Creator Barry Kemp, an alumnus of the University of Iowa, named the main character Hayden Fox as an homage to Hayden Fry, the University of Iowa's longtime football coach.

Many exterior shots of the fictional 'Minnesota State' were actually filmed at the University of Iowa, including students walking around the Iowa Memorial Union and outdoor stadium shots at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.

In the early 1990s, producers held a contest for a real college marching band to record the show's theme song, which was won by the Iowa State University Cyclone Football 'Varsity' Marching Band, whose recording was used until the series ended.

The fictional Orlando Breakers NFL team was a parody of the real-life Jacksonville Jaguars, both joining the NFL as 1995 expansion teams, making the playoffs in their second season as a wild card, and playing the Buffalo Bills in their first playoff game.

The name 'Orlando Breakers' was a nod to the original USFL franchise known at various times as the Boston, New Orleans, and Portland Breakers.

Several actors' real-life family members appeared on the show: Nanette Fabray (Shelley Fabares's aunt) played Christine's mother in four episodes, Mike Farrell (Fabares's husband) appeared as Jeffrey, Noah Nelson (Craig T. Nelson's son) played multiple roles, and Dick Van Dyke (Jerry Van Dyke's brother) appeared as an uncredited extra playing one of Luther's relatives.

For season seven, ABC scheduled Coach on Monday nights before Monday Night Football, which caused the show to air at unusual, inconsistent time slots on the U.S. west coast and was cited by some fans as a reason for that season's low ratings.

In 2015, NBC ordered 13 episodes of a sequel series focusing on Hayden Fox's son as a college coach, with most original cast members set to return except Shelley Fabares, who was battling autoimmune hepatitis; the project was cancelled later that year after the pilot received 'mixed results.'