COACHES from Serbia

Top 8

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Serbian Coaches of all time. This list of famous Serbian Coaches is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Dušan Ivković (1943 - 2021)

With an HPI of 63.51, Dušan Ivković is the most famous Serbian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.

Dušan "Duda" Ivković (Serbian Cyrillic: Душан "Дуда" Ивковић; 29 October 1943 – 16 September 2021) was a Serbian professional basketball player and coach. He served as head coach of the senior Serbian national basketball team from 2007 to 2013, and of the senior Yugoslavian national basketball team, from 1987 (Serbia and Montenegro competed as the FR Yugoslavia national team following the breakup of Yugoslavia) to 1995. He was also the president of the Serbian club BKK Radnički. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. He was elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017. He was also named a EuroLeague Basketball Legend in 2017.

2. Dragan Stojković (1965 - )

With an HPI of 60.99, Dragan Stojković is the 2nd most famous Serbian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 57 different languages.

Dragan Stojković (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Стојковић, pronounced [drǎɡan stǒːjkoʋitɕ]; born 3 March 1965), also known by the nickname Piksi (Пикси), is a Serbian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current head coach of the Serbia national team. Stojković was a long time captain of the Yugoslavia national team and Red Star Belgrade, and is considered one of the greatest of all-time in Yugoslav and Serbian football. He was a star player for Yugoslavia at the 1990 (where he was selected for the World Cup All-Star Team) and 1998 FIFA World Cups, serving as captain at the latter. He is one of only five players to be awarded the "Star of the Red Star" and is widely considered to have never shown his true potential in Europe, as injury prevented him from establishing himself at Marseille over the long term. Despite this, there is consensus among critics that he displayed an extraordinary ability throughout his career in spite of his chronic injuries, his renown being greatest in Japan. In 2021, he was appointed as coach of the Serbia national team, leading them to qualification for both 2022 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024.

3. Željko Obradović (1960 - )

With an HPI of 55.26, Željko Obradović is the 3rd most famous Serbian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Željko Obradović (born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for Partizan of the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS), the ABA League and the EuroLeague. Widely regarded as the greatest coach in European basketball history and outside the NBA, Obradović has won a total of 64 club titles and honours over the course of his 30-year-long coaching career, including a record nine EuroLeague titles with five different clubs, along with 18 EuroLeague Final Four appearances. In addition to his success at club level, he has also won major trophies as head coach of the Yugoslavia national team (present-day Serbia), most notably winning the gold medals at EuroBasket 1997 and the 1998 FIBA World Championship. Among his individual coaching awards, he has won two FIBA European Coach of the Year awards, three EuroLeague Coach of the Year awards, four Greek Basket League Best Coach awards, the ABA League Coach of the Season award, two Manager of the Year in Turkey awards, the Best Sports Coach in Greece award and the Ivković Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors, making the list as one of the ten head coaches that were chosen.

4. Vladimir Petrović (1955 - )

With an HPI of 54.23, Vladimir Petrović is the 4th most famous Serbian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Vladimir Petrović (Serbian Cyrillic: Владимир Петровић, pronounced [ʋlǎdimiːr pětroʋitɕ]; born 1 July 1955) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is widely known domestically by his nickname Pižon (Serbian: Пижон), after the French for pigeon.

5. Slavoljub Muslin (1953 - )

With an HPI of 50.08, Slavoljub Muslin is the 5th most famous Serbian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Slavoljub Muslin (Serbian Cyrillic: Славољуб Муслин, pronounced [slǎʋoʎub mǔslin]; born 15 June 1953) is a Serbian football manager and former player. Muslin began his head coaching career in 1988 and has since had stints in France, Morocco, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belgium, Cyprus, Belarus, Russia and Saudi Arabia. As a player, he played as a defender for several clubs, the most important being Red Star Belgrade and later Lille OSC. Muslin qualified for the 2018 World Cup with the Serbia national team although he was sacked before the final tournament.

6. Josip Kuže (1952 - 2013)

With an HPI of 48.96, Josip Kuže is the 6th most famous Serbian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Josip Kuže (13 November 1952 – 16 June 2013) was a Croatian football manager and footballer. He was a player and later a manager of Dinamo Zagreb where he played for 10 years, making a total of 384 appearances and scoring 14 goals.

7. Radmilo Ivančević (1950 - )

With an HPI of 42.26, Radmilo Ivančević is the 7th most famous Serbian Coach.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Radmilo Ivančević (Serbian Cyrillic: Радмило Иванчевић; born 4 September 1950) is a Serbian football manager and former footballer.

8. Ivan Jovanović (1962 - )

With an HPI of 42.06, Ivan Jovanović is the 8th most famous Serbian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Ivan Jovanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Иван Јовановић; born 8 July 1962) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player who most recently was the manager of Greek Super League club Panathinaikos.