Was the Coach really hired to replace a former Coach who had died?
No. In the film, Coach Norman Dale is hired to replace a well-liked Coach who dies. The team's star player, Jimmy Chitwood, refuses to play for part of the season because he's so upset. In real life, Coach Marvin Wood was hired the previous season to replace Coach Herman "Snort" Grinstead, who was fired for ordering new uniforms against the superintendent's orders. In an ESPN interview, Bobby Plump (the real Jimmy Chitwood) said that Coach Grinstead was "the most popular coach in Milan's history."