Top 10 "Top 10s": Best Coaches

     Being a coach of over 10 years myself, I know all about how truly difficult a coach's job is.  A coach has to wear many hats, teacher, confidante, leader and sometimes even sponsor or benefactor.  Plus, everyone knows that  blame for a loss is always to the coach while glory for a victory is always to the players.  Coaching truly is a thankless job and these 11 guys are the ones I truly admire.


Parameters:  I've picked only coaches from sports that From the Fifty Peso Seats covers so coaching greats like Bobby Knight or Coach K are not eligible.  I've also put in half foreign coaches (coaches whose achievements were done internationally) and half local coaches. (FIlipino coaches or coaches where Philippines was the venue of their achievements)


10 (tie).  Rajko Toroman - Basketball

     This Serbian tasked to coach the Philippine National Team has already done wonders for our Smart GIlas team, but it would be premature to name him to this list for only that.  What people have to remember is what he did before we stole him.  Toroman was first tasked to coach the Iranian basketball team.  Within a few years, he assembled an Iranian team that defeated perennial Asian powerhouse China to emerge as Asian basketball Champions and a stint in the 2008 Olympic Games.  What I admire the most, though, is his patience in teaching.  Watch any game of Smart GIlas and you will see that he takes every opportunity to use game situations to teach his players, making every game a meaningful learning experience.  If he can bring the Philippines to the Olympics as well, his position would definitely jump up.  



 10 (tie).  "Jun" Trasporto - Bowling  

     A Filipino who migrated to Canada years ago, Trasporto was recently hired to bring back bowling glory to the Philippines, a tough task indeed.  He is the right man for the job though.  For years now, he has been included in the Bowler's Journal (one of the bibles of international bowling) Top 10 Most Noteworthy International Coaches and he was one of the first 13 to earn technical certification (on drilling bowling balls) by the IBPSIA.  Just how good is this guy?  When the top coaches around the world want to learn about drilling bowling balls, they learn from this guy and the manual he helped write.  When South Korea took him as technical coach, the country took in multiple world championships within a few months and then completely dominated the 2006 Doha Asian Games with 11 total medals.  Just how good is this coach?  I learn something new every time we talk. Every. Time.


 9.  Tim Cone - PBA Basketball

     The longest tenured basketball coach in Philippine history, Cone was brought into the Alaska/Hills Brothers franchise in 1989.  Since then, the former International School varsity player has led his team to multiple championships including a rare PBA "Grand Slam." (winning all three PBA championships in one year).  A proud disciple of the Triangle offense created by Tex Winter, Cone has also coached the Philippine National Team.  While I feel his reliance on the triangle has led to two of his teams losing championships after taking 2-0 leads, his achievements are more than enough to make you overlook it.


 8. Jeri Edwards - Bowling

     The first female Head Coach of Team USA, Edwards recently stepped down, leaving behind an awesome legacy for herself and Team USA.  In her tenure, USA took home several world championships, including a World Cup championship EVERY YEAR and the much-coveted World Championships gold medals in the team and masters events.  With all these achievements, what impressed me the most was when I coached side by side with her at the World Cup in Venezuela.  Calm, cool and collected, she coached eventual champion Diandra Asbaty by basically having a continuing conversation with her.  No shouting, no fancy talk, just a plain, old conversation then Bam! World Championship right there.


 7.  Norman Black (PBA/UAAP Basketball)

     First hired as an import, the former Detroit Piston found himself a home here in the Philippines as he translated his basketball knowledge into a coaching career.  Very scientific in his approach, Black engineered a San Miguel Beermen Team that became only the PBA's second "Grand Slam" winning team in history.  Then, he proceeded to move on to the Sta. Lucia Realtors where he got them their first PBA championship in franchise history.  As if those achievements were not enough, he changed his game, moved on to amateur basketball and then led the Ateneo Blue Eagles to multiple championships in the UAAP.  













6.  Red Auerbach (NBA Basketball)

     The Celtic legend, Auerbach was a part of the NBA's Boston Celtics franchise for over 57 years.  It was his stint as head coach, however, that is most remembered by most.  With his hiring in 1950, Red orchestrated a masterpiece of a team-oriented system which netted the Celtics 9 championships in 16 years.  This run also included a string of 8 straight championships.  Now that is what the dictionary calls domination.





5.  Phil Jackson (NBA Basketball)

     I have to admit that I was one of those Phil-haters before.  While people were raving about his astounding playoff winning percentage and three "three-peats" on two different teams (plus of course 10 NBA titles).  Like others, I believed that his wins came about only because he chose to coach teams with the league's most dominant players, making his achievements easier, and therefore less impressive.  Then, I had an epiphany.  If what he was doing was so easy, then, why didn't his teams with those dominant players in the roster win when he wasn't there?  The answer reveals where his greatness is.  His Zen-like manner has allowed him to be able to get the best from his great and dominant players, who are, most of the time, eccentric.  This ability has helped him coach (and coax) the most from enigmas like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Ron Artest.


 4.  Ron Jacobs (Basketball)


     A former US NCAA champion coach, Jacobs is most known for his work here in the Philippines.  Tasked by businessman Danding Cojuangco to develop Philippine basketball, Jacobs scoured the entire archipelago to find talented youngsters he could train.  He tirelessly honed his players into a team that would be known as arguably the greatest basketball team since the 1954 team that won bronze in the Olympics.  While Jacobs led his team to an undefeated run int he PBA, his most impressive feat would come when his team, which featured PBA greats Hector Calma, Allan Caidic and Samboy Lim, defeated a legitimate national US team, which featured NBA vets Paul Pressey, Joe Wolf and Kenny Gattison.  That would be the last Philippine team to defeat both China and US.  


 3.  Baby Dalupan (PBA/NCAA Basketball)


     Any Filipino basketball fan should know who Dalupan is.  The first "Grand Slam" coach of the PBA, Dalupan had a total of 601 career victories, a feat only eclipsed by Tim Cone.  While his multiple (15 total) titles are the biggest reasons the PBA Coach of the Year award is named after him, people might forget he was an astounding amateur coach too.  Dalupan won a total of 18 UAAP and Inter-collegiate titles for the University of the East.  Perhaps his most impressive trait is not his Xs and Os.  It is his humility.  In an event which was supposed to honor him on his 80th birthday, Dalupan commanded that the event shouldn't be a tribute to him but a "reunion," instead.  In all of his victories, he was always adamant about how it was never him making players great, it was his players that made him "what he was." 

2.  Freddie Roach (Boxing)

     Now easily the greatest boxing coach in the world, Roach continues to defer that title to his mentor Eddie Futch.  It's difficult to not consider him the best though, especially looking at his finest student, Manny Pacquiao, the pound for pound greatest boxer in the world.  For those scoffing at Roach for being a one trick pony should remember that Roach also trained other world champions (a total of 25 world championships, which includes current champ Amir Khan, and past champions like Virgil Hill.  Of course, his greatest achievement will always be Pacquiao, who he patiently converted from a wild puncher into a whirlwind of a technical fighter with a history-making 7 world championships in seven weight divisions.






1.  Jerry Sloan (NBA Basketball)

     Okay. People might want to crucify me for this, but it's not my fault I get sentimental.  The longest-tenured professional coach in any sport in history, Sloan has been the NBA's Utah Jazz's leader for over two decades now.  In this tremendously long tenure of over twenty seasons, Sloan has steered the Jazz to 19 playoff appearances, including 10 seasons with 50 wins or more and three with 60 wins or more.  Sloan has also compiled a run of 13 consecutive winning percentages and a winning percentage of 60.4 percent.  Despite all this though, Sloan has never been given a Coach of the Year Award. Sure, he has never won an NBA Title, but using that as an excuse to overlook his greatness is an absolute travesty, especially when you consider this.  Coaching for a long time is an achievement in itself, but what is truly great is that each of his teams play with the same toughness and execution that he demands and that can only prove how great a coach he really is.  Any person who has given coaching a try will attest to how difficult it is to coach players and draw the best of all of his players year after year for over twenty years.  While the NBA has snubbed Coach Sloan, From the FIfty Peso Seats will give him his due and make him number one.  I do have support you know.

photos courtesy of alaskaaces.com.ph, francis gil perez photography, nba.com, getty images, ball don't lie and frederick nacino