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Bobby Cox Manager Tree: Every MLB Skipper Who Coached for Braves, Blue Jays Legend

By Tim Capurso Sports Illustrated

Updated May 11, 2026 4:07 AM

The baseball world lost a central figure in the game's history on Saturday, as former longtime Braves manager and Baseball Hall of Famer Bobby Cox died at the age of 84. Over his 29 big-league seasons as a manager, Cox became synonymous with winning, known for his sometimes turbulent emotions and paternal defense instincts for his players-traits that led to the most ejections in baseball history-and for the way in which he made people feel.

Cox managed many great players over the years, from Dave Stieb to Chipper Jones to Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and countless others. And while Cox's impact on the players he managed was unquantifiable, so too was the impact he had on the great coaches who worked on his staffs, both with the Braves and the Blue Jays.

Several of the coaches hired by Cox during his managerial tenures went on to have great careers manning the top step of the dugout as well, creating a bountiful Cox coaching tree.

Here's a look at all of the branches on Cox's managerial tree.

Bobby Cox's managerial tree

Jimy Williams

• Years on Cox's Staff: 1980 to '85 (Blue Jays), 1990 to '96 (Braves)

• Managing Roles After Coaching Under Cox: Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros

• Record as MLB Manager: 910-790-1

• Other Achievements: Manager of the Year (1999)

Williams, a close friend of Cox's, was hired as the Blue Jays' third-base coach in 1980 under then-manager Bobby Mattick, who was succeeded in 1982 by Cox. Williams then spent six seasons as Toronto's coach at the hot corner before stepping into the manager's chair when Cox was named Braves general manager in 1986. While the Blue Jays never made the postseason on Williams'ks watch, they had winning records in three of his four seasons at the helm.

Williams then joined forces with his friend once again, this time as a third-base coach on the Braves from 1990 to '96. He had a direct hand in one of the most famous Braves postseason moments, as it was his decision to send former Braves first baseman Sid Bream around third to score the winning run in Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series. Among those who scouted the future Hall of Famer, Williams also helped convince Cox to select future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones with the first pick in the 1990 MLB draft when many thought Atlanta would select piutcher Todd Van Poppel.

Williams in 1997 then went to Boston to be the Red Sox manager, enjoying his most successful stint as a skipper in Beantown. He was named American League Manager of the Year in 1999 after leading Boston to 94 wins and to the AL Championship Series. Williams, an old-school, no-nonsense manager who developed a reputation for working very closely with players, often credited Cox for his successes as a big-league manager.

Williams then managed the Astros for three seasons before he spent a couple years as Charlie Manuel's bench coach in Philadelphia, winning a World Series with the Phillies in 2008.

Just how competitive were Cox and Williams when the former's Braves team would take on the latter's Red Sox squad?

"They set dinner up for after the game," Williams's son Brady, the third-base coach for the Rays, on Saturday told the Tampa Bay Times. "And whoever lost didn't want to go."

Cito Gaston

• Years on Cox's Staff: 1982 to '85 (Blue Jays)

• Managing Roles After Coaching Under Cox: Toronto Blue Jays

• Record as MLB Manager: 894–837

• Other Achievements: World Series Champion (1992, '93), AL Champion (1992, '93), Four Division Titles (1991 to '93)

Cox and Gaston had a long history together, having spent one season as teammates for the Braves' Double-A affiliate back in 1966. Gaston then played for Cox on the Braves in 1978 before he transitioned to a coaching role as a minor-league hitting instructor with the club in 1981.

Gaston, in a 2015 interview, said the work he had done with Braves minor leaguers caught Cox's attention when he was beginning to put together a list of potential candidates for his Blue Jays coaching staff ahead of the 1982 season.

"... And I think the year and a half I worked in the minor-leagues with the Braves, they saw some improvement in those kids and Bobby noticed that," Gaston said, according to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi. "My only year I was in spring training with the Braves as a coach he kept me in big-league camp the whole time. I might have spent [only] two weeks in the minors so I've been spoiled. I had it made here for a long time."

As hitting coach, Gaston played a key role in the development of Blue Jays hitters George Bell, Jesse Barfield, Lloyd Moseby and Willie Upshaw.

The two former teammates became opponents as managers when Gaston's Blue Jays defeated Cox's Braves in six games in the 1992 World Series, with Gaston becoming the first African-American manager to win a Fall Classic in the process. He then led Toronto to a repeat championship in '93, capped off by Joe Carter's memorable, World Series-winning walk-off homer in Game 6 against the Phillies. Gaston, in two seperate stints in Toronto, went on to become the winningest manager in Blue Jays history.

Ned Yost

• Years on Cox's Staff: 1991 to 2002

• Managing Roles After Coaching Under Cox: Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals

• Record as MLB Manager: 1,203–1,341

• Other Achievements: World Series Champion (2015), AL Champion (2014, '15), Division Title (2015)

Yost spent 12 seasons as a bullpen and third-base coach for the Braves under Cox, during which the former was a sponge, often observing how Cox went about his business very closely while also picking his brain via conversation every chance he got, according to an article that appeared in the December 2024 issue of the Georgia Trend.

In addition to watching Cox's tremendous work ethic in action, Yost also was a part of the winningest team of the 1990s in the Braves, who captured a title in 1995. Is it any wonder that Cox's influence was all over Yost's managerial style, from his staunch defenses of his players to his perpetual team-first attitude to the way he treated people?

Yost parlayed his wealth of coaching experience with the Braves into his first managerial role with the Brewers in 2003. He had just two winning seasons in Milwaukee in six years, but led the Brewers to the postseason in his last campaign as skipper in 2008.

It was with the Kansas City Royals, whom Yost managed from 2010 to '19, where he found his footing as a manager, leading Kansas City to consecutive pennants for the first and only time in team history, capturing the club's first championship in 30 years in 2015.

Cox kept close tabs on Yost's career, and had the utmost praise for his former pupil in a 2014 interview with ESPN.

"You can't beat him as a person or a baseball guy," Cox said. "He's not afraid to do things. He runs a great communication clubhouse, and he's strict. He's always been no-nonsense-let's play the game right and win. I love Ned."

Fredi González

• Years on Cox's Staff: 2002 to '06

• Managing Roles After Coaching Under Cox: Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves

• Record as MLB Manager: 710–692

• Other Achievements: Division Title (2013)

Cox became known for his expletive-laden rants in defense of his players toward umpires. But in 2007, as González told The Athletic, Cox laid into him with an obscenity-filled dose of tough love when he was having second thoughts about his decision to accept his first position as manager of the Marlins.

"He ripped me a new one," González said, adding that it was Cox's pep talk that gave him the motivation he needed to tough it out.

After a laborious first season, he led the Marlins to back-to-back winning campaigns, and just two years later succeeded Cox as Braves manager-thanks to a recommendation from Cox himself-following the longtime skipper's retirement in 2010.

González led the Braves to the postseason in two of his six years at the helm, and stewarded three straight winning seasons to begin the post-Cox era. But before his tenures as Marlins and Braves manager, González served as Cox's third-base coach-and it was evident as to the impact that Cox had on him as a mentor.

"I'd say there are three men in my life that have impacted me," González told MLB.com in 2019. "My father, Bobby and [former Marlins and Braves bench coach] Carlos Tosca."

Brian Snitker

Snitker has spent over 40 years in the Braves organization as a player, coach, manager and senior advisor. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

• Years on Cox's Staff: 1985, 1988 to '90, 2007 to '13

• Managing Roles After Coaching Under Cox: Atlanta Braves

• Record as MLB Manager: 811–668

• Other Achievements: World Series Champion (2021), National League Champion (2021), NL Manager of the Year (2018), Six Division Titles (2018 to '23)

During his 40-plus years in the Braves organization, Snitker worked closely with Cox, serving as his bullpen, first-base and third-base coach in three stints on Atlanta's coaching staff.

Among the many lessons Snitker learned from Cox? How to have a Zen-like calm as a manager. Several years back, Snitker told a story of how he took a tough August 2007 loss Atlanta's bullpen had blown much harder than Cox did.

"I'm sitting there raising hell and cussing, and he's sitting there like there's something wrong with me," Snitker said in an interview with MLB.com back in 2020. "He was like, ‘No big deal, we'll just go on to the next thing.' That's the way he was during games. We were still winning. He had things under control. And he wanted his players to feel the same way."

The lesson evidently stuck with Snitker, for years later, his then-bench coach Walt Weiss told a similar story, with Snitker the manager sporting a Zen-like calm in the face of pressure.

"... In the end, I'd go in there after a tough loss and try to make sure he's okay and he'd end up talking me off of the ledge," Weiss said of Snitker to Braves writer Demetrius Bell in April. "He just had a calm presence about him-a patience that came across great in that leadership role. He was great at calming the waters. Through the tough times, he was very consistent and he was the same guy every day. That's important in leadership-the players see that and it brings a calmness and consistency to the group."

Snitker spent 10 years as the Braves manager, in 2021 leading the club to its first World Series triumph since Cox's championship in 1995. He has been open about how much of an influence Cox had on his managerial career.

"I don't know if I can," Snitker said in 2018 when asked what Cox has meant to his career. "I don't know if we have enough time. I don't know if I can do it justice ... He's the first guy I called when I got this job after the interim tag was removed ... I bounce [off of him] the tough things you go through as a manager. There's some tough times, tough decisions that you go through and he's the guy that I go to."

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bobby Cox Manager Tree: Every MLB Skipper Who Coached for Braves, Blue Jays Legend.

This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 4:00 AM.