I'm not going to play next year if coach makes me ride the pine again this season. (source)
The sentence syntactically suggests "coach" has to be a proper noun, although it is not capitalized. It looks to me "coach" here functions the same way as "Mom" in "I asked Mom where my book was."
Should it be capitalized when used as title before a name? For example:
Have you talked to Coach/coach Anderson?
A discussion on a sports journalism forum on this topic has mixed opinions and seems ultimately inconclusive, so I wonder what the proper writing rules are.
Best Answer
The coach told me to make the play. No capitals.
I don't know why Coach Anderson told me to make the play. Capitals. It would be capitalized but is not a proper noun. Names preceded by a title call for capitals to be used.
Names of countries and cities are proper nouns or people are proper nouns, for example.
Wikipedia on proper nouns: proper nouns
The practice of capitalizing a name after a title is not the same thing:
- President Lincoln
- Judge Smith
- Coach Anderson
Coach can be used as a title preceding a name, and, therefore, is capitalized. It is pretty much universally accepted that in an article or formal context (like a formal announcement or invitation or notice on a notice board) a last name preceded by a title would be capitalized. The question is not about proper names. It's about titles for people and their last names.