Coach Beiste is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee, portrayed by actress Dot-Marie Jones.

He immediately comes into conflict with cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) and glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), though Beiste and Will eventually become good friends.

When the character returns in the third season, in addition to coaching football, Beiste co-directs the school musical and runs the elections for senior class president.

His first boyfriend is Ohio State football recruiter Cooter Menkins (Eric Bruskotter), though he initially faces competition from Sue for him.

Jones received Emmy nominations in 2011, 2012, and 2013 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her work as Beiste in Glee's second, third and fourth seasons respectively.

[5] During the episode "Blame It on the Alcohol", Beiste takes Will out for a fun time at a rodeo bar, which includes the character's first lead vocal performance on the show in the duet "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer".

[6] In the third season, Beiste continues as football coach, and is recruited by Will to co-direct the school musical West Side Story with guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) and Artie.

[13] He continues to advise Finn when Beiste takes charge of the glee club for the duration of Will's stay in Washington while he serves on a blue-ribbon arts panel.

[18] In "Jagged Little Tapestry," Beiste is acting strangely, worrying Sam Evans, who is now the assistant football coach, and principal Sue Sylvester.

He ultimately meets with them both to explain he is suffering from gender dysphoria and asks Sam to take over as football coach during his impending transition to male.

"[22] Jones was a student and professional athlete—she played several sports in high school, received a track scholarship to Fresno State University, came in sixth in shot put at the 1988 Olympic trials and "won 15 world arm wrestling championships"[23]—and for the role she drew on her experience from having worked "four and half years in lockdown at the Juvenile Hall in Fresno with adolescent offenders".

Reiter questioned why Beiste was made to look to high school students to "gauge her own desirability", an element she found "hazy and creepy".

[29] James Poniewozik of Time criticized the depiction of Beiste as an object of pity, and felt that Will's behavior was worse than the students' when he acted with "amazing condescension" and kissed the coach.

[33] Joel Keller of AOLTV complimented Jones in "A Very Glee Christmas" for "shining in this storyline" as Coach Beiste: "Her scene as Santa, and then her knowing expression as she watched Artie walk, were the best moments of the episode.

"[36] A similar sentiment was expressed by VanDerWerff in his review of the following episode, "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle": "I also like Coach Beiste because she’s one of the few characters who seems to grasp how insane some of this is.

It was called "haunting" by Vanity Fair's Brett Berk, who gave it four stars out of five, and Michael Slezak of TVLine graded it an "A−" and said it was a "killer use of Dolly Parton" even if "Beiste isn’t the strongest vocalist".

[41][42] Jones received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her work as Beiste in Glee's second season, and submitted her performance in the episode "Never Been Kissed" for final judging.