At 76, Svetislav Pesic became the oldest coach in the history of the Euroleague » 3 technicians were not born when the Serbian debuted
Article by David Istrate – Published on Tuesday, 23 December 2025 21:45 / Updated on Tuesday, 23 December 2025 22:28
At 76 years old, Svetislav Pesic, the old and new coach of Bayern Munich, just became the oldest technician in the history of the Euroleague, in the game that the Germans play in the company of Hapoel Tel Aviv, in the 18th round. He was announced on the German group's technical bench on Monday, December 22, and is in his second term at the helm of Bayern.
At the end of last week, Bayern Munich made the decision to part ways with Gordon Herbert, the former coach of the German national team. Two days later, the German club surprised by announcing that the team's new technician is Svetislav Pesic, who is 76 years old and has not coached in the Euroleague since 2020.
Svetislav Pesic debuted as a coach in the Euroleague in 1983, on the bench of Bosna Sarajevo
Born in Novi Sad, Pesic started his coaching career in 1982 at Bosna Sarajevo. The first match that the Serbian technician managed in the Euroleague was in September 29, 1983: Bosna Sarajevo vs. BK Klosterneuburg.
According to Yannis Psarakis, none of the players currently playing in the Euroleague were born in 1983, which is obvious because that would have meant playing at 42 years old. In addition, 3 coaches, Giuseppe Poeta (Olimpia Milano), Paolo Galbiati (Baskonia) and Pierric Poupet (LDLC Asvel)were not born when Pesic debuted as a technician in the most important European competition.
After his tenure in Sarajevo, Pesic trained both clubs (Alba Berlin, RheinEnergie Koln, FC Barcelona, Virtus Roma, Girona, Dinamo Moscow, Red Star Belgrade, Valencia, Bayern Munich) and national teams (Germany, Yugoslavia, Serbia).
In 2003, Pesic led Barcelona to the Euroleague title. The rich track record of the experienced coach also includes numerous national titles, but also European and world championships won.
Svetislav Pesic, in 1987, the year he took over the bank of Germany/Photo: Imago Images
Pesic, technical foul less than two minutes into the first match after returning to Bayern
In 2020, Pesic completed his second term at Barcelona and, a year later, took over Serbia's technical bench, which he led to this year's European Championship. At the 2023 World Cup, Pesic's national team took silver, and at the 2024 Olympics, they took bronze.
However, Bayern Munich's decision to hire Pesic until the end of the season is surprising. It is true that Marko Pesic, son of Svetislav, is the CEO of the German club, but he has announced that he will leave his position in 2026so it doesn't look like he has a strong say at Bayern anymore.
Pesic's comeback in Munich came in the 18th stage of the Euroleague, in the duel between Bayern and Hapoel Tel Aviv. At 76, he became the oldest coach in the competition's history. It took only two minutes for Pesic to be penalized with a technical foulafter reproaching the referees for not awarding a foul to Vladimir Lucic.
Bayern Munich was defeated, at home, by Hapoel Tel Aviv 84-72.
Top of the oldest coaches in Euroleague history
Yannis Psarakis made a list of the oldest coaches in the history of the Euroleague, with the mention that, apart from Pesic, the other technicians no longer coach in this competition:
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Svetislav Pesic – 76 years, 3 months, 25 days
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Aito Garcia Reneses – 74 years, 4 months, 19 days
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Dusan Ivkovic (died 2021) – 72 years, 5 months, 9 days
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Dragan Sakota – 67 years, 8 months, 20 days
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Rick Pitino – 67 years, 5 months, 16 days
