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.
