COACH, the TV series about a Minnesota State University head football coach and the way he tries to use everyone around him, is a classic, and you don't have to be a football fan to enjoy the show. Most of the comedy stems from the lead man's villainous ways, and how they backfire at him. Yes, the coach is the bad guy, and that's what makes this so funny. He surrounds himself with dopey, old school, red neck assistants, but wait! These assistants know more about computers than he does. They are more understanding and tolerant of homosexuals, emotional actors, and successful women than he is. They are less red neck than he is. Get the picture? He keeps coming up with a semblance of being a respectable, informed leader, when all the time, he is the biggest bigot on the campus. And he always gets his come uppance. The supporting cast make this show, and Nelson is excellent as the "J R Ewing" of the group. Not enough can be said about the genius of Van Dyke and the others. The coach is always forced into situations he hates, such as having to get a dog to please a wealthy widow so he can get her to donate money to his program. All along, she knows he is an ogre, and she plays him for the sucker. And who saves the day for him? His dopey assistant, who really cares for the dog, who really has some dignity and integrity in him. Does "Coach" learn anything about "Integrity"? Yes, each episode. He learns that you keep have to try faking it better. Almost every show is a classic. I'm partial to the ones where he feuds with the tall woman's basketball coach, and where he tries unsuccessfully, to manipulate wealthy widows while assistant Van Dam (Van Dyke) will just be himself and outdo the coach each time.

To all you who criticize Coach for one reason or another , you fail to remember the main purpose of a comedy.It is to make us laugh and Coach did that better than most all sitcoms, past and present.I watched every episode of Coach for all 9 seasons.It was the only sitcom that I ever looked forward to watching week after week for those 9 seasons.When Coach went off the air in 1997 , it was like losing a family member. No comedy has ever made me laugh as hard and as long as Coach did.The only show that comes close today is Everybody loves Raymond. Otherwise the comedies today STINK!!! I hope to God that someday they release all 9 seasons of Coach on to DVD so I can continue to laugh whenever I want. In the meantime I will just have to be satisfied with watching the reruns on Nick at Nite. It's my nightly one hour laugh fest.

In my opinion, Coach was one of the all time classics. I waited for it every week and now watch it every night on Nick Classics. Hayden was the perfect character and Craig played him perfectly. The supporting cast had the whole scene down pat. I don't analyze the story line, but I do wish that they had kept it on the air. There was so much they could have done in Florida with an expansion team and Hayden and Christine being parents. Can you imagine Hayden having had a teenage son, the trials he'd have gone through? Or watching Kelly become a mother and Hayden and Christine grandparents? There was so much they could have followed up with. I really miss seeing new episodes, but I'm glad to have it in any form, even reruns. I'd love to see a Coach reunion. If they did it with the Brady Bunch, why not with a really good show. I'll be watching it until they take it off the air again, but just in case, I'm taping every episode, I mean, why take a chance? Ya know?

Of all of the shows (Comedies) I have seen, Coach is the the most under-rated and one of the best I have seen. You have one hell of a comedic (and dramatic) actor Craig T. Nelson and when you put together him with a cast that includes Jerry Van Dyke you have success. It's a shame I got into this show after its initial run, but thank God for repeats or I would have missed the greatness this show has to offer. A+ ALL THE WAY