Coach of the Year

I was going through the $1 DVD bin and saw a football movie so I bought it! This 1980 made for TV movie is about a former Chicago Bears player named Jim Branden (played by Robert Conrad) who was paralyzed in the Vietnam War and now wants to coach. The Bears won't give him a coaching job so he ends up coaching a team at a juvenile correctional school, where his nephew resides. The kids there have horrible attitudes at first and lose their first game, which is against an exquisite private school. But Branden eventually wins the respect of his players, who unify around him and work hard to win the rematch. I find the movie to be a little too predictable down the stretch but it's a decent light drama and worth the dollar. As a nice bonus, Mike Post contributes some good music. 6/10.

I received this movie in a pack called "50 all-star Movies" for $18 (45 cents each). Many are good. This one was terrible. It was a hackneyed retread done 1000 times before and each time better. A crippled ex-jock is dared to coach a team made up of juvenile delinquents. They learn from him that they can make it if they play by the rules. I'm sure the kids and the locals were thrilled to be included in a "real TV movie", but I can't imagine what the folks that launched and produced this project figured they could bring to this already over beaten subject. I kept waiting to see that 'new twist' or 'new angle' but, honest, it doesn't come. Avoid this movie. Forget about the 45 cents, I want the 96 minutes of my life back.

I don't know if this type of movie was as cliché then as it seems to be now.

Considering how many "Bad News Bears" films had already been released by 1980, however, I think that this sort of movie was already a tired idea.

A former football player is partially paralyzed in Vietnam and is confined to a wheelchair. The Chicago Bears offer him a PR job but he wants to coach. At the same time, his underage nephew is picked up for armed robbery. We are told that he has already been arrested over a dozen times before and he must now serve some hard time...which turns out to be less than a year!

Of course, the kid is actually a good kid who only needs a tough male role model in his life. The same goes for all of the kids in the detention facility. Yes...even the one locked up for attempted murder! I'm sure you already know what happens so I'll try and keep the rest of this brief.

Our protagonist becomes the coach of the kids' football team. He overcomes the delinquents' cynicism and earns their respect. His team faces off against a local high school team (yeah right!) and they get their butts kicked. Now determined more than ever to prove himself a worthy coach, he demands a rematch. Will these underprivileged, scrappy kids with hearts of gold be able to improve enough to win the rematch? Awful execution of the football sequences ruins any possibility of excitement in this film. "Coach Of The Year" should get penalized for roughing my brain. 1/10

"Coach of the Year" is one of many films about returning Vietnam War veterans adjusting in life. A number of others also had handicapped veterans, such as Jim Brandon in this film. Robert Conrad plays the paraplegic veteran who gets a job as football coach for the juvenile boys prison in Illinois. The film is about his struggles to make a life for himself and to be accepted and lead these kids in something meaningful.

This is such a familiar plot that many may find it way over-used. If the story and screenplay were anything special, and/or the acting was superb, it might be a noteworthy film in this genre. But neither of those situations apply here. So, this is a so-so film that most people may find tolerable at best.

Like another reviewer, my wife bought this movie as part of a 20 movie family pack. I guess you could say that this was a decent made-for-TV movie for 1980, but it is super-predictable and the acting, except for Robert Conrad, is generally sub-par. The football scenes are nothing special and seem to mainly act as filler for the movie. The movie is very dated now, but a decent remake could probably make this into a good movie. However, is that really necessary? I mean, how many "underdog sports team works together for the big game with the undefeated guys" movies do we really need? This is probably a good movie for your younger kids if you find it in the bargain bin, but a sports movie buff will find it lacking.