Bad Players That Made for Great Coaches
by Richard Janvrin,
October 30, 2025
Throughout sports history, numerous professional players have transitioned from playing careers to coaching after their playing days.
There are multiple career paths after a player is done playing, and coaching may be appealing to some because, after all, there are those who had stellar careers and want to pass that knowledge on to the next generation.
However, that’s not always the case. We’ve seen it across all major sports: legends or highly productive players’ attempts to coach teams and simply cannot find anywhere near the success they had as players.
Conversely, there could be a lifetime below-average player who becomes a fantastic coach.
Below, we’ll examine five examples of the “bad player, good coach” dynamic and also look at some that were on the other side, meaning “good player, bad coach.”
Let’s examine.
Tony La Russa
La Russa is best known for his stint as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, during which he won two World Series with the club. However, his managerial career spanned from 1979 to 2022.
He began his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1979 and was there until 1986.
Then, he became the manager of the Oakland Athletics from 1986 to 1995, leading them to a World Series title in 1989 against the San Francisco Giants in a four-game sweep. That team featured Hall of Fame legends like Dennis Eckersley, Rickey Henderson, and Dave Parker.
This also marked La Russa’s first World Series title. It would also be his only one until 2006, when he won it with St. Louis, and he did so again in 2011, which was his final year as their manager.
After a nearly decade-long hiatus, he went back to where he started, coaching the White Sox in 2021 and 2022.
He was a four-time Manager of the Year, the Cardinals retired his No. 10, and he’s in both the Athletics and Cardinals Hall of Fame.
How was La Russa as a player, though? Well, as you’d expect from reading this article, it didn’t go well.
He made his Big League debut in 1963 and was slated to play the entire season with the then-Kansas City Athletics. However, he later suffered a shoulder injury playing softball with his friends and played just 34 games.
Over the next six or so seasons, he played in the minor leagues before returning in 1968 with the A’s. He was with them until he was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 1971.
From there, he didn’t make it back to the majors until 1973 with the Chicago Cubs.
So, after playing roughly six seasons, how did he do?
La Russa had 203 career plate appearances. He hit .199, had a .292 on-base percentage, and a .250 slugging percentage.
Over his career, he had 35 hits, including no home runs and just seven runs batted in.
He posted a lifetime WAR of -0.6, meaning almost anyone would’ve been a better option than him when in the lineup and on the field.
La Russa made up for it with an incredible managerial run, though.
La Russa was the exact opposite of a “great player, terrible coach.”
Phil Jackson
Jackson spent over four decades in the NBA as a player and coach, and let’s just say he didn’t earn his nickname “Zen Master” for his playing days.
Jackson began his coaching tenure in 1978 as an assistant for the New Jersey Nets.
He spent some time in the now-defunct Continental Basketball Association as the head coach of the Albany Patroons.
He eventually returned to the NBA and landed his first head coaching gig in 1989 with the Chicago Bulls, just before the franchise exploded into a dynasty with Michael Jordan.
He was the head ball coach of the Bulls from 1989 to 1998. He won six NBA titles with them. He then moved on to the Los Angeles Lakers, taking over for Kurt Rambis. However, Rambis stayed on as an assistant.
During his tenure with the Lakers from 1999 to 2004 and again from 2005 to 2011. He won five titles with them in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2010.
He coached players such as Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol, and many other legends.
He won Coach of the Year in 1996 and is rated one of the Top 10 coaches in NBA history by the media. He won 11 total NBA titles.
As a player, Jackson played 12 seasons for the New York Knicks and two for the New Jersey Nets.
In 807 career games, he averaged less than 18 minutes, 6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. He won two NBA titles in 1970 and 1973.
He was a decent role player, but far from the caliber of his coaching abilities. He’s the exact opposite of “good player, bad coach.”
Chuck Noll
Noll had a storied NFL coaching career, spending time as a defensive line coach, defensive coordinator, and backfield coach before becoming a head coach.
He was with the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers from 1960 to 1961 as a defensive line coach and took over as the defensive coordinator and backfield coach from 1962 to 1965.
In 1966, he landed the same roles with the Baltimore Colts until 1968.
Noll then took over as the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969. He was there until 1991.
As the head coach of the Steelers, he won four Super Bowls from 1974 to 1979.
In the regular season, he went 193-148-1 and 16-8 in the postseason.
His 193 regular-season wins are the ninth-most in NFL history, and he’s enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But what was Noll like as a player?
He was drafted in the 20th round and 239th overall pick of the 1953 NFL Draft out of Dayton.
Noll played both linebacker and guard at the NFL level. However, he was referred to as one of the “messenger guards,” tasked with sending plays to the quarterback. He was paid just $5,000 per season and had to also take on the roles of substitute teacher and insurance salesman.
It wasn’t all bad, though: he did have eight interceptions as a linebacker.
He retired at 27 years old. This is one of the prime examples of “bad player, good coach” in sports history.
Barry Trotz
Looking to the NHL, we have Trotz, whose head coaching career spanned from 1998 to 2022.
He coached the Nashville Predators until the completion of the 2013-14 season before taking over the same role for the Washington Capitals from the 2014-15 season until 2017-18.
In his final season with the Capitals, they won the Stanley Cup, going 49-26 and 16-8 in the playoffs.
This was right around the time players could access the best NFL sportsbooks following the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act being overturned.
After that Stanley Cup winning season, he was the head coach for the New York Islanders from the 2018-19 season until the 2021-22 campaign. He left the Capitals after a contract dispute.
Over his coaching career, Trotz coached in 1,196 games. He went 557-479-60 during the regular season. In the playoffs, he went 83-79.
As a player, Trotz was a defenseman in junior hockey with the Regina Pats of the WHL and the Dauphin Kings of the MJHL. He never quite made it to the NHL, but did manage to win a championship at the WHL level.
Good Player, Bad Coach Examples
On the flip side of “bad player, good coach,” let’s quickly examine examples of “good player, bad coach” to illustrate the juxtaposition.
We’ll look at one from each sport.
- Magic Johnson (NBA): Johnson filled in for Randy Pfund and Bill Bertka as an interim head coach. It was a tough spot, but he went just 5-11 and resigned from the role. As a player, he won five titles, was a three-time MVP and three-time Finals MVP, and holds numerous records, including the most playoff assists (2,346) and the most playoff triple-doubles (30). He’s the poster child for awesome athletes who were bad coaches.
- Wayne Gretzky (NHL): Known as The Great One, Gretzky holds dozens of NHL records. He held the most goals record until it was broken in 2024-25 by Alexander Ovechkin. As the head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes for four seasons, he compiled a record of 143-161, never advanced to the postseason, and never finished above fourth place in their division. He was more than a “great player, terrible coach.” He’s the greatest NHL player to ever live.
- Ted Williams (MLB): A lifetime .344 hitter who hit .406 in 1941, Williams, a Hall of Fame player for the Boston Red Sox, tried his hand at being a manager. He was one for four seasons with the Washington Senators (three) and Texas Rangers (one). He went 273-346, experiencing just one winning season. A “great player, terrible coach” is an understatement.
- Bart Starr (NFL): A legendary quarterback who led the Green Bay Packers to wins in Super Bowl 1 and 2, Starr was the head coach for the Packers from 1975 to 1983. He went 52-76-3 in the regular season and just 1-1 in the playoffs. He’s among the list of “good athletes, bad coaches.”