don't like Coach as a person, thats completely understandable, so therefore if you like to watch players on reality tv that you can personally identify with and like, you probably really arent going to like Coach at all, thats not the view I hold but I think thats perfectly understandable.
However, I want you to set aside your personal feelings towards him for a second and look at Coach Wade and his Survivor journey as objectively as possible- because, after some thought on the matter, I finally feel confident in saying that he is without question the best character in the history of the show. He and especially in his South Pacific arc are nothing short of Shakespearean. Coach is someone that if you travelled the world your entire life with the sole intent of finding people like him, you'd come up pretty short. I would call him a cartoon character but that'd be a disservice to the actually interesting side of him, I mean Coach is never meant to be a serious character but through him, serious and interesting themes are actually explored (especially in SP).
People like Coach is one of the major reasons I think Survivor is light years ahead of Big Brother. The way BB is formatted you couldn't really explore the dark psychological tones of religion or the glaring hypocrisy of "iron sharpens iron".
But i'm getting off track. I am confident in saying Coach is the best character Survivor has ever seen and I would probably be so bold as to say the best it will EVER see. You don't have to like Coach, you don't have to enjoy watching him, but give him credit where he deserves it, no one really even comes close to snatching his title (and when you have such characters as Cirie or Fairplay or Tony or Penner or Sandra or Hantz and much much more, that is a very impressive accomplishment)
EDIT: also fun little fact to throw in if you didnt know this about him, but Coach starred in an indie film alongside Double D's Danielle Dilorenzo. They had a sex scene. It is very very very very very uncomfortable.
EDIT 2: also apparently after HvV Coach and Jerri were going to go on a date but Coach stood her up and left Jerri Manthey all by herself LOLOLOLOLOL
I think the only argument against him is how OTT he can be, it's almost like, as you said a "cartoon character." He's harder to relate to for that reason. Characters like Judd Sergeant are great because they're ridiculous and yet still pretty human.
That said, I really like coach. He was both a redeeming factor in one of my least favorite seasons (South Pacific) and a huge highlight in one of my favorite seasons (Tocantins). And I don't think anything he did was fake or forced. He really seems to me like the perfect casting choice for the show and never stops being good to watch.
