CABOT — Coaching has been a family affair for Cabot’s Jerry Bridges.
He is the son of a longtime coach, and Bridges’ brother coached for many years. And Bridges is completing his 31st year in coaching and teaching. So it’s no surprise that he has seen success on the basketball court.
Bridges, who just won his third state title, is the 2016 Three Rivers Edition Coach of the Year.
“I was around basketball my whole life,” he said. “I loved it. I loved playing. I played college ball at Ouachita. I knew at early age that I was going to be coaching. I had my heart set on that as a sixth-grader. I never wavered. I’m comfortable in a gym. It’s not a bad place to grow up, I guess.”
Bridges’ father, Jack, coached at Hot Springs Lakeside, Pine Bluff, Batesville, Amity and Fountain Lake. Jerry Bridges’ brother Jamie was a longtime coach at Lake Hamilton.
Jerry Bridges has been a high school coach for 27 seasons at including stints at Caddo Hills, Morrilton, Fort Smith Southside and Cabot. He coached junior high one year and was athletic director for the Mountain Home School District for three years prior to coming to Cabot for the 2004-05 school year.
Bridges won state titles at Caddo Hills in 1990 and Morrilton in 1991. His Devil Dogs team lost in the finals of the Class AAA state tournament in 1992. He also coached the Southside Rebels to the Class AAAAA state title game in 2000, when they lost to undefeated Little Rock Fair.
Bridges recalled the time he got out of coaching to go to Mountain Home.
“At my age, I thought I had my fill of it and wanted to try something different,” he said. “So, there was an opportunity to get into administration there at Mountain Home.”
Bridges said he missed dealing with students and players on a daily basis.
“I got into this because I enjoy being around young people,” he said. “As AD, 90 percent of my dealings were with the parents. At that point, I said I’d just rather be with the kids.”
Bridges replaced longtime Cabot coach Ronny Tollett.
“People thought I was crazy coming here and that you couldn’t win here,” he said. “I likened it to a big Caddo Hills at the time. I thought we could become competitive. I really believed that.
“If you’re willing to work hard, you can overcome things. Hard work is a great equalizer sometimes.”
The Panthers have been to the state tournament nine consecutive seasons. Prior to that, it had been 30 years since Cabot had played in a state tournament.
During his tenure at Cabot, the Panthers had advanced to the state semifinals twice before this season’s magical run. This year, things came together at the right time as the Panthers swept Springdale and Bryant in the Class 7A state tournament at Cabot’s Panther Arena. Cabot then knocked off Malik Monk and the Bentonville Tigers to do the unthinkable — win the state championship.
“I’m still floating around,” Bridges said. “I’m not going to lie. I’m going to float around until Nov. 15, when it starts all over again. It was fun.”
When Bridges won his previous state titles, only his son Jack was born. Bridges was able to share this one with his wife, Lori, and all his children, including two daughters, Jaylin and Jenna.
“They haven’t seen me [win a state title]. … They’ve read about me,” Bridges said, referring to his children. “My kids haven’t seen me do that, and it felt good. They understand it now.”
Bridges said he can’t think of a better school or community in which to win a state title than Cabot.
“Everybody has been so genuinely happy for us,” he said of the people in Cabot. “I responded to 125 texts after the [championship] game. I finished at 1:30 a.m.; then Lori and I drove home that night from Hot Springs.”
Bridges said this year’s state title is the No. 1 accomplishment in his career.
“Behind my children being born, and my wife marrying me and sticking with me, is this moment,” he said.
Bridges said he thought his window of opportunity to win a state title closed in 2009 when the Panthers lost to Fayetteville in the state semifinals.
“I thought this group could be competitive,” he said. “We’ve said that all along. You could play that tournament again, and there could be two different finalists. There is that much parody with all us.”
Cabot Athletic Director Steve Roberts is proud of the job Bridges and his team did this year in winning the state title.
“Coach Bridges and I talked frequently throughout the year about trying to peak at the right time,” Roberts said. “He obviously had a great plan. It wasn’t always easy throughout the year. We had our struggles from time to time. We also proved, at times, that we could play with anybody.”
Roberts said Bridges is a demanding coach.
“He’s going to coach every team like he expects to win a state championship,” Roberts said. “Sometimes, you don’t have the talent to do that, but he’s still going to expect them to work to do that. He gets a lot out of them.”
Bridges said he thinks winning a state title at Cabot validates why the school hired him.
“It feels good to do it here,” Bridges said of winning his third state title. “It feels good to know I’m up there with Mike Malham and Carla Crowder in the team sports,” referring to the Cabot football and girls basketball coaches, who have won state titles in the past.
“I try to provide the guidance our kids, need,” Bridges said. “I don’t shoot shots. I try to put them in position to be successful, and they made plays for us in March. We were pretty good in March.”
Bridges said he told assistant Nathan Brown that his team had the ability to be successful.
“I didn’t know if we had the grit to put together the three games in a row that it would take, and we did,” Bridges said.
Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.