I think the coach should understand that she can’t go there without the top merit aid, so how does it benefit him to require ED over EA? If the money doesn’t come, she can’t go even if accepted ED. She wouldn’t be applying ED to another school so she’s still saying ‘Mac is my #1 school.’
Now he might say that he can only help with admissions in ED, but it sounds like she’ll be admitted without the coach’s help based on her scores and gpa.