He served as the head football coach at Fairmount College—now known as Wichita State University—from 1905 to 1908 and at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas from 1914 to 1925, compiling a career college football head caoching record of 81–49–12.

[3] Bates was the head coach for the 1905 Cooper vs. Fairmount football game played on October 6, 1905 at Association Field in Wichita[4] The game was played at night under gas lamps as a demonstration by the Coleman Company and was the first night football game played west of the Mississippi River.

The game was played against the Washburn Ichabods using a set of experimental rules and was officiated by then-Washburn head coach John H.

[8] The experimental rule requiring a first down be achieved in three downs rather than four was regarded as a failure and a primary reason for the game to have ended in a scoreless tie; however the rule allowing the ball to be thrown forward under certain conditions was retained in the overall recodification and revision undertaken when the National Collegiate Athletic Association was formed early the next year.

Bates was the sixth head football coach at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, serving for 12 years, from 1914 to 1925, and compiling record of 52–36–9.