Coach Norman Dale was one of Gene Hackman‘s most iconic roles — in “Hoosiers,” one of his most memorable movies — and now the late actor’s costar is speaking out in the wake of the beloved 95-year-old’s death.

TMZ Sports spoke to Brad Long just hours after the tragic news broke of Hackman’s passing … where the actor shared his experience working alongside the Academy Award winner in what was Long’s first movie role.

Despite having no experience, Brad, who played Buddy in the 1986 hit, says Gene was super down-to-earth and “made us feel comfortable,” adding he never made anyone “feel self-conscious.”

Long says despite Hackman coming in with hits like “The French Connection” and “Superman” under his belt, he completely embraced the role of Coach Norman.

“He came in and said, ‘Hey, I want to go to some high school practices. I wanna watch the body language, I wanna watch the verbiage the coaches use,”’ Long told us.

“I was always really impressed at that. Even at that level of his acting ability, he said, ‘Hey, I can learn some things here.”’

The 62-year-old said the film changed his life, despite it being one of the only times he’s been in front of a camera.

The former basketball player said Hackman, along with the other stars like Dennis Hopper, were all down to earth … and without ego.

“Gene always gave us really good advice,” Brad said.

“He said, ‘The art of acting is not acting with a little bit more energy.’ And, I think that was really helpful going through it. It was intimidating at first, but they didn’t make us feel intimidated. They always made us feel welcome and Gene was always there to give us advice if we wanted it.”

Charles and Babcock also caught up with the film’s director, David Anspaugh (the man behind “Rudy,” as well) on “TMZ Live” … with the accomplished filmmaker sharing his experience working with Hackman.