Bob Green (born ) is an American former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He was the head football coach for

Montana Technological University 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 un ...

from 1987 to 2010.

Early life

Bob Green graduated from

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

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

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 or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

and served approximately two years in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. 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 was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

Vietnam Service Medal The Vietnam Service Medal was 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. ...

, and

Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) is a 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 surface combat." Coast ...

, among others. Upon his release from the

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

, 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 S ...

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.

Coaching career

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 ...

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

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

for Broken Bow High School in

Broken Bow, Nebraska Broken Bow is a city in Custer County, Nebraska, Custer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,559 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Custer County. History Broken Bow was platted in 1882. Its ...

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

Bob Green accepted the head coaching job at Montana Tech in 1987. At the time of his arrival, the Montana Tech football program hadn't made a post-season appearance since 1971. However, by 1992, the Orediggers had a 7–4 record and a playoff berth, and in 1996, Montana Tech 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 130 wins and 112 losses. 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.

Legacy

In 2013, Montana Tech's football stadium,

Alumni Coliseum Alumni Coliseum and Baptist Health Arena are home to the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels in Richmond, Kentucky. History Alumni Coliseum houses the men's and women's basketball teams as well as the volleyball team. The groundbreaking occu ...

, replaced its grass field with a new

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

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 The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

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 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 table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

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 singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

'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

Coaching career

Montana Tech

Legacy

In popular culture

Head coaching record

References

Further reading