Trivia / Coach

• Actor-Shared Background: Dauber's main Running Gag is the absurd amount of time it took for him to graduate from college. It actually took Bill Fagerbakke six years to graduate in real life, though not because he was an idiot like Dauber. He initially got to college on a football scholarship, but switched his focus to theater after a knee injury effectively killed any chance he had at a serious athletic career.
• Directed by Cast Member:
  • Starting with Season 3, Craig T. Nelson directed quite a few episodes.
  • Bill Fagerbakke directed "Bye Bye Burleigh Part 1."
• Executive Meddling: In addition to what was mentioned in Crossover, in the show's seventh season, ABC moved the show to Monday nights and paired it with Monday Night Football as part of a football themed night. While this wasn't much of a problem on the East Coast, as games typically ran from 9:00 pm to 12:30 am there, on the West Coast, this proved to be a major headache as games there ran from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm, leaving some Monday night programming with no time slots and forcing several programs, including Coach, to be aired at unusual hours. For instance, Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO aired new episodes of Coach on Saturday afternoons (coincidentally, ABC also aired college football games most of the time on Saturday afternoons). Some fans have cited this time-slot displacement on the West Coast as a reason for low ratings in season seven. Coach was moved to Tuesday nights the following season which resulted in a bump in ratings, returning Coach to the top 20.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Nanette Fabray, Shelley Fabares' aunt, played Christine's mother.
  • Mike Farrell, Fabares' husband, appeared as one of Christine's old coworkers in "A Jerk at the Opera."
  • Craig's son Noah Nelson appeared in 4 episodes as several different characters.
  • See also the I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine entry on the Main Page.
• Star-Making Role: For Jerry Van Dyke; as noted in TV Guide's tribute to him, prior to this, he was known for My Mother the Car and several other failed series, but playing Luther on the show earned him several Emmy nods and allowed him to enjoy a career as an effective supporting player for years afterwards.
• You Look Familiar:
  • William Sanderson appeared as a cashier in "A Boy and his Doll," several episodes before returning as Larry in the series finale.
  • Julio Oscar Mechoso appeared as a bellhop in season 7's "The Popcorn Bowl" prior to his recurring role as Martin in season 8.
  • John Valdetero appeared in several episodes as various characters, before his recurring role as assistant coach John in the final two seasons.
  • Eric Christmas, the late elderly character actor, appears in "Ten Percent of Nothing" in season 7 as an eccentric petting zoo owner and in "Van Damn (sic) vs. Fox" in season 8 as Luther's lawyer.

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