Ed Swenson served as athletic director at BSC from 1949 to 1977. He was instrumental in bringing football back to Bridgewater (1960) after an absence of nearly thirty years. He was the Bears' head football coach from 1960-66. In 1965, Bridgewater State was one of three founding charter members of the New England Football Conference (NEFC). Ed was also an outstanding men's soccer coach during the 1950's when the Bears' won multiple New England Teachers College Athletic Conference (NETCAC) Championships. Ed passed away in 2001.