Frank Butner Anderson (June 16, 1882 – November 8, 1966) was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach as well as

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

. He was the first football and baseball coach in the history of

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a private college in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia. History Oglethorpe University was chartered in 1834 in Mid ...

and the namesake of its baseball field. The field was dedicated as such on May 11, 1963. Anderson was inducted into the Oglethorpe Athletic Hall of Fame, a member of its inaugural class of 1962. He always wore his baseball uniform to practice and to games. He is known by some as the "Dean of Southern Baseball Coaches." Frank is the father of

Alf Anderson Alfred Walton Anderson (January 28, 1914 – June 23, 1985) was an American professional baseball shortstop who appeared in 146 Major League Baseball games for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the , and seasons. Anderson was born in Gainesville ...

Early years

Frank Anderson was born on June 16, 1882, on a family farm near Powder Springs in Cobb County, Georgia.

University of Georgia

In 1900 he enrolled at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

(UGA) in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. He played three years of varsity baseball and was All-Southern second baseman in 1903 and 1904, when he captained the team.“Georgia’s All-Time Baseball Record, 1886–1949,” University of Georgia 1950 Media Guide, University of Georgia Athletic Department Records, Athens, Georgia. He once hit a two out, ninth inning home run to tie rival

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Anderson played in the

backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage. The offensive backfield can also refer to members of offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including any backs on the field, such as the q ...

on Georgia's football team. He also was a star on the Track and Field team and held the UGA record in the 220 and 440 for 30 years.

Coaching years

Prep school

After university, Anderson began teaching

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and coaching baseball at various high schools around

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. He won a state championship with the University School for Boys at

Stone Mountain, Georgia Stone Mountain is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 6,703 according to the 2020 US Census. Stone Mountain is in the eastern part of DeKalb County and is a suburb of Atlanta that encompasses nearly 1.7 square mil ...

in his first year. He also assisted the football team as an assistant under former Clemson player

Hope Sadler David Hope Sadler (October 12, 1882 – August 29, 1931) was an American football player for John Heisman's Clemson Tigers of Clemson University. He was captain of the SIAA champion 1902 and 1903 Clemson Tigers football teams coached by H ...

. He also coached at the Robert E Lee Institute of

Thomaston, Georgia Thomaston is a city in and the county seat of Upson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 9,170 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of and is included in the Thomaston, Georgia Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is includ ...

and at the Gordon Military Institute.

Georgia

Anderson returned to Georgia to coach his alma mater's baseball teams from 1910 to 1913. He won consecutive

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

championships in 1911 and 1912.

Oglethorpe

Anderson established the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and baseball programs for

in 1917. He was the football coach until 1919. He was the baseball coach until 1944. Amongst his baseball players were

Luke Appling Lucius Benjamin "Luke" Appling (April 2, 1907 – January 3, 1991), nicknamed "Old Aches and Pains" was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago White Sox (1930–1950). He was elected to the Base ...

and Jay Partridge.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Frank B. 1882 births 1966 deaths Baseball second basemen Georgia Bulldogs baseball coaches Georgia Bulldogs baseball players Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels baseball coaches Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels football coaches Oglethorpe University faculty High school baseball coaches in the United States High school football coaches in Georgia (U.S. state) People from Douglasville, Georgia Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Players of American football from Douglas County, Georgia Baseball coaches from Georgia (U.S. state) Baseball players from Cobb County, Georgia Players of American football from Cobb County, Georgia