bench coach

noun

1

sports : a coach (as in basketball or hockey) who actively manages the game and the players (as by directing strategy and making substitutions) from the bench area

And Bowman, who got nearly $2 million to coach the next two years, is arguably the greatest bench coach ever.

—Jeff Gordon, Hockey Digest, November 1993

Calipari has a track record as a bench coach and recruiter, making his reputation by lifting UMass out of the abyss to a Final Four in 1996 before becoming the coach of the New Jersey Nets in 1996.

—Dick Weiss, Daily News (New York), 31 Mar. 2009

2

baseball : a coach who functions as the manager's primary assistant and who advises the manager on strategy and tactics during games

Currently he is the Yankees' bench coach, whose job during games consists of sitting next to manager Joe Torre and dispensing advice based on intuition—intuition that distills more than half a century of experience.

—George F. Will, Newsweek, 3 Apr. 2000

Word History

First Known Use

1905, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Love words?

You must — there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one that’s only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

Start your free trial today and get unlimited access to America's largest dictionary, with:

• More than 250,000 words that aren't in our free dictionary
• Expanded definitions, etymologies, and usage notes
• Advanced search features
• Ad free!