Frank Bridges

Frank Bridges
	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	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)

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]

Coaching career

Bridges 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.^[2] Bridges also coached football and basketball at Texas Military College, lead the football team to a Central Texas Conference (CTC) championship in 1933.^[3]

Death

Bridges died on June 10, 1970, at a nursing home in San Antonio.^[4]

Head coaching record

College football


Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
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

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
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 Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

College baseball

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
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 Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Junior college football


Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
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

References

^ ^a ^b Maxymuk, John (August 7, 2012). NFL Head Coaches: A Biographical Dictionary, 1920-2011. ISBN 9780786492954.
^ "Bridges Athletic Chief for T. M. C." Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. April 26, 1932. p. 14. Retrieved November 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Texas Military College Squad, Central Texas Conference Champions". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. December 17, 1933. p. 10. Retrieved November 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Hines, John (June 12, 1970). "Former Rattler, Baylor Coach Frank Bridges Dies". San Antonio Express. San Antonio, Texas. pp. 1E, 3E. Retrieved January 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .

[nlfbio-1] Maxymuk, John (August 7, 2012). NFL Head Coaches: A Biographical Dictionary, 1920-2011. ISBN 9780786492954.

[2] "Bridges Athletic Chief for T. M. C." Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. April 26, 1932. p. 14. Retrieved November 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .

[3] "Texas Military College Squad, Central Texas Conference Champions". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. December 17, 1933. p. 10. Retrieved November 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .

[4] Hines, John (June 12, 1970). "Former Rattler, Baylor Coach Frank Bridges Dies". San Antonio Express. San Antonio, Texas. pp. 1E, 3E. Retrieved January 15, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .

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