Have you ever wondered why sports coaches wear visors even when coaching indoors? It’s obviously not for sun protection, so why else would professional and youth coaches choose to wear this dome-less accessory?
Why Do Coaches Wear Visors? While some coaches want to mimic the actions of admired football coach Steve Spurrier, who is known as the trailblazer for wearing a visor, others choose to wear one to help their headset fit better, to block out the glare from lights, prefer it over a hat on a hot day or simply “don’t suit hats.”
We want to tackle the big question, why do coaches wear visors?
Did the visor wearing tradition start with Steve Spurrier in Florida in ’90s or was it earlier than that with Vince Lombardi? This post explores the million-dollar question, why do coaches wear visors, with some tips for new coaches wanting to make a good impression.
‘Why you wearing that visor?’ I said, ‘Cuz nobody else was!’ Sometimes in life to be successful, you have to be a little different to everybody else.”
Steve Spurrier
Steve Spurrier and The Visor
If you are not a huge football fan you probably don’t know who Steve Spurrier is. Let me give you three quick must-knows before we proceed.
- Former American football player and coach often referred to by his nickname, the “Head Ball Coach”.
- He coached the Florida Gators, Washington Redskins and South Carolina Gamecocks. He is considered to be “one of the most innovative coaches in football, incorporating his techniques into the big game”. (source)
- And most importantly, he was essentially the first coach to religiously wear a visor as a professional coach, which started back in the ’90s when coaching in Florida.
Let’s focus on point #3.
Spurrier has been asked many times about his love for wearing visors when coaching. Is it to control his hair if he forgot to get a hair cut? Was it to block out the bright lights of the stadium? Or was it simply vanity?
While he often just laughs, he consistently comes back to a few main reasons. Firstly, he was a huge golf fan and has always worn one on the golf course to block out the sun. So it was only natural to “get some visors with the Gator logo on it, and so forth. That’s when I really started wearing it, in 1990.” (source)
Secondly, he said down in Florida it can get “hot and sticky.” (source) So it makes perfect sense to protect yourself from the heat and some of the sun’s rays, I guess? Let’s hope he put some sunscreen on his head too.
Thirdly, he said it didn’t get as many grass stains on it when compared to a cap. Especially when it went flying through the air in a moment of frustration.
But in all seriousness, did the visor tradition start with coach Spurrier? When asked he quickly denies this saying Vince Lombardi wore one back in the ’60s on a hot day. “So I wasn’t the first to do it, that’s for sure.” (source)
So while Spurrier may be identified with the visor, if he refuses to believe it or not, where does every other visor wearing coach get the idea from? Are they copying the great man or do they have their own original idea? When did a hat or no headwear at all not become enough? Let’s explore it next.
Why Do Other Sports Coaches Wear A Visor?
From being a great anger management tool to blocking out the light, here are a few reasons why professional sports coaches, predominantly NFL coaches, wear a visor.
- “Hats don’t look good on my little head” – Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss -(source)
- “Feels better than a hat” – Bob Stoops (source)
- “If it’s really hot, I kind of prefer a visor,” – Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
- “I just like visors.” – Chip Kelly, Philadelphia Eagles coach, former Oregon coach (source)
- “Spurrier. Growing up and watching him, I was always intrigued by him, watching him at Florida. You know, just the way he ran the offense and his confidence and his visor … and he doesn’t know that story” – Lane Kiffin USC coach (source)
- “He (Spurrier) was wearing a visor way back before anybody else was and I was coaching high school. I thought that was pretty cool, so I started wearing a visor.” – Gus Malzahn, Auburn (source)
- “Because we couldn’t afford the rest of the hat” – Jim Leavitt, Assistant coach to Bob Stoop (source)
- “It helps me set my headset right” “That’s why I wear it.” – Gary Pinkel, Missouri (source)
As you can see, NFL coaches really love wearing a visor more than pretty much every other sport. Well, maybe besides golf. I read an interesting article in Medium.com which suggests that the visor made a name for itself in the golf circles when Arnold Palmer threw his visor in the air after hitting the winning putt at the 1960 US Open. After Palmer famously celebrated by throwing his visor on the final green at the Cherry Hills Country Club, wearing the tour visor became the “in thing” in the golfing world.
The same article goes onto say the popularity for purchasing, particularly Imperial visors, has grown in huge numbers recently as millennials come of age and want to be just like their heroes on the course.
Are NFL Coaches The Only Coaches to Wear Visors?
While it’s impossible to list every superstar, visor wearing champ, here is a list of football, golf, softball and soccer coaches loving the visor.
Football – NFL
- Bob Stoops
- Lincoln Riley (University of Oklahoma)
- Mike Sanford (Western Kentucky)
- Chad Morris (SMU – Southern Methodist)
- Lane Kiffin (Florida Atlantic)
- Kirby Smart (Georgia)
- Willie Taggart (Oregon)
- Chip Kelly (UCLA Bruins)
- Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints)
- Jon Gruden (Oakland Raiders)
Golf (predominantly players not coaches)
- Fred Couples
- Keegan Bradley
- Stuart Appleby
- Brandt Snedeker
- Mark Wilson
- Russell Henley
- Bubba Watson
- Larry Mize
- Sandy Lyle
- Shanshan Feng (pictured)
Softball
- Patty Gasso – University of Oklahoma
- Jamie Trachsel – University of Minnesota
Soccer
- Paul Ratcliffe – Women’s Soccer Head Coach
Wearing a Visor is A Personality Thing
So if we just talk football, there are 32 teams in the NFL with most clubs having 15 odd assistant coaches per team. If you are trying to stand out from the crowd you either have to win a bucket load of games, or you have to do something or wear something people can recognize you by.
As a good example, Denis Rodman of Chicago Bulls made a name for himself, on the court anyway, by famously coloring and cutting his hair to show his true self. And did he leave a lasting impression? You bet.
So wearing a visor could be a simple way to look different from the other coaches and establish your own “look.”
While this can sound a little vain, you don’t blame them. We recently wrote a post talking about why coaches get fired (see the post here) and it seems professional coaches only have a very slim timeframe to make an impact so why not wear something you think flatters your appearance?
Interestingly, let’s switch to golf for a moment. English golfer Robert Rock, who has long luscious locks, once split with a sponsor in part because of his refusal to wear a hat with its logo. He said he found it to be hot and uncomfortable despite somebody of his ranking able to earn between $125,000 and $150,000 to wear a company’s logo on his hat. (source) Would you just wear the darn hat/visor?
What About the Bald Coaches and Wearing Visors?
I recently read a story, published in the Chicago Tribune about Matt Nagy, the current NFL coach of the Chicago Bears. Now if you don’t know Coach Nagy, his hair has seen better days, and I bet you can already see where this is going… It didn’t take long for coach to get so sunburnt during his first year coaching an outdoor minicamp that he made the sensible switch to wearing a cap, instead of a visor.
So this got me thinking, bald coaches are not wearing a visor to control their hair so they must be wearing it to look the part, help their headset fit properly or it blocks out the lights? I guess we will never know.
As A New Coach Should I Get One?
I think it comes down to a few things:
- Logistics: Are you at risk of getting a sunburnt head? If yes, is a hat a better option?
- Vanity: Do you look better with or without a hat or visor (seek a second opinion)
- Impression: Do you idolize coaches like Steve Spurrier and want to be just like him? Do it.
- Finance: What do you get for free and have access to? Choose this one. What? Youth coaches are volunteers ya’ll!
Ultimately, the choice is yours.
