Frank Bogart Bridges Sr. (July 4, 1890 â 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 UniversityâÂÂnow known as HardinâÂÂSimmons UniversityâÂÂfrom 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 102âÂÂ137. In addition, he was Baylor's head baseball coach from 1920 to 1927, amassing a record of 95âÂÂ73, 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.
From 1911 to 1916, Bridges coached the YMCA basketball team in Columbus, Georgia, then "the cradle of basketball in Georgia." In 1919, he coached high school football in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
During his tenure as head football coach at Baylor University, Bridges compiled a 35âÂÂ18âÂÂ6 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 HardinâÂÂSimmons University where he posted a 16âÂÂ13âÂÂ4 record.
Bridges referred basketball games in the Southwest Conference during the 1931âÂÂ32 season. In the spring of 1932, he was hired as the athletic director at Texas Military College in Terrell, Texas. Bridges also coached football and basketball at Texas Military College, lead the football team to a Central Texas Conference (CTC) championship in 1933.
Bridges died on June 10, 1970, at a nursing home in San Antonio.