ARTHUR W. BRIGGS
Football and Basketball Coach and Athletics Director, 1912-33
Inducted October 28, 1978

Arthur W. Briggs was one of the pioneers of SMS intercollegiate athletics, a man who looked past the obstacles to the formation of the program at a young institution to establish a balanced and competitive program in all areas.  He was the first man to serve SMS as its athletic director and held that position form 1912 until 1938.  He set the tone for years to come with his belief that the athletic program should be a first-class, quality endeavor.  It was under his leadership that SMS came into the reorganized Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1924 and won MIAA all-sports honors six times in the next decade.  Mr. Briggs was also the head of the SMS physical education department from 1913 until his death on December 20, 1949.  At one time during his career at SMS, he coached every sport the school had.  He guided the football Bears for more years and won more games than any other grid coach in SMS history.  Briggs piloted the Bruins from 1912 through the 1933 season and had on overall record of 76 victories, 58 losses, and 11 ties in his 20 seasons at the football helm.  No other man has coached football at SMS for more than seven seasons.  The Bears’ only MIAA title in Coach Briggs’ tenure was in 1928 but SMS was second in the league in 1925, 1929, 1931, and 1932.  Coach Briggs had unbeaten seasons in football in 1914 and 1922.  He coached SMS basketball from 1913 until 1923 and had a baseball program for four years shortly after his arrival at SMS.  He also served as the SMS track coach until 1923.  The school’s football facility was renamed Briggs Stadium in his honor by the SMS Board of Regents in 1970.