Bob Green (born 1950) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is most known for his 24-year tenure as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the Montana Tech Orediggers football team. As of 2023, he is the longest tenured and winningest coach in

Montana Tech Montana Technological University, popularly known as Montana Tech, is a public university in Butte, Montana. Founded in 1900 as the Montana State School of Mines, the university became affiliated with the University of Montana in 1994. After und ...

history.

Early life

Bob Green graduated from

Lincoln Southeast High School Lincoln Southeast High School is a public government education school located in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lincoln Public Schools school district. Lincoln Southeast High School has the highest accreditation from th ...

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

in 1968. Following his graduation, Green enlisted in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

and served approximately two years in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. He received basic decorations for his service, including the

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four sp ...

Vietnam Service Medal The Vietnam Service Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces established on 8 July 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The medal is awarded to recognize service during the Vietnam War by all members of the U.S. A ...

, and

Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR, ), is a high precedence United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps military decoration awarded to United States sea service members "who have actively participated in ground or sur ...

, among others. Upon his release from the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, Green attended the

University of Nebraska at Kearney The University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is a campus of the public University of Nebraska system and located in Kearney, Nebraska. It was founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney. History In March 1903 the Nebraska Stat ...

from 1970 to 1974, where he played as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for four years. After his graduation, Green stayed at the school as a student assistant coach for a year, which began his coaching career.

Pre-Montana Tech

After coaching for a year as a student assistant at his alma mater, Green became the head coach and athletic director at Minatare High School in

Minatare, Nebraska Minatare (Hidatsa: ''mirita'ri''; "crosses the water") is a city in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Scottsbluff, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 816 at the 2010 census. History The com ...

from 1975 to 1979. In 1980, Green took an assistant coach job at

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

, and returned to high school coaching in 1981, where he became the

for Broken Bow High School in

Broken Bow, Nebraska Broken Bow is a city in Custer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,559 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Custer County. History Broken Bow was platted in 1882. Its name, likely suggested by a settler who found a b ...

for a year. In 1982, Green took another college assistant coaching job and joined the staff of Northwest Missouri State until his departure following the 1986 season.

Montana Tech and legacy

Bob Green accepted the head coaching job at

in 1987. At the time of his arrival, the Montana Tech football program hadn't made a

post-season The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

appearance since 1971. However, by 1992, the Orediggers had a 7–4 record and a playoff berth, and in 1996,

became the first

Frontier Conference The Frontier Conference is a List of college athletic conferences in the United States, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference was founded in 1934. Member institut ...

school to ever make the NAIA National Championship game. Under Bob Green, Montana Tech had its most successful period in football. During Green's 24-year tenure, the Orediggers compiled a record of 140 wins, 116 losses, and 1 tie. Green led Montana Tech to the NAIA National Playoffs five times (1992, 1996, 1997, 2004, and 2005), including the 1996 National Championship Game. Bob Green retired from coaching following the 2010 season. Green remained active with the school after his retirement, working in various publicity and development positions. In 2013, Montana Tech's football stadium,

Alumni Coliseum Alumni Coliseum is a multi-use sports arena located on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. History Built in 1963, the Paul S. McBrayer Arena located inside Alumni Coliseum, is capable of seating around 6,500 peopl ...

, replaced its grass field with a new

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

surface. The school named the new field after Green in honor of his accomplishments. Green was inducted into the school's athletic

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

the same year.

In Popular Culture

Video compilations of Green's interviews have gone viral over the years due to his sense of humor and unusual sayings. Quotes from Bob Green include: *"We were like the kid that plays second french horn in the school band, we gotta play better." *"It's a double edged sword. It's like watching your mother-in-law go off a cliff in a Cadillac. You have mixed feelings." *"He's like a black lab on the first day of pheasant hunting season, he was pulling at the chain." *"We gotta be like a woodpecker in a petrified forest, just keep busy and look for opportunities." *"I wanted to raise my kids using a depth chart! Can you imagine that? Pam Green Vetoed that Idea." *"I've got a real short memory, just like when I was in third grade. Two of the best years of my life!" *"I don't like that bottled water, I like that

Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

water. You get to eat and drink at the same time." *"Some aspects look like we're really ready to play. A couple other aspects look like we just got off

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

's tour bus." *"His attitude is positive, he thinks he can take on hell with a squirt gun." *"My wife couldn't go to church with me on Sunday. Everybody said, "where is she?" I said she doesn't go out with losers." *"You could've used that to torture prisoners into making confessions. That was a bad football game." *"I used to coach high school track. I wasn't a very good coach, I told them to turn left and come back soon." *"Don't pour a bucket of water over my head and tell me it's raining. Know the rules!"

Early life

Pre-Montana Tech

Montana Tech and legacy

In Popular Culture

References

Further reading