Hall of Fame coach. Outdoorsman. Stage performer.

Mexico track and field and cross country coach Don “Buck” Green has experienced much in his 53-year career. The 76-year-old is the head coach for the boys and girls track and field programs at the high school and the cross country program at the middle school. But that is only a small part of his story.

“God was working well and kept me here,” Green said. “I love the town, I love the school, families here have been good and kids are good.”

After graduating from Truman State University (Northeast Missouri State at that time) in Kirksville, the Hannibal native Green and his wife, Barb, had to wait some time before finding a job due to a surplus of teaching jobs. He said he studied physical education and was considering going back for his master’s degree along with his wife until Art Seals called him. Seals was the head football coach and assistant track and field coach at the time and offered Green a position on his football coaching staff and as a history teacher triggered by Green’s history minor.

Green made a verbal commitment and followed up on it despite being contacted by Hannibal thirty minutes later and Wellington-Napoleon the next day. He even made it to the final two applicants in the University of Kansas’s search for a head women’s track and field and cross country coach but didn’t get it. 

“If we don’t get this, we’re never leaving Mexico, and we didn’t get it,” Green said with a chuckle while recalling what he told his wife at the time. “When it rained, it poured.”

Green has been at Mexico ever since he was hired in 1971, and he doesn’t regret any bit of it. In fact, there have been many reasons for him to be proud as he has been inducted into three Hall of Fames, including the Missouri Track and Field and Cross County Hall of Fame and the Truman State University Hall of Fame as part of the 1969, 1970 and 1971 football teams. Green is the third Mexico track and field coach to be in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame along with Ron Whittaker and Mitch Ridgeway.

The girls track and field program was started by Green in 1973 and has a state second-place finish in 1983 and a third-place finish in 1998 while the girls cross country program state finishes of third in 1988, second in 1989 and fourth in 1998. The Lady Bulldogs won 10 straight cross country district titles from 1988-97.

“It doesn’t matter how much talent they have and it doesn’t matter what they come to the table with, it’s only what they leave the table with,” Green said when talking about all of the kids he has coached at Mexico.

While it might sound “cheesy,” Green said he gains more satisfaction at seeing growth of a kid’s intangibles than more noticeable growth from their times, heights and distances determined by the coaches of tape measure and stopwatch. He has never been one that has been “living for the wins and headlines.” 

Living life to the fullest has more of an emphasis such as some of his former athletes choosing not to abandon running after graduation, letting Green know they are still running. As long as they are enjoying that activity, he is happy for them.

Green practices what he preaches as he has run various marathons as well, though he cautioned not as much nowadays as he has grown older. He regularly exercises, usually in the weight room of the Mexico Sports Complex, and embraces the outdoors with activities including, but not limited to, rock climbing, whitewater canoeing, downhill skiing and the polar plunge.

“The adventure is not when you’re doing something,” Green said he tells kids. “The adventure is when you’re sitting by the fire in your living room six months afterwards and you’re talking about how great it was. While you’re doing it, you’re just trying to survive.”

Green admits he does get older just like everyone else “but you can do something about getting old” or feeling “creaky.” He has had his hip and knee replaced and hasn’t been afraid to test his limits since surgery because he wants to collect as many experiences as possible. 

“The worst thing a person can say is I wish I would’ve. I hear that from so many people,” Green said. “The sad thing is you’ll hear that out of kids two years out of high school. ‘I wish I would’ve been in drama, I wish I would’ve been in choir or band, I wish I would’ve played football.’”

Experiences can be physical and seemingly insignificant such as a memory Green has before his hip surgery. He said he knew there would be some limitations afterward so he asked his granddaughter to film him running a 400-meter race. As he expected, he didn’t feel great immediately after crossing the finish line and didn’t come close to any records at his age but has treasured experience.

“That’s life,” Green said. “That’s living right there when you’ve done something to a point where you’re just dying. Ten minutes later, you’re fine.”

Experiences can also include the mental like what Green did last month with the Presser Arts Center in Mexico. He played the part of Alfred P. Dolittle in the production of “My Fair Lady,” singing and dancing on stage for the first time in his life. 

“I’m not a wonderful singer,” Green chuckled. “I met with the guy who did our music, Dana Reynard, and he said, ‘We’ll see what key you’ve got.’ I said, ‘I’m the 12-string guitar, you’re going to have to tune everybody to me.’ He chuckled. I was excited to do that just for the experience.”

Green encountered some fatigue, even if it wasn’t all physical this time, after the curtain fell for the last time but felt fine after receiving applause and compliments from the audience, joking that no tomatoes were thrown. He was content merely for saying that he did something to “get out of his comfort zone.”

In 2003, Green said he and his wife retired from 32 years of teaching before he became the head coach for boys and girls track and field in 2009 due to the retirement of Ridgeway. He understands some retirees want to use their extra time to just relax, but that has never been what Green has wanted.

“I see people my age that decide when you retire, you just find a nice easy recliner and watch TV,” Green said. “I’m going to do what I can do until the wheels fall off.”

Green said he does watch football on television, which makes the former running back and strong safety wince whenever he sees a big hit, but those are the only times he looks at the screen. He believes coaching and imparting knowledge to various kids is a much better use of his time. 

He definitely doesn’t want any of his athletes to waste their time either so he wants to have a good team every year. By “good team,” Green doesn’t simply mean having outstanding athletes that earn lots of accolades but more so that they learn valuable life lessons or lessons about themselves whenever they achieve better times or marks.

“The greatest thing a coach can do is build confidence in a kid,” Green said. “If you do that, then they’re going to be good athletes.”

While Jeff Frazier wasn’t coached by Green while at Mexico, he was Green’s student in history class and has worked with Green for 44 years at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Mexico. He said Green has had a positive influence on him and on the many athletes at Mexico schools and within the FCA for about 52 years.

“It is unusual for a coach to stay in a community that long and be involved in coaching,” Frazier said. “I would imagine the athletes he has affected are in the thousands.”

Naturally, the school district has grown with Green over the past 50 years with the only constant being the good support from the school and community. Green recalls the Mexico Sports Complex receiving large renovations in the 1990s and the weight room he so familiar with now being a shop classroom. 

His memory even includes the mundane such as the origin of a hole in the ceiling of the locker room office where he granted his interview for the Mexico Ledger. While Green might not remember former student and athlete faces at first, he can be reminded and then a flood of facts emerge.

“When I find out who they are, I remember what their best split in the 4x800 was or their best time in the hurdles was or a crazy thing that happened in the four years they were here,” Green said with a chuckle.

The school district will continue to grow even after Green leaves, which is still a mystery to Green himself. He doesn’t know when that will happen but knows it will be when he isn’t excited for practice after school anymore.

“One day in May, I’ll come in and say that was it. I’m done,” Green said. “I don’t need any or want any big deal made. I’ve had all my rewards and all my accolades.”

Green wants to look back on his career much like he wants to look back on his life: full of experiences without any regrets.

“I have kept with it, and I don’t regret it a bit,” Green said about his current position with the school.” I love the coaching part of it. I love teaching the kids. I have always had really good people to work with.”