Coach Wade

Benjamin "Coach" Wade is a contestant from , , and .
Considered one of the most recognizable and polarizing castaways in history, Coach made a name for himself with his unorthodox ways. Describing himself as "the Dragon Slayer," he boasted of his accomplishments in a variety of esoteric hobbies, including zen meditation, classical music, and women's soccer coaching, and preened himself on his honorable tactics despite being caught in numerous lies and betraying several of his tribemates.
In Tocantins, Coach annoyed his tribemates with his behavior, but managed to endear himself to his allies Debbie Beebe and Tyson Apostol, allowing him to rise to power in the Timbira tribe. Even as the Timbira Alliance's control of the game evaporated after the merge, Coach remained close to power, establishing a working relationship with Jalapao power players J.T. Thomas and Stephen Fishbach. However, after losing his closest allies and a trip to , he was melodramatically voted out at the final five.
Little had changed about Coach by the time he participated in Heroes vs. Villains. Again, he overcame his idiosyncrasies to form a tight relationship with Jerri Manthey; together, they became the swing votes pivotal in eliminating Rob Mariano, handing control of the Villains tribe to Russell Hantz. This decision also proved fatal strategically, as he was blindsided at the following Tribal Council by his former allies in a charge led by Sandra Diaz-Twine. He finished in 12th place.
Appearing a third time in South Pacific, Coach had finally learned from his past mistakes. This time, his posture as a trustworthy figure was more convincing. He managed to form a long-lasting alliance on the very first night of the game, and thanks to an impressive display of empathy, convinced John Cochran to flip to his alliance at the merge. His alliance and strong strategic play would take him to the Final Three. However, his inability to own his decisions at the Final Tribal Council caused him to lose to Sophie Clarke in a 6-3-0 vote, thus finishing as runner-up.
==Profile==
Retrieved from CBS.com
<tabber>Tocantins=
Benjamin "Coach" Wade (37)
Hometown: Bolivar, Mo.
Occupation: Soccer Coach
Benjamin Wade is known by many names. As the head women's soccer coach at the Southwest Baptist University in Missouri, he is called "Coach Wade," but he also goes by "Maestro" due to role as an artistic director and conductor of a California symphony orchestra. A skilled musician, Benjamin was traveling the world playing the trumpet before most kids could even spell "trumpet."
Wade sees coaching as another form of manipulation. "You have to find out what everybody wants, what everybody needs, what they think they want, what think they need and then you have to be the person that solves everything." He knows these skills will be valuable in the game of Survivor.
If Benjamin was asked to wear just one hat, it would be that of "Renaissance Man." Aside from setting the world record for the longest solo kayak expedition on the ocean (an amazing 6,132 miles), Wade has also been attacked by a tiger shark, stalked by a jaguar in the Amazon and has been bitten by a piranha on his right hand. To say that he is a Type A, Alpha male, who likes to control the environment around him may just be an understatement. Coach's dominant personality will be a force to be reckoned with in the game.
Benjamin is single and currently splits his time in Bolivar, Mo, and Susanville, Calif. His birth date is September 18.http://web.archive.org/web/20230128192303/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/23301/
==Survivor==
===Tocantins===
Coach's appearance inspired some strong first impressions from other contestants, and he was excited when host Jeff Probst announced that both tribes would vote someone out right away on Day 1, eager to "get rid of the weak players before we even start". He formed the Timbira Alliance before the merge with Tyson Apostol (whom he called his assistant coach) and Debbie Beebe, and quickly took control of the Timbira tribe. Coach's leadership style and personality did make him a few enemies in Candace Smith and Erinn Lobdell, the latter claiming that Brendan Synnott made a better leader. Though Coach succeeded in voting out Candace, Erinn was spared when Jerry Sims fell ill and Timbira won the remaining pre-merge challenges. Brendan rivaled Coach's influence in the game, setting the stage for a power struggle that wouldn't be resolved until the merge.
After the merge he made new allies with former Jalapao members Stephen Fishbach (who he called "The Wizard") and J.T. Thomas (who he called "The Warrior"). Together with previous allies Debbie and Tyson, the five became the "Power Alliance", reflecting Coach's philosophy to take the strongest players to the end. J.T. and Stephen were happy to go along with it, but as they pulled in outsider Erinn, they remained most loyal to her and original tribemate Taj.
The night Joe Dowdle was medevaced, Coach told the tribe his story about the time he was kidnapped by indigenous people when kayaking in the Amazon. The story shocked everyone, and even his closest allies questioned the authenticity of the story, though no one other than Brendan responded to ask some clarifying questions. At that point, Brendan decided he could no longer trust Coach. After Coach claimed he had prior experience breaking tiles in the Day 22 Reward Challenge, Probst would go on to playfully comment on Coach's experiences in his subsequent failures to win Reward Challenges, in particularly that one when the reward was kayaking. Coach labeled Brendan as "The Dragon" and Coach named himself the Dragon Slayer, and fulfilled this title on Day 24 when Brendan was voted out 4-3-2. 
After Brendan's elimination, Timbira continued to cave from within and Coach was a key reason for that. He constantly told Sierra Reed that she was the next to go, claiming the noble thing to do was to "fall on her sword like the Samurai". At this point, Coach became very comfortable in his position to the point that he sat out of the Day 27 Immunity Challenge for pizza and beer, which nearly proved costly as Sierra almost won. Though Debbie ultimately prevailed, Coach's plan to vote out Sierra was interrupted by the Jalapao contingent and Erinn opting to blindside physical threat Tyson instead. This blindside let to a brief attempt to try to rekindle a Timbira strong gameplan, but at that point Coach and Debbie's relationships with Sierra and Erinn were irreparable. Things did not improve even after Coach won immunity on Day 30 and finally sent Sierra home, as Debbie began to distance herself from Coach as well.
Though Debbie targeted him on Day 33, Coach was spared as the Jalapao Three saw Debbie as the bigger threat. The following day, Coach cited various health issues asked J.T and Coach to send Taj and Erinn to  despite admitting the noble choice would be to send J.T. or himself since they were the only ones left that haven't gone. J.T. won the Reward Challenge and referenced that nobility in sending Coach to Exile Island. Coach once again listed his injuries and conditions but also declared he would not eat or sleep, which angered Erinn as she felt that he was minimizing her previous Exile Island experience. On Exile Island, Coach cherished the opportunity and claimed that it made him more of a man. A weakened Coach, now with a cane, approached the Immunity Challenge on Day 36, only to push J.T. to the limit in an endurance showdown. J.T. came out on top, but not without Coach audibly struggling and collapsing, the dramatics of which annoyed Erinn and Taj who were skeptical of his antics. Coach pushed for Erinn to go, which J.T. and Stephen had considered given her rude comments toward Coach in the last few days. J.T. planned on voting for Erinn anyway to keep his promise to Coach, leaving Stephen as the swing vote. At Tribal Council, Coach claimed the vote would not be a blindside as "women have good intuition", confident Erinn's fate was sealed, and read a poem he wrote just before the vote. Coach was ultimately voted out on Day 36 since Stephen decided to put his alliance with J.T., Taj Johnson-George, and Erinn ahead of the one he had with Coach and J.T.
At the Final Tribal Council, Coach asked J.T. and Stephen for examples of honesty and integrity during later stages of the game and being the noble warrior. He respected J.T. more than he respected Stephen, so he voted for J.T. to win, writing "The Warrior" on his parchment and contributing to J.T.'s unanimous victory.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=10 	A River, Run Through It 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	
2 	Basket Brawl 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Blind Leading the Blind 	Reward 	No 	 	
3 	A Crate Idea 	Immunity 	No 	 	
4 	Shoulder the Load 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Try-Any-Angle 	Immunity 	No 	 	
5 	Dizziness as Usual 	Reward 	No 	 	
5 	Water Mortar 	Immunity 	No 	 	
7 	When Pigs Fly 	Reward 	No 	 	
7 	Sandstone Shootout 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan="6" 	 	 	 	 	
8 	rowspan=11 	Get a Grip 	Immunity 	 	
9 	Rock Block 	Reward 	 	 	
9 	Rope-a-Dope 	Immunity 	 	 	
10 	Swiss Cheese Please 	Reward 	 	 	
10 	Tocantins Shuffle 	Immunity 	Yes 	 	
11 	Jala-Powed 	Reward 	 	 	
11 	Snag, Drag and Bag 	Immunity 	 	 	
12 	Survivor Auction 	Survivor Auction 	Survivor Auction 	Survivor Auction 	
12 	Propellerheads 	Immunity 	 	 	
13 	Blind to Reason 	Reward 	 	 	
13 	Chimney Sweep 	Immunity 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pizza.	Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pizza.	Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pizza.	Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pizza.	Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pizza.	Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pizza.
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Coach'sVotes	Voted AgainstCoach
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
4 	 	
5 	 	
7 	 	
8 	colspan="2" 	
9 	 	
10 	 	
11 	 	
12 	 	
13 	 	
 	 	
Voted forSole Survivor	colspan="2" 	
</tabber>
===Heroes vs. Villains===
Coach was put on the villains tribe due to his behavior and gameplay in his original season. He got off on the right foot because of his strength in challenges and since he immediately found an ally in his tribemate Tyson Apostol. He was often seen as entertainment to the tribe, inviting the tribe to meditation sessions as well as climbing trees while Rob Mariano and Sandra Diaz-Twine debated whether or not he would reach the top. Coach also developed some feelings for Jerri Manthey but not much came out of it aside from building an alliance between them. At the first Tribal Council, Coach's feelings were hurt by Sandra's comments of how he was little more than a laughing stock, but after Tribal Council, Tyson comforted him and politely told him to stop wearing feathers in his hair. Coach was fine after that. Russell Hantz tried to recruit Coach in his alliance but during a Double Tribal Council on Day 15, Coach helped Rob in the split vote against Russell and Parvati Shallow. However the plan did not work thanks to Tyson switching his vote and Tyson was eliminated. The Villains would lose the next Immunity Challenge and despite Rob and Russell's alliances targeting Russell and Rob respectively, Coach insisted in voting off the weakest player, which in his perspective was Courtney Yates. At the next Tribal Council, Coach mentioned how Tyson bridged the divisions on this tribe. He would vote for Courtney, indirectly causing Rob to be voted out. Seeking revenge for Rob's elimination, Sandra told Russell that Coach was targeting him in an attempt to keep herself and Courtney in the game longer. Russell, Parvati, and Danielle went back and forth on whether to vote out Coach or Courtney, and the girls of the tribe (minus Jerri) voted out Coach, making him the 1st member of the jury.
At the Final Tribal Council, Coach praised Parvati's game play, called Russell a little man and told him that he would have been the strongest person in the game had he admitted he crossed a line, called Sandra a coattail rider, and criticized her for her weakness in challenges. He voted for Parvati to win along with the other Villains excluding Courtney, although Sandra became the Sole Survivor in a 6-3-0 vote.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=14 	Battle Dig 	Reward 	No 	
1 	Lock, Load and Light 	Immunity 	No 	 	
2 	A Crate Idea 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Sumo in Mud 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
4 	Slip, Slide & Score 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Roll With It 	Immunity 	No 	 	
5 	Schmergen Brawl 	Reward 	No 	 	
5 	Blind Cube Crisis 	Immunity 	No 	 	
6 	Rope-a-Dope 	Immunity 	No 	 	
6 	Rope-a-Dope 	Reward 	Yes 	 	
7 	Basket Brawl 	Reward 	No 	 	
7 	Caught in the Web 	Immunity 	No 	 	
8 	Fauxconut Bowling 	Reward 	No 	 	
8 	Mud Slide 	Immunity 	No 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
Notes: The tribes competed in separate individual Immunity Challenges where the winners from both tribes competed against each other for tribal reward.	Notes: The tribes competed in separate individual Immunity Challenges where the winners from both tribes competed against each other for tribal reward.	Notes: The tribes competed in separate individual Immunity Challenges where the winners from both tribes competed against each other for tribal reward.	Notes: The tribes competed in separate individual Immunity Challenges where the winners from both tribes competed against each other for tribal reward.	Notes: The tribes competed in separate individual Immunity Challenges where the winners from both tribes competed against each other for tribal reward.	Notes: The tribes competed in separate individual Immunity Challenges where the winners from both tribes competed against each other for tribal reward.
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Coach'sVotes	Voted AgainstCoach
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
4 	 	
5 	 	
6 	 	
7 	 	
8 	 	
 	 	
Voted forSole Survivor	colspan="2" 	
 In , Parvati used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Coach's vote against her.</tabber>
===South Pacific===
Coach came back for a third time with fellow returning player Ozzy Lusth. After the two were randomly assigned tribes, Coach was placed on the Upolu tribe where he was not well received by his tribemates, with his only friend being Edna Ma. He had a conflict with Christine Shields Markoski after Christine had openly declared on Day 1 that Coach and Ozzy were "temporary players". Due to Christine clearly not being on the same side as him, Coach targeted her and her ally Stacey Powell first and thanks to the alliance he created on the first night (consisting of Albert Destrade, Brandon Hantz, Rick Nelson, and Sophie Clarke) and with extra help from Edna, Christine and Stacey would be the first to go from the Upolu tribe. Coach was the first player to know about Brandon being Russell Hantz's nephew, and was the only one to know until Brandon revealed it to his whole tribe in during Tribal Council on Day 10. Coach had a shaky relationship with Brandon because Brandon trusted him more than anyone else at the tribe but at the same time Brandon proved to be an unstable and oversensitive player. Coach's first big decision came on Day 17, where Coach was upset at Mikayla Wingle for not listening to him during the Immunity Challenge, which ultimately lead to their defeat. Coach, Brandon, and Edna were set on voting out Mikayla, but Albert and Sophie thought that Edna deserved to go, since she was a weaker player. Coach did all he could to convince Rick that Edna should stay because Edna would blindly follow Coach, no matter what. In the end, Coach barely got his way, and Mikayla was voted off that night.
After Mikayla's departure, the remaining Upolu members, mainly thanks to Coach, became more unified and went into the merge ready to take down Savaii with the help of John Cochran, who respected Coach and did not really like his own tribe. At the Te Tuna tribe's first Tribal Council, Cochran decided to side against Savaii, which allowed Coach and the rest of Upolu to systematically eliminate them. By Day 28, the only Savaii members that remained were Cochran and Ozzy (the latter who had survived via ), and voting out other people became more difficult for Coach, since everyone truly trusted him and as much as he did not want to disappoint anyone, he had to. He stuck to his word by staying true to his original alliance, voting off Cochran first and then voted out Edna.
However, Coach and Ozzy made a deal when Coach visited Redemption Island on Day 31 as part of the Family Visit that the two would work together to go to the Final Three. Coach said that he made that promise because Ozzy is a truly noble player that he respects. Later on, Coach was annoyed that while the loved ones stayed at Redemption Island, Brandon's dad practically forced him into taking Brandon to the end and as much as he liked Brandon, he felt like he had to go. Coach was upset when Brandon won immunity, but then Brandon talked about giving immunity to Albert to forgive Albert and then Brandon, Albert, and Coach would vote out Sophie. But when Brandon gave his immunity to Albert at Tribal Council, Coach stuck to his own plans and voted out Brandon. Once Ozzy returned from Redemption Island, Coach was torn between his Upolu allies and his promise with Ozzy. Ozzy won Individual Immunity and with no choice but to turn on each other, Rick was voted out in a 3-2 vote. When Coach attempted to hug Rick, Rick angrily told him to sit down. In the final four when Sophie won immunity, Coach had one last big decision to make between voting off Albert or Ozzy. In the end, Coach made what he believed was the smarter decision and voted off Ozzy.
At the Final Tribal Council, most players respected Coach for playing a much better and stronger game than in his two previous seasons, but at the same time, they criticized him for preaching his honor code because he did play a deceptive game, and not owning his game. Coach received votes from Cochran, Edna, and Rick (at first thought to be from Brandon, Cochran, and Jim), which was enough to make him the runner-up of Survivor: South Pacific, behind Sole Survivor Sophie.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=8 	Thrilogy 	Reward 	No 	
1 	Coconut Conundrum 	Immunity 	No 	 	
2 	Crate Escape 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Hitching a Ride 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
4 	Shoulder the Load 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
5 	Pig Out 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
6 	Losing Face 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
7 	Family Ties 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan=6 	 	 	 	 	
8 	rowspan=10 	Coconut Cradle 	Immunity 	 	
9 	Get Crackin' 	Immunity 	 	 	
9 	Bow Diddley 	Immunity 	Yes 	 	
10 	Price On Your Head 	Immunity 	 	 	
10 	C.A.T. 	Immunity 	 	 	
12 	Second Chance 	Reward/Immunity 	 	 	
13 	Flip Out 	Immunity 	 	 	
14 	Batman Wall 	Reward/Immunity 	 	 	
15 	Teeter Tower 	Immunity 	 	 	
15 	Lei of the Land 	Immunity 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pastries and iced coffee. Albert shared his reward with Coach.	Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pastries and iced coffee. Albert shared his reward with Coach.	Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pastries and iced coffee. Albert shared his reward with Coach.	Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pastries and iced coffee. Albert shared his reward with Coach.	Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pastries and iced coffee. Albert shared his reward with Coach.	Notes: Coach elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pastries and iced coffee. Albert shared his reward with Coach.
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Coach'sVotes	Voted AgainstCoach
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
4 	 	
5 	 	
6 	 	
7 	 	
8 	 	
9 	 	
9 	 	
10 	 	
10 	 	
12 	 	
13 	 	
14 	 	
15 	 	
15 	 	
Jury Votesfor Coach	colspan="2" 	
 	 	
 In , the vote ended with a 6-6 tie between Keith and Rick, forcing a revote. Coach did not change his vote on the revote.</tabber>
==Post-Survivor==
* On January 9, 2010, Coach attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party along with all of his Heroes vs. Villains cast mates.
* Coach, along with Danielle DiLorenzo, starred in a movie called 180 that came out in 2011.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1979163/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_2
* Coach appeared in Survivor After Show show as a guest, with Parvati Shallow. He appeared on the show following , where he got a chance to speak with former South Pacific ally Brandon Hantz.
** Coach revealed on the Survivor After Show that he eloped and married a woman whom he wrote a ballet for. They have two children: Lenna (b. May 8, 2014)https://twitter.com/the_real_coach/statuses/464484786619162626 and Bekston (b. October 13, 2016)https://www.instagram.com/p/BLiCwu5DrHe/.
* In 2015, Coach resigned as as head coach of the Lake Tahoe Community College and retired from coaching soccer altogether.http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/southshore/ssportsoutdoors/19156502-113/wade-leaves-lake-tahoe-cc-mens-program-retires
* Coach was inducted to the Survivor Hall of Fame in 2015.
==Trivia==
* When Coach left the United States to film , he told his coworkers that he was having surgery for a rare form of brain cancer.
* Coach lost 31 lbs. during his time in Tocantins.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt8IlB509KI
* During , Coach routinely wrote numbers alongside his votes. These were 4, 18, 1, 7, and 15 which, when ran alongside the alphabet, spells "DRAGO" in an attempt to spell "DRAGONSLAYER" through his votes. Coach did not practice this during .
* Coach lost 22 lbs. during his time on Heroes vs. Villains.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69KvHyAUTTs
* Coach has experienced both and , but the latter was merely a visit as opposed to being voted out.
* Coach is the third castaway to compete more than once at the same location (in his case, Samoa), following Rupert Boneham (Panama) and Russell Hantz (also Samoa).
* Coach is the first returning player to compete on at least three seasons and win the first tribal Immunity Challenge each time. He would be followed by Tyson Apostol, Joe Anglim, Amber Mariano, and Sarah Lacina.
* Coach is the first returning player to reach the Final Tribal Council without receiving a single vote throughout the season.
** Amanda Kimmel reached the Final Tribal Council without any counted votes against her in , but she had four votes that were negated by a Hidden Immunity Idol.
** Coach is the only castaway in South Pacific to not receive a vote against him.
* In , Coach revealed that he does not like being called "Benjamin".
* In all three of Coach's seasons, his tribe won exactly four Immunity Challenges.
* Coach currently displays his unused Hidden Immunity Idol in his living room.
* Coach has stated that he will not play for a fourth time.http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/12/19/survivor-south-pacific-coach-finale-ozzy/
* Coach is one of three castaways (along with Russell Hantz and Colby Donaldson) to compete in three seasons and never participate in a Tribe Switch.
* Coach, along with Amber Mariano, Colby Donaldson, Ethan Zohn, Jerri Manthey, Rob Mariano, Rupert Boneham, and Tina Wesson are the only castaways to compete in seasons with 16, 18, and 20 castaways.
==References==
Category:Contestants
Category:Male Contestants
Category:Contestants Appearing in Multiple Seasons
Category:Tocantins Contestants
Category:Heroes vs. Villains Contestants
Category:South Pacific Contestants
Category:Tocantins Jury Members
Category:Heroes vs. Villains Jury Members
Category:Finalists
Category:Timbira Tribe
Category:Forza Tribe
Category:Villains Tribe
Category:Upolu Tribe
Category:Te Tuna Tribe
Category:5th Place
Category:12th Place
Category:2nd Place
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Contestants
Category:Survivor: Tocantins
Category:Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Category:Survivor: South Pacific
Category:1971 births
Category:Living people