Coach (Survivor Contestant)
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Benjamin "Coach" Wade (born September 18, 1971) is an American
reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
personality best known for being a contestant on '' Survivor: Tocantins'', '' Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains'', '' Survivor: South Pacific'' and ''Survivor 50: In The Hands Of The Fans''. He grew up in
Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
, and later moved to
Susanville, California Susanville (formerly known as Rooptown) (, ''bush creek country'')Simmons, W. S., Morales, R., Williams, V., & Camacho, S. (1997). Honey Lake Maidu Ethnogeography of Lassen County, California . Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropolog ...
, to conduct the Susanville Symphony and pursue "adventures" in Hollywood.


Early life

Benjamin Wade grew up in
Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
, the son of William and Cherri Wade. He attended Tyson Middle School and West High School in Knoxville. He began his musical career as a teenager, playing trumpet in the Knoxville Youth Symphony Orchestra and making appearances with the
Indianapolis Symphony The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is a major American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra was founded in 1930 and is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtow ...
, the Knoxville Symphony, and the
New York Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred to colloquially as the Met, the company ...
. He majored in business administration at the
University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
and graduated in 1993, before obtaining a master's degree in music education from the
University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded ...
.


Soccer

In 1997, Wade was hired at
Simpson University Simpson University is a Private college, private Evangelical Christianity, Christian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Redding, California. Originally founded in 1921 in Seattle as Simpson Bible Institute, the i ...
in
Redding, California Redding is a city in and the county seat of Shasta County, California, and the economic and cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California. Redding lies along the Sacramento River, north of Sacramento, California, Sacrame ...
, to coach the women's
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
team. During that time he led the Lady Red Hawks to 2
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
final 8 appearances. His combined record was 18-12-3. From Simpson he was hired as both the Men's and women's soccer coaches at Patten University in
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. During his two year stint, Wade led the women's team to a .500 record going 15-15-2 and led the men's team to a conference championship in 2000 going 16-4-1. He spent 22 years coaching collegiate soccer teams and ended up at
Southwest Baptist University Southwest Baptist University (SBU) is a private Baptist university in Bolivar, Missouri, United States. It is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention, which is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 2023, it had a total enrollment ...
in
Bolivar, Missouri Bolivar is a city and county seat of Polk County, Missouri, United States. The city derives its name in-part from the South American revolutionary Simón Bolívar. According to the 2020 United States Census, Bolivar had a population of 10,772. ...
from 2005 to 2009. After his appearance on ''
Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...
'', Wade was fired as head women's soccer coach for the university. The university's athletic director Brent Good had fired Wade for not telling the school that he would be taking two months off in order to participate in ''Survivor''. Good stated in an interview, "He adesaid he was going to be gone for a week...the week went beyond that, which went beyond that, which went beyond that." According to Good, Wade left the team with two weeks left in the season in October but did not return to the school until December. In 2010, he signed a contract to coach the men's soccer team at Lassen College, a community college located in Susanville. On December 10, 2013, Wade was hired as the first ever men's soccer head coach at Lake Tahoe Community College. After 20 years of coaching collegiate soccer he retired from that position in November 2015 to spend more time with his family. In 2017, Wade came out of retirement, taking the position of head coach for Redding Royals FC semi-pro soccer team.


Lassen College Women's Soccer

In 2002, Wade began coaching at
Lassen Community College Lassen Community College is a public community college in Susanville, California. It is a part of the California Community Colleges System. The college is located in Susanville in the high mountain lake country of northeastern California. The c ...
, led the program to a 61-6-1 record during his tenure. With an overall career record of 102-26-3, Wade ranks second on the junior college coaching list for winning percentage. He was honored as the Golden Valley Conference Coach of the Year in both 2002 and 2003.


Music

Wade was hired on with the Susanville Symphony in 2003. His main instrument was the
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
. He has composed several
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
pieces and is the co-founder and current artistic director and conductor of the Susanville Symphony. In 2011, his ballet The Four Elements premiered. A documentary featuring the accomplishments of this organization is chronicled in ''Small Town Big Symphony'', filmed by his brother Peter in 2006. Wade was also a teacher of music history at Lassen College.


''Survivor''


''Tocantins''

Wade was selected to participate on '' Survivor: Tocantins'', the 18th season of the series, in 2009. Being one of the most controversial characters to ever play the game, he was recognized as the main antagonist of this season; however, host
Jeff Probst Jeffrey Lee Probst (; born November 4, 1961) is an American television presenter and producer and young adult fiction writer. He is best known as the Emmy Awards, Emmy Award–winning host of the American version of the reality television show ' ...
has stated he doesn't feel like Wade did anything to earn this reputation. While in the game, he gave nicknames to his fellow tribemates: James "J.T." Thomas, Jr., the "warrior",
Stephen Fishbach Stephen Andrew Fishbach (born January 24, 1979) is an American digital strategy consultant, writer, and reality television show participant, widely known for competing on the reality TV show ''Survivor''. Fishbach finished as the runner-up on ' ...
, the "wizard",
Tyson Apostol ''Survivor: Blood vs. Water'' is the 27th season of the American CBS competitive reality television series ''Survivor (American TV series), Survivor''. The season filmed in May–June 2013 and premiered on Wednesday, September 18, 2013, featurin ...
, the "assistant coach" (to which Apostol later wished to upgrade himself to "co-coach"), and himself, the "Dragon Slayer". These players together formed the "Warrior Alliance". Ultimately he made it to a fifth-place finish, and was the fifth member of the jury, as well, voting for Thomas to win the title of Sole Survivor. Wade was perhaps most famous for telling his fellow castaways stories of adventure from his previous exploits as a professional
kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...
er. Such stories were chronicled in the book ''A Voyage Beyond Reason'', written by Tom Gauthier, although many of these stories were revealed to have a rather casual relationship with reality.


''Heroes vs. Villains''

For the Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, 20th season of the series, CBS brought back "heroes" and "villains" from previous seasons. Wade was selected to participate for the Villains tribe and was the ninth person voted off and the first member of the jury. During his time in the game, he was a part of the Villains majority alliance and had a close alliance and relationship with fellow Villain
Jerri Manthey Jerri Manthey (born September 5, 1970) is an American actress and television personality. She is perhaps best remembered as a polarizing figure from ''Survivor'', on which she was a three-time contestant: she placed 8th on '' Survivor: The Austr ...
, leading some to believe that the two had a possible romantic connection. He appeared to be in the majority alliance on his tribe at the time of his elimination, but outsiders
Sandra Diaz-Twine Sandra Diaz-Twine (born July 30, 1974) is an Americans, American television personality who became known for her appearances on the reality game show ''Survivor (American TV series), Survivor''. She won the first two seasons she appeared on, '' ...
, who would be the eventual winner, and Courtney Yates managed to convince the alliance that he was not trustworthy, and he was sent to the jury in lieu of Yates. At the reunion, Wade mentioned that after watching this season and ''Tocantins'', he realized how people viewed him, and decided that he did not want to be viewed as "The Dragon Slayer" anymore.


''South Pacific''

In 2011, Wade returned to ''Survivor'' for the third time in '' Survivor: South Pacific'', as the self-styled 'Zen Slayer' and one of two returning contestants (the other being
Ozzy Lusth Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth (born August 23, 1981) is a Mexican reality show contestant who has appeared on several shows, including ''Survivor: Cook Islands''; ''Survivor: Micronesia;'' ''Survivor: South Pacific; and'' ''Survivor: Game Changers.'' He al ...
). During the season, Wade was assigned to the Upolu tribe through random draw, gaining the friendship of Edna Ma on the first day. On the first night, he made an alliance with Sophie Clarke, Rick Nelson, Albert Destrade, and Brandon Hantz, who later revealed to Wade that he was
Russell Hantz Russell Dennis Hantz (born October 10, 1972) is an American television personality, best known for his appearances on the reality show, ''Survivor.''
's nephew. Wade decided to trust Brandon Hantz, but still was wary of his outbursts. Wade and his four alliance members eliminated Christine Shields-Markoski, Stacey Powell and Mikayla Wingle, sending them all to Redemption Island. At camp, Wade found the Hidden Immunity Idol with the help of Destrade and Clarke, keeping it a secret from Hantz and Ma. Later on, Wade staged the Idol's "discovery" for Hantz, under the guise of a prayer ritual. The tribes merged with six members each, prompting Wade to attempt to sway former Savaii member John Cochran over in order to avoid a tie. Wade's alliance, now including Cochran, voted off the remaining Savaiis. Both Cochran and Ma, knowing that they were on the outside of the alliance, tried to get Wade to betray his original alliance; however, he decided against it. He went on to vote off Cochran first, followed by Ma. Wade, Clarke and Destrade ended up in the Final Three, and Wade finished second place only to Clarke, who won in a 6–3–0 vote.


''In The Hands Of The Fans''

On May 28, 2025, it was confirmed that Wade would return for a fourth season of ''Survivor'', joining the cast of ''Survivor 50: In The Hands Of The Fans''.


Post-''Survivor''

Coach Wade was inducted to the ''Survivor Hall of Fame'' in 2015. In September 2020, Coach Wade was ranked the "20th Greatest Survivor" by former castaway
Russell Hantz Russell Dennis Hantz (born October 10, 1972) is an American television personality, best known for his appearances on the reality show, ''Survivor.''
.


Personal life

Wade married Jessica Newton, a dance studio owner, on December 31, 2011. Together, they have two children, daughter Lenna (born May 8, 2014) and Bekston (born October 13, 2016), and one more child from Newton's previous relationship, Avvan (born February 28, 2009).


Filmography


Television


Bibliography

* ''No Turning Back: The South American Expedition of a Dragon Slayer''; Shapato Publishing Co. (2011),


References


External links


Benjamin Wade biography
for '' Survivor: Tocantins'' at
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
.com
Susanville Symphony
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coach 1971 births 21st-century American trumpeters American classical trumpeters American male classical musicians American male trumpeters American male conductors (music) American soccer coaches American women's soccer coaches College men's soccer coaches in the United States Kayakers Living people Mass media people from Knoxville, Tennessee People from Lassen County, California Southwest Baptist Bearcats women's soccer coaches Survivor (franchise) contestants University of Tennessee alumni 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians Simpson Red Hawks women's soccer coaches University of Nevada alumni