Research on expert performers has repeatedly shown that talent development is dependent upon quality coaching (Bloom, 1985; Ericsson, 1996). However, the process by which coaches develop their own talent is not well understood. Although characteristics of expert, or talented, coaches have been identified (Bell, 1997) there is no framework for understanding how these characteristics are developed. The purpose of this presentation is to present a conceptual framework and methodology for tracing the development of expertise in coaching. The framework integrates research on talent development (Ericsson, 1996), the coaching process (Côté, Salmela, Trudel, Baria, & Russell, 1995), and coach experiential learning (Gilbert & Trudel, 2001). The framework is also based on two pilot studies. In the first study, four successful college track and field coaches with a combined 102 years experience were interviewed about the learning process. Gilbert and Trudel’s (2001) experiential learning model was used to guide the interviews, and participants were asked how they generated specific coaching strategies. The coaches supported the reflective conversation components of the model (issue setting, strategy generation, experimentation, and evaluation), thereby validating inclusion of the model in the conceptual framework. In the second study a retrospective interview protocol, based on interviews designed to map the development of athletic talent (Côté, Beamer, & Ericsson, 2001), was prepared for 10 successful high school softball coaches with varying years of experience. The interview provides a longitudinal account of each coach’s experience in coaching and athletics, and is separated into three charts. The first chart is used to collect descriptive data on the coach’s athletic experience because coach development may actually begin long before one makes the transition from athlete to coach (Sage, 1989). In the second chart, the coach is asked to describe for each year of their coaching career the number of hours spent coaching, and coaching strategies used to resolve common coaching issues specific to competition, training, and organization (Côté et al., 1995). Coaching issues and coaching strategies are used because retrospective data is most reliable when participants access factual information about specific events and behaviors (Ericsson & Simon, 1993). In the third and final chart, each coach is asked to describe how these strategies were generated, using Gilbert and Trudel’s (2001) coach experiential learning model as a guide. This methodology, based on multiple theoretical perspectives, provides an empirically based framework for understanding the development of expertise in coaching. Keyword(s): athletics/sports, coaching, professional preparation