New Girl: 10 Questions About Coach, Answered | ScreenRant
Coach might not have appeared in every season of New Girl, but his presence certainly contributed to the fun group dynamic in the loft in the middle of the show's run. Initially cast as Coach for the pilot episode, Damon Wayans Jr. had to leave the show when it was picked up to series, but he made his triumphant return in the third season.
Coach might have left the series in season four, but he did return for guest appearances after the fact. With him not having quite as much screen time as the rest of the main cast, fans are sure to have a lot of questions about Coach.
10 Why Did Coach Leave The Show After The Pilot?
In universe, Nick and Schmidt explain to Jess that Coach's leaving and returning is all part of his odd life choices. When he gets serious with a woman he's dating, he moves in with her. If their relationship doesn't work out, he moves back to the loft. In reality, the explanation has to do with work commitments.
When Damon Wayans Jr. filmed the pilot for New Girl, it was during a time period when the fate of his other series Happy Endings was up in the air. Happy Endings was renewed for a second season, and Wayans' contract with that series came first. When Happy Endings was canceled after its second season, Wayans was able to return to his role of Coach.
9 How Is He Different From The Originally Pitched Character?
The Coach of the pilot episode has a bit in common with the character from show runner Elizabeth Meriwether's original pitch. They're both former athletes who work as personal trainers, for one. The difference is more in their appearance.
Coach was originally pitched as someone who was no longer in shape, and that was why his clients didn't trust him to be their trainer. When Damon Wayans Jr. was cast in the role, however, he had a more athletic appearance, negating that particular plot point.
8 What Coach Storyline Was Cut From The Pilot?
In the pilot episode as it aired, fans see that Coach has trouble talking to the women he trains at the gym. He goes to Jess for advice, and that's seemingly where that sub plot ends. The original script featured a bit more.
In the pilot script, Coach tried to get into the minds of the women he worked with by literally putting himself in their shoes - or more accurately, in their jeggings. Hr borrowed a pair of Jess' jeggings, and then couldn't get them off, so he cut them into shorts. Part of the story was clearly filmed for the episode because Coach shows up to the party at the end in cut off jean shorts.
7 When Is His Birthday?
Though several birthdays are celebrated over the course of the show, not many of the characters' actual birth dates are shown on screen. Coach is different.
During one of the show's many holiday themed episodes, in this case, Valentine's Day's "The Crawl," Coach shows his ID to May at a bar. His birth date is clearly visible as June 17. For those interested in astrology, that would make Coach the charming and adaptable Gemini.
6 What Is Coach's Real Name?
For the majority of his appearances, Coach is called by his nickname. He gets that nickname courtesy of his roommates when he steps up from the stands to call out plays like a coach to Winston's basketball team. Coach's real name, only mentioned a handful of times in the show, is Ernie Tagliaboo.
It's seen on his ID (from Kansas) in season four, but it's also mentioned by Jess. After she gets him a job at her school, she almost immediately is put in the position of having to fire him. She mentions his name while going through personnel files.
5 Does He Know The Words To "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life?"
At the end of the New Girl pilot episode, Nick, Schmidt, and Coach all rally to cheer Jess up when she's stood up by her date. The guys, led by Nick, sing her the song most often associated with her favorite movie, Dirty Dancing.
While Nick starts off the musical moment well, he quickly starts to hum because he doesn't know all of the words. When Coach joins in, he sings the line, "bears in my house," making it evident that he doesn't know the real words to the song either. In fact, Coach's line about bears, according to DVD commentary, is one of the many nods to bears throughout the series fans can find as an Easter egg in the show.
4 Does He Have A Twin?
In the sixth season of the show, after Coach has been out of the loft for over a year, his friends make a trip to New York for Schmidt. Schmidt has been invited to speak at his high school. The episode serves as a crossover with the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and it raises the question of whether or not some New Girl characters have identical twins since their actors have had roles in both shows.
Daman Wayans Jr. is one of those actors. While he's a series regular as Coach for two seasons, he guest stars in Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Jake Peralta's old partner in other episodes. Neither character is related to the other, and since he's not the only actor to play a role in both sitcoms, maybe it's safe to say that everyone in the world of New Girl could have a doppelgänger.
3 What Question Did The Cast Repeatedly Deal With When Coach Returned?
Plenty of fans loved seeing Coach make a return to the show in the third season, but it made things a little awkward for the cast during interviews. The cast, as revealed during a 2020 reunion interview, were frequently asked whether Coach's return meant the series would say goodbye to Winston.
Winston joins the series in the second episode as an old friend who moves into the loft following Coach's departure. Both characters are portrayed by Black actors, and the cast found the question both ridiculous, and speaking to the systemic racism present in television that sees token minority characters in predominantly Caucasian casts.
2 Does He Appear In Every Season Of The Show?
Interestingly, though Coach is absent for a lot of the series, he still makes an appearance in almost every season of the show. He has guest appearances in seasons five, six, and seven long after he leaves the loft in the season four finale.
He, of course, appears in the first season as a result of his place in the pilot, and he gets a mention in the episode "Backslide," though he doesn't appear. Coach is a series regular when he returns in season three, and remains one in season four. The only season he doesn't appear at all is season two.
1 Why Does Coach Leave The Show A Second Time?
The season four finale of New Girl marks Coach's final appearance as a series regular. Within the show, he makes the move to New York to be with his girlfriend May, who receives a job offer she can't refuse.
Unlike the real-life reason behind the departure following the pilot episode, Damon Wayans Jr. didn't have a commitment to another TV series at the time either. As it turns out, when he returned to New Girl, he signed a limited contract. As season four came to an end, he chose not to renew the contract, but to see what other work was out there. After leaving the show, he got to appear in the aforementioned Brooklyn Nine-Nine, as well as a handful of movies.
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