Ernie "Coach" Pantusso is Cheers' gullible and forgetful yet strangely wise and lovable bartender. He was raised in an Italian-American family and dreamed of playing professional baseball. Coach was not much of a student--as a child he attended parochial school, but he never quite made it to high school.

Coach entered the workforce as a busboy, later joined the Navy and was stationed in Florida. He got a shot at his childhood dream and played for minor league baseball teams the St. Louis Browns and the Birmingham Barons. Coach moved on from playing the sport and began coaching it, landing a position with Pawtucket, the minor league team for The Boston Red Sox. He worked his way up and became third base coach for the Sox. Coach was eventually fired from the team for not being hard enough on the players.

To say that Coach is well loved at Cheers is an understatement. Sam Malone, whom he knows and loves from his Red Sox days, is stationed behind the bar with him. Diane Chambers, whom he worships for her intellect, adores him equally as a father figure. Though sometimes a bit vacuous, Coach is an adept bartender and is most proud of his specialty drink, the Contikki Tiki. Coach loves the bar so much that he works voluntarily on his days off. Cheers is truly a labor of love for Coach.

Coach is a widower. When he met his wife, Angela, it was love at first sight. The couple had only one child, a daughter named Lisa. (Lisa makes one appearance at Cheers with a boorish fiance in tow.) Coach is struck by love one last time when he meets widow, Irene Blanchard. He proposes marriage and she accepts. However, when Irene wins a $2 million lottery jackpot, she backs out of the engagement.