Football season culminates with the Super Bowl (coming up next month!), so we're revisiting some of the most popular football coaches in movies and TV. From small-screen favorites like Friday Night Lights' Coach Taylor to the big screen's heroic Coach Boone in Remember the Titans, these characters are memorable parts of the team in their own right. To get pumped for the pigskin festivities, enjoy some of football's finest fictional leaders!
Coach Klein
- Movie: The Waterboy
- Played by: Henry Winkler
- Why he's so great: If it weren't for him, Bobby (Adam Sandler [1]) would never have ended up on the field. Klein is the one who gives him a chance and teaches him to take out his aggression through tackling.
Coach Eric Taylor
- TV show: Friday Night Lights
- Played by: Kyle Chandler
- Why he's so great: Coach Taylor is all about family, and that extends to the relationship he has with his players, becoming a father figure to many of them. Basically, he's the best [2] there is.
Coach Molly McGrath
- Movie: Wildcats
- Played by: Goldie Hawn [3]
- Why she's so great: Despite the fact that she knows football better than anyone, Molly isn't given a chance to show it. When she finally gets the opportunity, she proves her detractors wrong and has possibly the most team spirit of anyone in this list.
Coach Shannon Beiste
- TV show: Glee
- Played by: Dot-Marie Jones
- Why she's so great: Beiste comes on as an extremely intimidating coach — a must for a woman in a largely male-dominated job — but quickly shows off what a softie she is.
Coach Jimmy McGinty
- Movie: The Replacements
- Played by: Gene Hackman
- Why he's so great: He's motivated. When the football players of the Washington Sentinels go on strike, it's up to him to find substitutes to revive the team, and he turns criminals and nobodies into a lineup that actually wins.
Coach Tony D'Amato
- Movie: Any Given Sunday
- Played by: Al Pacino [4]
- Why he's so great: The coaching veteran might be stuck in football's old ways, but he's still incredibly respected among the struggling Miami Sharks team. He also gives what's undoubtedly one of the most inspiring speeches [5] in sports movie history.
Coach Herman Boone
- Movie: Remember the Titans
- Played by: Denzel Washington [6]
- Why he's so great: Boone has the tough job of bringing players from a de-segregated Virginia high school together, and aside from football, he teaches them to look beyond race and creates a family within the team.
Coach Bill Yoast
- Movie: Remember the Titans
- Played by: Will Patton
- Why he's so great: Boone's not the only memorable coach from Remember the Titans. The film wouldn't be the same without Coach Yoast, who assists Boone in bringing the team together. Plus, who can forget his adorable, all-football-knowing daughter (a young Hayden Panettiere [7])?
Coach Jack Lengyel
- Movie: We Are Marshall
- Played by: Matthew McConaughey [8]
- Why he's so great: He has perseverance in the face of tragedy, rebuilding the Marshall University football team after a devastating plane crash claims the lives of 37 players.
Coach Hayden Fox
- TV show: Coach
- Played by: Craig T. Nelson
- Why he's so great: Coach Fox produces star players but still manages to give us plenty of pranks, laughs, and family values to take away.
Coach Dick Vermeil
- Movie: Invincible
- Played by: Greg Kinnear
- Why he's so great: He has an eye for talent; when he finds a 30-year-old bartender (Mark Wahlberg [9]), Vermeil gives him the chance to play, mentoring him all the way to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Coach Gary Gaines
- Movie: Friday Night Lights
- Played by: Billy Bob Thornton [10]
- Why he's so great: Though Gaines leads a high school team in a Texas town that's obsessed with football and is under pressure to win at all costs, he chooses to focus his energy on helping his players.
Coach Burt Cotton
- Movie: The Blind Side
- Played by: Ray McKinnon
- Why he's so great: Coach Cotton has a big part in helping troubled teenager Michael Oher get on this feet. After he notices Michael's athleticism — not to mention his large size — he helps get him admitted to the high school so he can play.
Coaches Kevin and Danny O'Shea
- Movie: Little Giants
- Played by: Ed O'Neil and Rick Moranis
- Why they're so great: In small-town Ohio, these two brothers go head to head as coaches of rival peewee football teams, and they bring lots of hilarity to the field. Plus, they remind us of a certain sibling pair [11] going up against each other this Super Bowl.
Coach Ara Parseghian
- Movie: Rudy
- Played by: Jason Miller
- Why he's so great: The Notre Dame coach gives an average student a chance and lets him join the practice squad — eventually giving us the now-famous chant "Ruuudy!"