This paper describes the lessons learned from a five-year project to develop urban literacy coaches in a large, diverse, metropolitan school system. The narrative begins by reporting on the progress of the schools in the project, which documents gains exceeding both the state and the district gains. It further describes survey data from principals and teachers, both of whom highlighted the role of the coach in these gains. The main part of the paper describes descriptions of practices that contributed to the success of the project, including those to build a strong, communal knowledge base; collaborate to make the curriculum visible in new ways; emphasize culturally relevant instruction and resources; help emergent coaches define their roles over time; support coaches in developing a model for goal setting and coaching cycles; build understanding that development as a coach has recursive phases; provide facilitation that differentiates for coaches-in-training; design methods for coaches to build teams around student data and shared inquiry; help coaches balance "fidelity of treatment" with "formative treatment"; and, finally, connect coaches with the wider professional community. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures, and 1 note.)