New Girl: Why Winston Replaced Coach After The Pilot

 New Girl introduced Coach in the pilot episode and replaced him with Winston in the second one. Here's why Winston took his place in the loft.

It’s not unusual that some TV shows replace actors after the first episodes, but New Girl swapped a whole character with another right after the pilot, with Winston replacing Coach. New Girl premiered on Fox in 2011 and came to an end in 2018 after seven seasons. The series, created by Elizabeth Meriwether, followed Jess (Zooey Deschanel), a bubbly teacher who, after a bad breakup, moved into an all-guys apartment to begin a new life.

Jess’ new roommates were Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Coach (Damon Wayans Jr). Winston (Lamorne Morris) joined the group in the second episode of New Girl. Jess' presence turned the dynamics in the loft upside down, but they all eventually became very close and helped each other whenever they needed it, including Coach, who viewers didn’t get to see much for a while after his appearance in the pilot episode.

Coach made quite an impression in the first episode of New Girl as a cocky yet awkward former athlete who now worked as a personal trainer, but was a bit too intense with his clients. Coach left the loft between episodes 1 and 2 and Winston took his place for the rest of the series. Coach's absence from the show was explained later on (he moved in with his then-girlfriend, Malia).

Why Coach Left New Girl After Episode 1

The reason behind Wayans' departure from New Girl was due to the fact that he was also part of the cast of the comedy series Happy Endings. As he was expecting it to be canceled at the time, Wayans joined the cast of New Girl. However, Happy Endings was renewed for season 2 and he had to leave New Girl after just one episode. Coach returned to the hit comedy series at the beginning of season 3 in 2013, which began airing a few months after ABC officially canceled Happy Endings after three seasons. Wayans continued to play Coach for two seasons before leaving at the end of New Girl season 4 after deciding to move in with his new girlfriend, May.

While Coach was gone once again, he wasn't about to disappear completely like he had before, with Wayans returning to New Girl as a special guest star in the comedy's final two seasons. Winston, on the other hand, stayed for the rest of the series. He went through a lot of ups and downs in his personal life, but eventually settled down with Aly. And while Coach was not as present as Winston was in the series, he was always present in the hearts and minds of his friends. New Girl never left anyone behind, even if they moved out of the loft like Coach did, and that’s a big part of the charm of the series and its characters.

Why New Girl Didn't Recast Coach

Meriwether realized that in order to remove Coach from New Girl's pilot episode, about 80% of it would have had to be reshot. Rather than do all that, it was decided his character wouldn’t be erased at all, and instead, a new one would be brought in: Winston. Winston's addition to New Girl maintained the dynamics between Jess' new roommates without trying to copy Coach's personality and erasing what he brought to the table. Rather than ignoring the fact that Coach was in the pilot episode of New Girl, the explanation that he moved in with his girlfriend reflected the changes in the lives of young adults, which is something the producers wanted to show throughout New Girl. Not recasting Coach also allowed Wayans to return to the show later on, so it was a win-win situation all around.