He has already served as a coach for a professional team, but he often goes into coaching other coaches. Fans are surprised because it is a much more unusual move than going from coach to coach and former coach to new head coach of other teams.
Jeonju KCC in professional basketball announced on the 26th that it has signed a two-year contract with former Seoul Samsung coach Lee Sang-min and recruited him as a "coach." The KCC club said, "We have recruited coach Lee Sang-min to reinforce our coaches," adding, "Lee's experience and know-how will help us win KCC."
Lee Sang-min, a graduate of Hongdae High School and Yonsei University, joined Daejeon Hyundai, the predecessor of KCC, in 1997 and established the Hyundai-KCC dynasty by becoming the MVP of the regular league in 1997-1998 and 1998-1999. Later in 2007, KCC recruited free agent (FA) Seo Jang-hoon and left for Samsung as a compensator and retired in 2010.
Coach Lee Sang-min has been the manager of Samsung since 2012 and has been at the helm of Samsung for eight years from the 2014-2015 season to the 2021-2022 season. However, in January last year, he voluntarily resigned to take responsibility for his poor performance (7 wins and 27 losses) and Cheon Ki-beom's drunk driving accident. His career winning percentage was 0.399, recording 160 wins and 241 losses in 401 games over eight seasons.
The end of Lee Sang-min's journey as the head coach of Samsung was not good, but it is an unchanged fact that he is the "longest head coach" in the history of the Samsung club. In addition, he finished second in the playoffs for the 2016-2017 season. Despite his coaching experience, fans were surprised when he returned to the court as a coach. Coach Lee Sang-min explained the reason for accepting the coach, saying, "Coach Jeon Chang-jin suggested on the phone to 'come to KCC and have fun.'"
Of course, there are now professional basketball coaches who have been coaches and have been coaches again. Head coach Kim Sang-sik, who led Anyang KGC to an integrated championship in the 2022-2023 season, made his professional team's official manager debut as head coach of the Daegu Orions in the 2008-2009 season, but served as Samsung's head coach from 2012 to 2014. Ulsan Hyundai Mobis coach Cho Dong-hyun also served as Hyundai Mobis coach from 2013 to 2015 and Busan KT coach from 2015 to 2018. Since then, he has taken over as Hyundai Mobis coach again from 2018 to 2022, and last season, he showed the movement of the coach-manager-manager who takes over Hyundai Mobis.
You can also see coaches who were coaches in professional baseball. The most recent figure is Doosan Bears head coach Kim Han-soo. Coach Kim was loved by many Samsung fans as a one-club man for the Samsung Lions when he was active. Since then, he has been the manager of Samsung from 2017 to 2019 and has been a wild man for three years. Then, he was called by another Samsung legend and junior Doosan manager, Lee Seung-yeop, and joined Doosan as manager.
Samsung's two legendary hitters sought to revive Doosan, which finished ninth last season. Doosan, where Lee Seung-yeop and his senior coach Kim Han-soo worked together, ranked fifth, the postseason Maginot Line, with 33 wins, one draw and 34 losses as of June 28.
There is another active coach who served as a coach of a professional baseball team. This is Cho Won-woo, the director of SSG Landers. Coach Cho suddenly took over as Lotte Giants manager in October 2015 while serving as the head coach of SK Wyverns, the predecessor of SSG. Lotte, who was a defensive coach between 2011 and 2012, returned as a coach after three years. Since then, he has led Lotte until 2018 and led the team to the semi-playoff to third place in the regular league in 2017. 안전놀이터
Former coach Cho Won-woo, who stepped down as Lotte's head coach after finishing seventh in 2018, has been a leader since the 2023 season after returning as SK's second-tier coach in November 2020. Coincidentally, when coach Cho Won-woo was Lotte coach, current SSG coach Kim Won-hyung was Lotte's senior coach (2017-2018). Their positions changed in 2023.
In addition, Yang Sang-moon (Lotte manager → LG pitching coach), Lee Soon-chul (LG manager → Woori Heroes senior coach), and Han Dae-hwa (Hanwha manager → KIA 2nd division general coach) have been working as coaches even after serving as professional baseball coaches.
K League Busan I-Park has a history of forming a "super coaching staff," and Busan coach Cho Duk-je, who was in the second division ahead of the 2019 season, brought offensive coach Noh Sang-rae and defensive coach E-K