Tallahassee, Fla. - Ten years ago, Marvin Green was selected by athletic administrators to become Florida A&M's the head golf coach. He has turned the team into a perennial top five team among HBCU's.
Green, a native of Chicago, is a FAMU alumnus that received his bachelor's in business and master's in Sports Administration. Unlike most head coaches, he was not a student athlete while in school. He did not begin playing golf until halfway through his undergrad years.
"I got into golf my junior year of college because I had to take a business sport," Green said. "I fell in love with the challenge. I had always been a basketball or football player growing up but, golf is challenging, it gives you a chance, you against the golf course."
Green stayed rooted in Tallahassee after completing his second degree and became a faculty member, as a physical education instructor. Green was eventually offered the head golf coaching position by the athletic director in 2001.
Marvin E. Green Named Director of Student Activities
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Marvin E. Green Jr. has been named Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) new director for Student Activities. Green will officially begin his new position on July 1.
“I am honored and excited that I can serve my alma mater at this capacity,” Green said. “I am excited about the challenges and look forward to helping to produce that millennial student. We have special students at FAMU who are ready to learn to be productive and it is our responsibility to mold and help them to bring out their creativity.”
Green, who currently serves as the FAMU men’s golf coach, said some of his goals include helping with FAMU’s retention and graduation rates.
“I think FAMU is a special place,” he said. “We are always going to bring in the best and brightest minds. We must find a way to keep our students active outside the classroom, which will help make them better students.”
For nearly 20 years, Green has established a notable career at FAMU in intramural/recreational sports and golf. During that time, he has been instrumental in shaping and developing not only the Department of Campus Recreation, but also the highly successful Men’s Golf Program at the university.
“I am very pleased that Mr. Marvin Green was selected as the director of Student Activities,” said Henry Kirby, “Mr. Green will bring the necessary experience, professionalism, vision, energy and team spirit to the position as well as take the Office of Student Activities to a higher level of performance and excellence.”
A Chicago, Ill. native, Green attended FAMU’s School of Business and Industry (SBI) majoring in business administration. While in college, he was active in several groups and organizations including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); the Upsilon Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; the Pan-Hellenic Council in which he served two terms as president; and FAMU Student Government Association (SGA).
“The fact that I have been around students affairs at FAMU for so long through SGA, Greek life, and campus recreation, I’ve had the opportunity to deal with the different facets of student life,” Green said. “Now is my time to take all those things I’ve learned and give back in a way.”
After completing his master’s degree in sports and leisure management at FAMU, Green worked as an adjunct professor at the university, teaching introductory and intermediate golf courses. In 2001, Green became the head coach for the men’s golf team, a position he has held ever since.
In 2002, he became the first college golf instructor in the country to earn the Golf Teacher/College Golf Coaching Certification from Trahan’s Swing Surgeon Group, Inc.
For the past 10 years, Green has coached the FAMU Women’s Flag Football Team, “Simply Marvelous.” The nationally recognized team has won a total of six National Championships for both the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) and American College Intramural Sports (ACIS). The team’s accomplishments have been documented on CBS Sports for the past three years.
Green serves as president of the National Black Golf Coaches Association and holds memberships in the NIRSA, J.R.E. Lee, Sr. Masonic Lodge No. 422, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., and the FAMU National Alumni Association. He also is a past advisor for the Pan-Hellenic Council and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Green and his wife, Cecka Rose Green, have three children: Marhee, 10, Chaela, 8, and Marvin III (Tre), 5.
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Marvin E. Green Jr., president of the National Black
Golf Coaches Association |
FAMU's Green jack of all trades
Marvin Green, coach of the Florida A&M men's golf team, moonlights as coach of a women's flag football team. And recently he was named director of student activities at FAMU, a job he will begin July 1.
Green, who has a penchant for working long hours, admits that all three of his involvements are demanding but coaching two teams and being the head of student activities will take some delegating.
"If it's all about Marvin, that's not what's good for FAMU," Green said. "I think a sign of a good leader is what happens when he is away. So, it's about delegating and knowing how to get some good people to step up when the boss is gone. It gives them a chance to grow."
He says he still intends to continue spending plenty of early morning hours coaching the golf team, then pick up coaching the women's team after his days in the office.
Q&A: FAMU Golf Coach Marvin Green
Today on Wildman’s Corner, I interviewed a coach who works for the school that has the best band in the country. Let me make this perfectly clear, as well: I believe there should be no marching bands during halftime. Call me a hater, but I am just not a band guy.
However, if you haven’t seen the FAMU (Marching 100), you are missing out.
Let me introduce Coach Marvin Green. Green is the head men’s golf coach of the Florida A&M Rattlers:
Question: Golf at Florida A&M, where does it rank among sports at your university?
Answer: Probably at FAMU, it’s No. 18 out of 18. We have a passion for it at Florida A&M University, we have been around for about 50 years, had a great program early on, and I think we still have a good program amongst historically black colleges and universities. Probably every year out 25 to 28 historically black colleges, we are probably one of the top five out of all those teams in the country.
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Q: What are some of the biggest challenges historically black schools face trying to create or develop their schools’ golf programs each year?
A: Our problem typically always comes down to the budget. We’ve had a great situation in Tallahassee because we actually have a lot of support from the local golf courses who give us a place to go out and practice. When you are talking about a full allotment of scholarships, like other schools have all across the country, we don’t necessarily have that. We are right about 2.8 (scholarships) out of three, which can kind of hurt you in recruiting, so when you don’t have that full allotment of scholarships, it doesn’t allow you to go out there and always go after that one guy you are looking for. It’s tough to tell a kid sometimes I can only offer you a part of a scholarship, as opposed to a whole one.
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Q: Being at a historically black school, is it tough to recruit?
A: Not really. I think you try to be open and stay open to all individuals of all nationalities whenever you may be recruiting. Typically, most of the young men who choose to come to our university are going to be African-American, so you want to go out and look at those tournaments and events. We have a lot of young men at our school who you would call a minority who always are looking to come to our school as well. It’s not really that hard to recruit because most guys just want to make sure they can play at a quality facility as well as have a quality-type playing schedule at quality events. The one beautiful thing about playing golf is if you score low, you are going to be recognized, no matter where you are.
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