Whatever Happened To The Cast Of Coach?

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One of the most popular sitcoms of the 1990s, "Coach" found laughs while exploring the life of a college football coach who put his all into leading Minnesota State University's Screaming Eagles to the championship while trying to be a good dad, coming to terms with his daughter growing up, and learning how to be more open to his emotions. The hit ABC series, which ran for nine seasons from 1989 to 1997, kept things light, focusing on problems that could be solved within a 24-minute timeframe, and focused on Coach Hayden Fox's attempt to keep up a tough-guy persona in front of his team while being a loving husband and father at home. 

With the help of his two co-workers and closest friends, the not very bright Luther Van Dam and even dimmer bulb Michael "Dauber" Dybinski, Coach Fox often found himself in over his head, something that endeared him and the rest of the cast in the hearts and minds of the audience. While "Coach" ended decades ago, it continues to find new fans through streaming and syndication. And while the actors left their roles behind after nine seasons, their careers — and lives — continued well after the final episode aired. 

Craig T. Nelson started his career as a comedian in the 1970s and joined The Groundlings, but it never felt right to him. For a time, he left the world of entertainment behind and moved into a log cabin in Mount Shasta, taking any job he could get. But when his old comedy pal Barry Levinson asked him to be in a movie he was making, 1979's "And Justice for All," Nelson decided to give it the old college try. This time, things worked out. He was cast in more movies, most notably 1982's "Poltergeist," and his career took off. Starring in the hit horror movie got Nelson more roles, but they were almost all dramas, and his heart was in comedy. When "Coach" came around, the actor jumped at the chance.

After "Coach" ended, Nelson continued to work in film and TV, and starred in four seasons of the police procedural "The District." Just as that series wrapped up, he found himself landing another iconic role, voicing Bob Parr — aka Mr. Incredible– in Pixar's animated superhero movie, "The Incredibles," in 2004. Along with two sequels to "The Incredibles," Nelson also worked alongside Diane Keaton in "The Family Stone" (2005) and Ryan Reynolds in "The Proposal" (2009). More recent roles include playing Dale Ballard on "The Big Bang Theory" prequel "Young Sheldon" from 2019 to 2024. He reprised the role in the show's sequel, "Georgie and Mandie's First Marriage," starting in 2024. He has also used his celebrity to speak out about the troubles he faced overcoming addictions to drugs and alcohol, hoping that his story will inspire others to get the help they need.

If you, or anyone you know, is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Shelley Fabares made her acting debut at just 11 in a TV production of "Our Town" with Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman. Three years later, she became a star when she joined the cast of "The Donna Reed Show," playing daughter Mary Stone. Along with being on the hit series, Fabares also became a singing sensation, releasing the 1962 album "Shelley!" with the hit song "Johnny Angel. After "The Donna Reed Show" ended in 1964, Fabares struggled to be seen as more than the young girl she played for six years. She explained to the Orlando Sentinel that, while being on a hit sitcom for so long helped her become a better actor, "I had no formal training and the older I got the more aware of that I became. And that only made me secure enough to try only the things I knew how to do."

Fabares later found success playing Francine on "One Day at a Time," telling "That's Classic" that the character let her break out of the "nice girl" roles she had played before: "I played a really nasty, self-involved person who presented herself as being really nice, but was deadly." In 1989, Fabares was cast in "Coach," playing Christine Armstrong, a new anchor who dates — and later marries — Craig T. Nelson's Coach Fox.

Not long after the show wrapped, Fabares was hospitalized for progressive liver failure in 1999 and received a transplant in 2000. After that, she voiced Ma Kent in a few animated Superman projects, but otherwise stepped away from acting. Shelley Fabares died in August at the age of 82 and was lovingly remembered by her former co-star, Craig T. Nelson.

The younger brother of Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Van Dyke started off doing stand-up comedy while still in high school. After serving in the military, he hosted his own TV variety series, "The Jerry Van Dyke Show," almost a decade before his brother's hit sitcom debuted. When "The Dick Van Dyke Show" began, Jerry made appearances playing, naturally, Dick's younger brother. This led to Jerry being offered the lead role in "Gilligan's Island," which he turned down for "My Mother the Car." 

"My Mother the Car" lasted just two seasons, but Van Dyke didn't struggle to find work, making guest appearances on countless shows and returning to stand-up comedy, becoming a regular headliner at the Playboy Clubs and in Las Vegas. In 1989, he landed the role he is best remembered for: the loyal but not very bright Luther Van Dam on "Coach."

After the show wrapped, Van Dyke kept acting but didn't have any major projects. He went back to making guest appearances on shows such as "Raising Hope" and "My Name Is Earl." He also had recurring roles in the sitcoms "Yes, Dear" and "The Middle," in which he got to appear alongside his brother. Jerry Van Dyke died in 2018.

Bill Fagerbakke's career was just starting when he landed the role of Michael "Dauber" Dybinski on "Coach." Before joining the hit show, Fagerbakke appeared in the Michael J. Fox movie, "The Secret of My Success" (1987), and "Funny Farm" (1988) with Chevy Chase. Proving that he could do more than comedy, Fagerbakke played Tom Cullen in the Steven King TV mini-series "The Stand" (1994) and became a popular voice actor, playing Broadway on the Disney animated series "Gargoyles"  from 1994 to 1997. In 1997, the same year "Coach" ended, Fagerbakke landed the role that has become his most famous: the lovably goofy Patrick Star on "SpongeBob SquarePants."

Fagerbakke has voiced Patrick ever since, taking part in over 300 episodes of the animated series, as well as "The Patrick Star Show" and four "SpongeBob" movies, not to mention the countless specials and video games. He and SpongeBob actor Tom Kenny even performed as commentators for Super Bowl LVIII. Even after playing Patrick for decades, the first "SpongeBob" episode is still Fagerbakke's favorite. He told Buzzfeed that the first time he saw the finished product, "I felt like I had just watched one of the greatest cartoons I'd ever seen."

When he isn't spending time at Bikini Bottom, Fagerbakke fits in live-action roles, most notably playing Jason Segel's father on "How I Met Your Mother." In recent years, Fagerbakke has stopped auditioning for new roles. While he occasionally makes an appearance somewhere unexpected, such as appearing in a few episodes of "Young Sheldon" from 2021 to 2023, Patrick is his focus. As he told YouTuber JaMonkey in 2022, "Why would I want to stress over some guest spot on 'Law and Order?' I'm just enjoying this, and I'm loving every minute of it."