Alumnus and former Darlington football coach Dr. Tim Green (’84) said the hallmark of his coaching philosophy revolves around working hard, building character and having a great time, and if he can get those three things to occur, success usually follows.
Success has followed for Green, who currently serves as director of athletics and head varsity football coach at Kentucky Country Day School in Louisville. He has been selected as the Pioneer Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and Co-District Coach of the Year.
According to KCD spokesman Jeff Topham, during his two years at the school, Green has instituted a year-round training program for all athletes and fostered an atmosphere of spirited, positive competition across the athletic program. This year, he also led the KCD football team to a conference championship in the Pioneer Athletic Conference and to a winning season in one of the toughest districts in the state.
“Two seasons ago, KCD was playing eight-man football and was in jeopardy of canceling the football program,” said Green. “In my first season, we grew the team from 15 players to 24 players and played an 11-man schedule, ending with a 4-6 record. This season, we have grown to 41 players and entered district play for the first time in 14 seasons, ending with a 6-4 record.
“As a team, we defeated two top-10 ranked teams, a first in school history,” he continued. “Our district sent four teams to the playoffs, three survived the first round and one is considered the favorite to win the state title. Our kids accomplished the great successes of the season by working hard every day, both in season and out, and buying into our system.”
Green’s system involves year-round training.
“When I came to KCD, one of the first things that I did was to initiate a strength, speed and conditioning program for all of our athletes at the school,” he said. “This fall alone, our teams won nine championships (one being a state title) and three additional runners-up trophies. In Kentucky, all sports other than football, track and cross-country compete across size classifications, so winning these championships against much larger schools is amazing. That is a great measure of the success of training year-round.”
Green said training young athletes is one of his real passions, and he credits his own coaches for inspiring him.
“As a student at Darlington, David Rhodes, Jim Van Es, Charlie Davidson and Sam Sprewell all made a great impact on my athletic career,” he said. “They all expected me to do my best, but never lost sight of the idea of playing for the enjoyment of the sport.”
According to Green, who had been a high school standout in football, wrestling and baseball, he had never really considered coaching until Rhodes and then-president Jim McCallie discussed the opportunity to do so at Darlington.
“As a result of that opportunity, it has become one of the favorite things in my career,” he said. “When I came to Darlington to work, I learned from the master football coach Jerry Sharp. Jerry is one of the best coaches that I have been around at any level, and he taught me to put the kids first in leading a team. He coached for all of the right reasons, and he had great success in building men of character with his program.”
While teaching at Darlington, he was named to Who’s Who Among High School Teachers (2000) and received the STAR Teacher Award (1998) and the Brown Award for Outstanding Teaching (1997).
“Darlington has such a good reputation for quality athletics on a regional, if not national scale, that being from Darlington is a real asset for my resume,” he said.
One former Darlington Tiger who played football under coaches Sharp and Green is following in Green’s footsteps.
“Blake Rolan, a Darlington graduate from 2000, is my offensive coordinator,” said Green. “He is a tremendous young coach that has been vital to what has been accomplished here.”
Green holds a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from Vanderbilt University, where lettered as a four-year scholarship football player. He also has a Master of Exercise and Sport Sciences from the University of Florida and a Doctor of Education from the University of Alabama.
After serving as chairman of the physical education department and director of summer programs for six years at Darlington, Green served as director of athletics at Porter-Gaud School in Charleston, S.C. Green is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine, the International Sports Sciences Association, Phi Epsilon Omega International Honor Society for Sports Sciences and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
