This article seeks to analyze the historical origins of the connection between social studies and coaching, which is grounded in the masculine discourse of history, social studies, and athletics. Further, this article explains how history, social studies, and athletics at the secondary school level were constructed as masculine through the rhetoric of classics and civilization in the nineteenth century and citizenship and democracy in the early twentieth century. The connections between social studies and coaching continued after the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) was passed in 1958 (Evans 2004). The NDEA defined math and science as more important subjects than the social studies, which stunted the growth of the social studies. At the same time, coaching became increasingly professionalized during the second half of the twentieth century (Figone 1994). For young men interested in becoming athletic coaches, obtaining a social studies teaching endorsement became an "easy" degree to earn to gain access to coaching. Finally, the article argues for the necessity of understanding the masculine discourse surrounding history and social studies at the secondary level in order to shape future curricular change. Both history and social studies provide the philosophical foundation for athletics and connect social studies to coaching.