texas Conference) (1927–1929) | |||||||||
| 1927–28 | Simmons | 7–12 | |||||||
| 1928–29 | Simmons | 16–3 | |||||||
| Simmons: | 23–15 | ||||||||
| St. Mary's Rattlers (Alamo Conference) (1935–1939) | |||||||||
| 1935–26 | St. Mary's | 5–10 | 2–6 | ||||||
| 1936–37 | St. Mary's | 4–14 | 0–6 | ||||||
| 1937–38 | St. Mary's | 3–10 | 0–4 | ||||||
| 1938–39 | St. Mary's | 15–11 | 5–3 | T–1st | |||||
| St. Mary's: | 27–45 | 8–19 | |||||||
| Total: | 102–137 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
College baseball
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor Bears (Southwest Conference) (1920–1927) | |||||||||
| 1920 | Baylor | 13–7 | 8–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1921 | Baylor | 3–11 | 3–9 | 5th | |||||
| 1922 | Baylor | 13–7 | 11–5 | 2nd | |||||
| 1923 | Baylor | 15–6 | 14–5 | 1st | |||||
| 1924 | Baylor | 16–9 | 11–8 | 4th | |||||
| 1925 | Baylor | 13–10 | 9–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1926 | Baylor | 12–9 | 6–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1927 | Baylor | 10–4 | 5–11 | 5th | |||||
| Baylor: | 95–73 (.565) | 67–53 (.558) | |||||||
| Total: | 95–73 (.565) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Junior college football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Military College Bulldogs (Central Texas Conference) (1933–1934) | |||||||||
| 1933 | Texas Military College | 6–3–2 | 4–0–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1934 | Texas Military College | 6–3 | 1–2 | 4th | |||||
| Texas Military College: | 12–6–2 | 5–2–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 12–6–2 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
