By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine/TV
One of the better receivers in local high school history is the new head coach of the Southwood Cowboys football team, and Mike Green brings plenty of experience and confidence to the task at hand.
I have a lot of respect for him, and recently was able to find out more about his background and influences that make him a great choice to lead the Cowboys back to a competitive status in District 1-5A.
Green, a 1989 graduate of Huntington, was a record-setting WR for the Raiders. I was told he was a game-breaker, and he rode that talent into college football.
“Back in the day I think I held a few records as a WR in the city of Shreveport,” Green said. “I played before the Air Raid Offense we see these days. At one time I held record for the city with receptions in a single season with 62 catches. That stood for a while until the passing offenses started to come around in the 1990s.”
He wasn’t a one-sport star. I had a good source and Green confirmed what I was told.
“I was a sprinter for the track team, point guard for the basketball team, and All-City as a catcher in baseball,” he said. “That’s when kids played many sports for their high schools.”
Green was able to turn his talent and production into a college education at Southern – with a local legend helping it happen.
“I signed with a coach named Gerald Kimble, who coached at Green Oaks in Shreveport before Southern. I signed with several other Shreveport natives, players like Thatcher Kelly (QB) and Renard Robinson (WR) from Green Oaks, and Billy Sims, a running back from Northwood HS,” said Greene.
He played for Southern from 1989-1993, and had a great ending to his career.
“We won a Black National Championship in 1993 with Pete Richardson as the head coach,” he said. “We went 11-1, beat South Carolina State in the Heritage Bowl to win the national championship after we beat Grambling in the Bayou Classic.”
While he enjoyed reminiscing, Green was more eager to talk about the Cowboys.
“It’s been very exciting on campus. The coaches are putting in new systems to run and the kids are being really responsive with great attitudes. We are looking for a great season and to upset some teams.
“I am very impressed with what I inherited and walked into. This team has some of the biggest, fastest, and tallest players I’ve been around in my coaching career. We are jelling fast on Walker Road,” he said, “and Southwood is coming in 2023.”
A big reason he’s optimistic is the staff he has around him.
“It all starts with Kenny Smith, our offensive line coach and strength coach. This guy has tons of energy and has these kids strong and focused for the summer. We also have from the prior staff a young, talented coach in Desmond Leonard,” said Green. “He knows football and knows the kids on the defensive side.”
There’s no question that Southwood faces a lot of doubters as Green envisions climbing the District 1-5A ladder this fall.
“I understand coming in as a doormat. Our team had a losing record in 2022,” he said. “The district will always be tough week in and week out. We can control gaining people’s respect in 2023 as we play the Byrd’s, Natchitoches Central’s and Airline’s of the world in this upcoming season. We look to change our win-loss record in 2023 and become a factor.”
Green outlined his schematic approaches on both sides of the ball.
“Defensively, we will go with a 4-2-5 and be big up front, cover and be aggressive on the back end. Offensively, we will go 4- or 5-wide, but with the big offensive line we have, we will run the ball too. We will let our athletes score points.”
Green appreciates the chance he and his coaches have to positively influence their players, and others at Southwood.
“I had several coaches make an impact on my life — Pete Richardson at Southern, the coach who signed me for Southern, Gerald Kimble, and my high school coach Tony Rhodes at Huntington. Tony had a way of motivating you as a player. He could make you think you could do it, and we would believe him. This is what motivated me to get into coaching at an early age, seeing this from my high school coach.”
As a former college athlete, Green has an interesting perspective for those who go on to the next level – then enter the transfer portal.
“I don’t like it all. We need to put limits on it soon,” he said. “I am old school. If you choose a college, I don’t like the fact that now, you don’t have to stick it out through adversity. It gives kids an easy way out. That’s not how life works.”
Fridays are special for him – not just game days, but most all 52 of them.
“I fish every chance I can get. I go every Friday after work or when I’m off with friends,” he said. “I just love to fish.”
He is a big proponent of the developing football program at Centenary College.
“I’m all for it. It’s a good deal to get more kids to college through football here locally with a college team here. That helps a lot. I sure hope people support it and it will grow,” he said. “I think Centenary football will become a staple one day if so.”
While he’s rooting for the Gents, Green is focused on Southwood’s climb up the ladder this fall and beyond. I believe he’s the right man at the right time for the Cowboys.
Lee Brecheen has operated Louisiana Football Magazine for over 30 years and is one of the state’s foremost experts on high school football and especially recruiting. Based in Baton Rouge, Lee travels statewide to watch practices and games and has broken down film and tape since the late 1980s. He has converted the printed product to an online website (Lafootballmagazine.com) that will preview every high school and college football program in the state before kickoff this fall. Lee also hosts a football-centric TV show on YouTube, The Sports Scouting Report, on weekdays.