Ashley Cole worked under the likes of Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti during a hugely successful playing career - but he didn't appear to be obvious manager material himself.
As a young player, the left-back was too brash for many people's tastes, as likely to be found on the front pages as the back. And the least said about that air rifle the better, or being left 'trembling with anger' at Arsenal's wage offer.
It gave the enduring impression a character like Cole would be more at home in the television studio than the dug-out once he called time on his playing career.
Ashley Cole watches a UEFA Youth League match at Chelsea's Cobham training ground in 2019
The former England left-back studied at home for his coaching badges - watched by his dog
Turns out Cole is comfortable doing both but it's the coaching route the 40-year-old has chosen. His appointment as assistant to England under-21 manager Lee Carsley this week has shattered a few old misconceptions.
As someone who won 107 caps for his country over a span of 13 years, the chance to help the next generation take their next step will be an exciting one. 'It is a special feeling', as Cole described it in the official announcement.
The news will have surprised a few but it's been years in the making. Cole always wanted to stay in the game as a coach - or even as a scout - helping to shape the game rather than just talking about it on ITV or Sky Sports.
A world class career that saw Cole win three Premier League titles, seven FA cups, the League Cup, Champions League and Europa League was entering its twilight when he signed for MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy from Roma in January 2016.
Cole won every major piece of silverware as a player but didn't seem an obvious manager
Cole's Chelsea and England team-mates Frank Lampard (bottom) and John Terry (top) always seemed more likely to make the step into management
Even though Cole had learned from Wenger, Mourinho and Ancelotti, it was a coach completely unknown to most European football fans - Sign Schmid - who prompted his own managerial epiphany.
'The minute I got the captaincy at LA Galaxy, I turned into a different person,' Cole told ESPN last year.
'I've never fallen out of love with the game. I've always loved and watched football. I thought I wanted to stay in football once I retired, but going to LA and them giving me the belief that I could be a captain and then giving me specific roles with individual or team units, I felt I could do it.'
A senior member of the Galaxy squad, Cole was entrusted to sit in on video analysis sessions and also to pass on his years of expertise in one-on-one coaching sessions with younger players.
Cole began to see training sessions, of which he'd completed thousands over the years, from a different perspective.
Cole (centre) has been a pundit on ITV and other channels for a while but coaching was the aim
He has spent the past few years working towards his coaching badges and originally was interested in becoming a scout after hanging up his boots
'As a player, you just turn up for session and do it. If it's a possession drill, you just arrive and try to keep the ball,' he told Chelsea's website in 2019.
'But now I'm getting to understand that
