World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE Backstage interviewer (1999–2003) Coachman began his
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) career as an interviewer, commentator, and presenter on
SmackDown! on January 13, 2000. Coachman was also involved in occasional segments with
The Rock, in which The Rock attempted to humiliate Coachman in any form possible, whether it was forcing him to sing, dance, or smile for the camera. The Rock also accused Coachman of performing rather lewd activities with farm animals. During winter of 2001, Coachman was pressed into service as a
sideline reporter for regional telecasts of the WWF-owned
XFL, initially serving on the same broadcast team as WWF commentators
Jim Ross and
Jerry Lawler.
Commentator and Assistant to Eric Bischoff (2003–2006) The Coach made a
heel turn against
Shane McMahon on August 24, 2003, at
SummerSlam. After this he would have an on-screen role as the "lackey" to then General Manager of
Raw,
Eric Bischoff. The Coach continued to work as a heel and later teamed up with his fellow
WWE Heat announcer
Al Snow in a storyline feud against the
Raw announce team,
Jerry Lawler and
Jim Ross. This feud would even see the pair win the right to announce the main show from Ross and Lawler at one point, as The Coach and Snow defeated Ross and Lawler at
Unforgiven. Later, The Coach achieved a singles victory on pay-per-view at
Backlash, in 2004 by defeating
Tajiri (albeit with the assistance of
Garrison Cade). The Coach would go on to host the 2004 and 2005
Raw Diva Searches. Later, The Coach would gain his own column in the now defunct
Raw Magazine ("Coach's Corner") and his own webcast on
WWE.com ("CoachCast"). Coachman was officially added as the third member to the
Raw broadcast team and signed a multi-year contract with WWE in 2005. During October 2005, The Coach was involved in an
angle involving the McMahon Family publicly firing Jim Ross due to the actions of Ross's friend,
Steve Austin. The firing of Ross gave The Coach the position of lead announcer on
Raw. The storyline would culminate in a match at
Taboo Tuesday where Austin was scheduled to face The Coach in a match with both Austin's and Ross's jobs on the line. Though the match was originally scheduled to be Austin versus The Coach, Austin refused to participate because of issues he had with the storyline (the original story was said to have called for Austin to lose following a
run-in by the returning
Mark Henry).
World Heavyweight Champion Batista was renamed the opponent to play up the
SmackDown! vs.
Raw storylines. On the October 31, 2005 edition of
Raw, Batista came out and accepted the match only to be attacked by The Coach's backup, the returning
Goldust and
Vader. At Taboo Tuesday, Batista faced off against The Coach in a fan-voted Street Fight. Vader and Goldust tried to interfere in the match, but Batista won. However, no mention of the Jim Ross stipulation was ever mentioned after the match. Former
ECW announcer
Joey Styles soon replaced The Coach in a move that became permanent despite The Coach's on-air protestations that Styles' presence was temporary. The Coach retained a prominent role on the Raw announcing team as the heel representative of a three-man booth with Styles, the play-by-play man, and
Jerry "The King" Lawler, the babyface
color commentator. On the January 23, 2006 edition of
Raw, The Coach defeated Lawler to win the last Raw spot in the
Royal Rumble match via interference from the debuting
Spirit Squad. The Coach would enter seventh during the match only to be eliminated almost immediately by
Big Show.
Executive Assistant and Interim General Manager (2006–2007) During the April 24 edition of
Raw, after Coachman hosted a Divas bikini contest,
Viscera came down to the ring and performed the
Viscagra on Coachman. During the commercial break of that show, still in the ring, he quit in protest of his treatment on Raw. On the May 29 edition of
Raw, it was revealed that
Mr. McMahon had hired Coachman under the new position of McMahon's
Executive Assistant; to aid McMahon in the daily running of the
Raw brand, and actually acted as the General Manager when the McMahons were absent. While Executive Assistant, Coachman, along with the McMahons, feuded with the reformed
D-Generation X and also had issues with
John Cena. On June 18, 2007, Coachman was officially named Interim General Manager of
Raw by the McMahon Family following the kayfabe death of Vince McMahon in a limo explosion. On the August 6, 2007 edition of Raw,
William Regal became the new
General Manager on the Raw
brand after winning a
battle royal featuring other participants from the Raw roster. As a result, Coachman was removed from his position as Interim General Manager and became Regal's new assistant. On the October 1 edition of
Raw, Regal returned as General Manager which resulted in Coachman being once again demoted to his prior rank. On the December 3, 2007 edition of
Raw, Coach was in a
No DQ Handicap match with
Carlito against
Hornswoggle, with whom he had been having problems. However, Hornswoggle had paid the
APA to protect him during the match. Coachman was pinned by Hornswoggle after a
Clothesline from Hell and a
Tadpole Splash. A rivalry ensued and one night Coachman chased Hornswoggle all over the backstage area, and it eventually moved to the arena, where Hornswoggle performed his "hide under the ring" trick to get away. Coachman moved to the other side of the ring and pulled out a
detonator, much to the surprise of
Jim Ross. He attempted to activate the detonator twice, but nothing happened. He then moved under the ring to check the explosives, and Hornswoggle came out from under the ring, and successfully detonated the explosives, causing smoke to appear from under the ring, and the cameras to make television screens change color, from gray to rainbow, and according to Ross, the building shook. Coachman was charred and unable to move.
SmackDown commentator and departure (2008) On the January 4, 2008 episode of
SmackDown!, Coachman would replace
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), who rejoined
Raw the previous week, on commentary alongside
Michael Cole. Later that year in June, Coachman's contract expired after he decided not to renew it.
Return to WWE Part-time appearances (2016–2018) On March 25, 2016, Coachman made a special appearance during WWE's live event held at
Madison Square Garden. On the March 28 episode of
Raw, Coachman returned to WWE television for the first time in almost 8 years, cutting a promo with
The New Day. Coachman would also announce that
SportsCenter would be live leading up to
WrestleMania 32 on April 3. On the January 22, 2018, episode of
Raw 25 Years, Coachman would appear in a backstage segment with
Raw general manager
Kurt Angle and other past WWE talent,
Harvey Wippleman,
The Brooklyn Brawler,
Theodore Long,
Brother Love and
The Boogeyman.
Raw commentator and Pre-show host (2018–21) On January 29, 2018, Coachman re-signed with WWE, joining the
Raw commentary team alongside
Michael Cole and
Corey Graves, replacing
Booker T as color commentator. On September 10, Coachman would leave the
Raw commentary team, being replaced by
Renee Young, with Coachman becoming the new pre-show panel host for pay-per-views. Coachman also served as pregame host for the
2020 incarnation of the XFL. Coachman left WWE and the XFL in 2021, stating that he had expected to be reimbursed for his travel expenses but never was due to the XFL's bankruptcy. ==Sports broadcasting career==