Why are most sports coaches Republican?

Politics & Elections
1

There is nothing wrong with being a Republican, it is a free country, do as you please. There is a two-party system.

But why are most sports coaches Republican or have that Republican vibe? Especially MLB, NHL, and NFL coaches? Some NBA coaches are as well, especially the white ones?

Even some white female coaches have a GOP-vibe?

2

Can you actually provide any sort of proof of your premise? Some poll or study?

If you are correct, it is probably about money, a majority of people that meet the criteria for Upper-Class are Republican.

3
  1. Most of them fit the demographics of “likelier to be Republican” to begin with: White, male, around age 50 or older, wealthy. For the same reason that many white, rich, male accountants, executives, airline captains, engineers, doctors may also be Republicans.
  2. Professional sports is, by its nature, inherently conservative (this isn’t to say that the *people *involved are conservative, but that *sports *itself tends to be conservative.) It’s a brutal meritocracy; no affirmative action, whoever plays best will usually rise to the top, whoever doesn’t play well will usually be mercilessly demoted after a while. Even a racist, white-supremacist head coach would have the brains to start an outstanding black wide receiver over a slow, plodding white wide receiver. Affirmative action that rewards some characteristic like race or background over actual talent, will be brutally exploited on the court/field. Pro sports is ruthlessly competitive, no excuses - out of 28-32 teams, only one will wind up with the championship trophy at season’s end. It is the very opposite of equality; there are clear haves (Patriots) and have-nots (Browns, Lions). That environment may tend to breed or further a conservative mindset in the coaches.
4

Money and age, as Republicans also tend to be older, and older Americans are more likely to identify as Republican.

5

I saw a list of famous republicans once. Since then I think that a pro sports career means you are 90% chance of being conservative.

6

It certainly doesn’t stop at pro sports. Look at Tommy Tuberville who can’t stop kissing Trump’s ass.

I was sickened by Bobby Bowden jumping on the Trump train.

I think a lot of it has to do with the mentality that if you just work harder, you’ll accomplish success. And, in the main sports in the USA many of the athletes come from lower class backgrounds. This guy made it unlike those lazy bums who didn’t want to work and got on welfare mentality.

7

The second point seems very naive, and pretty ignorant of the history of sports.

8

Mentioning football in particular, it’s worth noting that in high school/college football, especially in the South, the sport is very much wedded to conservatism, Christianity, and often small-town-ism. The whole thing is blended into the culture. The aggression and hard hitting of the sport may also have a factor.

Also, I think there is some geographical correlation between red/blue states and high school/college football presence. Sure, there are a few good liberal-state college teams like USC, Oregon, etc. but for a long time the football behemoth has been the SEC, the Deep Red South. High school football is huge in Texas and Oklahoma; it can draw tens of thousands of spectators. At the professional (NFL) level, the distinction is no longer there because it’s about big urban cities (NYC, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, etc.) rather than states or counties, but overall the sport of football has always had a big root in political conservatism.

9

In Texas it’s: God, Country and Friday night football. And not necessarily in that order.

10

Sports coaching relies on strict hierarchy and often authoritarian culture. People who score high in valuing these traits tend to vote conservative.

11

NBA players are more likely to be liberal than other sports. Probably because many of them are black. The San Antonio coach really dislikes Trump.

12

Yes.

Even some of the white players are liberal.

NFL coaches are very conservative, some of them, that is why they did not approve of Colin Kaepernick’s stances.

Former Jacksonville Jaguars VP Tom Coughlin didn’t even want him on his team.

13

Authoritarianism goes both ways. They are a lot of left-wing authoritarians.

14

The GOP tried to get Mike Ditka to run for Senate in IL against Obama. He said he was very, very, right wing.

15

A lot?

Right-wing authoritarianism includes this quote:

“There have been a number of other attempts to identify “left-wing authoritarians” in the United States and Canada. These would be people who submit to leftist authorities, are highly conventional to liberal viewpoints and are aggressive to people who oppose left-wing ideology. These attempts have failed because measures of authoritarianism always correlate at least slightly with the right. However, left-wing authoritarians were found in Eastern Europe. There are certainly extremists across the political spectrum, but most psychologists now believe that authoritarianism is a predominantly right-wing phenomenon.”

16

It goes both ways. Fidel Castro, Evo Morales etc. are leftwing authoritarians.

17

So then sports coaches in Cuba would probably align with Communism politically. What’s your point?

You asked about coaches aligning with Republican politics, which is US centric last I checked. Yet now you are flogging this leftist communism argument. Talk about moving the goalposts!

18

This article implies point 2 is part of it.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2009/09/02/why_football_coaches_vote_republican_220545.html

19

Not to mention the history of conservatism.

20

I was going to say something very like this. I think he has nailed it.