The NBL Coach of the Year award takes into account regular-season performances only, and is voted on by head coaches, assistant coaches (one per club) and team captains (one per club) on a 3-2-1 basis.
- 1980 Barry Barnes (Nunawading Spectres)
- 1981 Bob Turner (Newcastle Falcons)
- 1982 Cal Bruton (Geelong Cats)
- 1983 Robbie Cadee (Bankstown Bruins)
- 1984 Brian Kerle (Brisbane Bullets)
- 1985 Bob Turner (Canberra Cannons)
- 1986 Ken Cole (Adelaide 36ers)
- 1987 David Lindstrom (Illawarra Hawks)
- 1988 Bruce Palmer (North Melbourne Giants)
- 1989 Lindsay Gaze (Melbourne Tigers)
- 1990 Brian Kerle (Brisbane Bullets)
- 1991 Murray Arnold (Perth Wildcats)
- 1992 Brian Goorjian (South East Melbourne Magic)
- 1993 Alan Black (Illawarra Hawks)
- 1994 Brett Brown (North Melbourne Giants)
- 1995 Alan Black (Illawarra Hawks) & Tom Wiseman (Newcastle Falcons)
- 1996 Brett Flanigan (Canberra Cannons)
- 1997 Lindsay Gaze (Melbourne Tigers) & Brian Goorjian (South East Melbourne Magic)
- 1998 Brian Goorjian (South East Melbourne Magic)
- 1999 Lindsay Gaze (Melbourne Tigers) & Brendan Joyce (Wollongong Hawks)
- 2000 Ian Stacker (Townsville Crocodiles)
- 2001 Brendan Joyce (Wollongong Hawks)
- 2002 Brian Goorjian (Victoria Titans)
- 2003 Ian Stacker (Townsville Crocodiles)
- 2004 Joey Wright (Brisbane Bullets)
- 2005 Adrian Hurley (Hunter Pirates)
- 2006 Alan Westover (Melbourne Tigers)
- 2007 Joey Wright (Brisbane Bullets)
- 2008 Brian Goorjian (Sydney Kings)
- 2009 Brian Goorjian (South Dragons)
- 2010 Gordie McLeod (Wollongong Hawks)
- 2011 Trevor Gleeson (Townsville Crocodiles)
- 2012 Andrej Lemanis (New Zealand Breakers)
Famous quotes containing the words coach and/or year:
“Dr. Birdsell, my dramatic coach in school, always said that I was the most melancholy Dane that he had ever directed.”
—Donald Freed, U.S. screenwriter, and Arnold M. Stone. Robert Altman. Richard Nixon (Philip Baker Hall)
“We hold on to hopes for next year every year in western Dakota: hoping that droughts will end; hoping that our crops won’t be hailed out in the few rainstorms that come; hoping that it won’t be too windy on the day we harvest, blowing away five bushels an acre; hoping ... that if we get a fair crop, we’ll be able to get a fair price for it. Sometimes survival is the only blessing that the terrifying angel of the Plains bestows.”
—Kathleen Norris (b. 1947)