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]
 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 | |
| 1920–1926 | Baylor |
| 1927–1929 | Simmons (TX) |
| 1935–1939 | St. Mary's (TX) |
| Baseball | |
| 1920–1927 | Baylor |
| 1938 | St. Mary's (TX) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1920–1926 | Baylor |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 82–53–17 (college football) 102–137 (college basketball) 95–73 (college baseball, excluding St. Mary's) 0–5 (NFL) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 2 SWC (1922, 1924) Basketball 1 Alamo regular season (1938) Baseball 1 SWC (1923) | |
Coaching career
editBridges 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 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.
Death
editBridges died on June 10, 1970, at a nursing home in San Antonio.[2][3]
Head coaching record
editCollege football
edit| 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
edit| 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
edit| 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
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b Maxymuk, John (August 7, 2012). NFL Head Coaches: A Biographical Dictionary, 1920-2011. ISBN 9780786492954.
- ^ Hines, John (June 12, 1970). "Former Rattler, Baylor Coach Frank Bridges Dies". San Antonio Express. San Antonio, Texas. p. 1E. Retrieved January 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ Hines, John (June 12, 1970). "Frank Bridges Dies (continued)". San Antonio Express. San Antonio, Texas. p. 3E. Retrieved January 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
