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Phrase(s): ride on someone’s coattails [and] hang on someone’s coattails
Fig. to make one’s good fortune or success on the strength of someone else’s. (Also with else, as in the examples.) • Bill isn’t very creative, so he rides on John’s coattails. • Some people just have to hang on somebody else’s coattails.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs