In 1950, at age 26, Bach became one of the nation's youngest head coaches at a major college when he took over the coaching job at Fordham.[citation needed] He spent 18 years there, taking seven Ram teams to post-season tourneys. From 1968 to 1978, he coached at Penn State, where he joined three old friends from Brown–Rip Engle, Joe Paterno and Joe McMullen. Although he led the Nittany Lions to five winning seasons, he would never reach the postseason.
Bach would later coach the Golden State Warriors for three years. He served as an interim coach in 1980, and then as the full-time coach from 1983 to 1986. In 1986, Bach joined the Chicago Bulls as an assistant and became the architect of the "Doberman defense", the aggressive defensive effort led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Horace Grant.[1] After the team won three championships from 1991 to 1993, Bach moved on to coaching jobs with the Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards. His stint with the Wizards reunited him with Michael Jordan. He returned to the Bulls in 2003, and retired in 2006.[2]
Later life
After retiring from basketball, Bach turned to painting. In 2007, thirty-two of his watercolors were put on display at the Sevan Gallery in Skokie, Illinois.[2]
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
^"Bach, John William". Nationwide Gravesite Locator. National Cemetery Administration. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.