College Sports Information Directors of America

Related Content
• 2022 Special Awards Announcements and Features
• #CoSIDA22 Virtual Convention Home
• Past Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients
• Past 25-Year Award Recipients

---

Mike Green – Iowa State University, Alumni Relations Specialist/Director of Traditions

CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award
CoSIDA 25-Year Award

by Matt Shoultz – Iowa State University, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

Sometimes a person works a job that is almost so perfect for them that it’s difficult to comprehend.
 
That was certainly the case for Mike Green, who recently concluded a 25-year tenure in the Iowa State Athletics Communications office. Green, alongside fellow Iowa Staters and longtime mentors Tom Kroeschell and Steve Malchow, will accept his 2022 CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award this summer in Las Vegas.
 
For the last nine years, Green served as the head of the communications office, working closely with the Cyclone Football team during the most successful years in program history.
 
 
Green left the field earlier this month in April to take over as the Director of Traditions in the Student-Athlete and Letterwinner Engagement office at ISU, leaving one job that was perfect for him for another gig that will allow him to stay engaged in Iowa State Athletics, one of his biggest passions in life.
 
After earning his undergraduate degree at the University of Northern Iowa, the Cedar Falls native made the move South to Ames to begin graduate school.
 
He knew that he wanted to get into athletics as he made his way to Iowa State.
 
It was an easy decision for Green, whose dad Ken, played baseball for Iowa State from 1958-1960 and went on to coach golf at UNI.
 
“Athletics was the only thing I ever really knew,” Green said. “My dad was in athletics and I was a gym rat. I’ve lived in college towns my entire life and my whole existence was based around the college in the towns I’ve lived in.”
 
On top of that, Green spent his childhood following Iowa State Athletics. Anyone that has talked to him can tell you that he is a steel trap of many things, but especially music, sports cards and Cyclone Athletics.
 
In fact, it’s where he first got a taste of sports information, even if he didn’t know it at the time. He was clipping articles long before he knew he’d someday do it for a living.
 
“My first football hero was (Cyclone Hall of Famer) Dwayne Crutchfield,” Green said. “Whenever there was an article on him, I’d cut it out and put it in a collage and hang it in my room. Back then, games weren’t on television much, so really the only way to get information was to read about them in the newspaper.”
 
Growing up in Eastern Iowa, news on the Cyclones could often be hard to find. Even as a teen, Green took it upon himself to spread the word on his favorite teams.
 
“I remember hearing about Barry Stevens,” Green adds. “Finally, some games were on television and I was in awe of him. Nobody really covered Iowa State where I lived. It really kind of started my roots of why I wanted to get into this profession. I wanted to be that guy that let people know how good players are. I’m in school telling everyone how great he is.”
 
And so began a multiple decade long love affair with telling people about the Cyclones.
 
Green arrived at Iowa State and went to the sports information office and was hired by Kroeschell as a student.
 
His impact on the office was nearly immediate.
 
“It was obvious early on that Mike was a hard worker and that he took a personal stake in his work,” said Kroeschel, who retired last year and also will receive a CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award this June. “He was going to hold himself to a high standard in whatever job you gave him. He had absolutely no ego. It was clear in a couple months that he was probably going to be a long-timer.”
 
For Green, he’s loved telling the stories of the coaches and the players. But as much as that, it is the relationships he’s made that he’ll always cherish.
 
“I know it’s cliché, but getting to know the student-athletes is so incredible,” Green said. “You get to forge so many unbelievable relationships where you build trust with people and you know you can count on them. When life is hard, when life is tough, you know you can count on these people. That is the great part of our job.”
 
One of those relationships that Green has is with Cyclone head football coach Matt Campbell, who will be inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame in June.
 
Green says it is coaches like Campbell, who have helped him unlock his potential in the profession.
 
“I’ve worked with so many great people, too many to name, but you work with a person like Matt Campbell and you see what he has done at Iowa State,” Green said. “He empowers you and lets you do your job. He makes you feel like you are part of the program. You know, it is hard to do your job well unless your head coach does that for you.”
 
The sentiment is mutual.
 
“Mike was such an important part of our program from day one,” noted Campbell. “It was easy to see he had an incredible passion for this University and our program. I appreciated the effort and energy that he put into his work. Mike cared about every aspect of the job, was always very organized and was a true professional. We’ll miss having him around our program, but we know he’ll continue to make Iowa State a special place in his new position.”
 
With his communications career in the rearview mirror, Green is excited to continue in the Iowa State Athletics Department and continue telling former athlete’s stories through the written word.
 
He’ll still be around and still be building the relationships that have made him such a valued member of the Cyclone community for so many years.
 
“You could be the greatest writer of all time, you could be the greatest stat person,” Green says. “In baseball terms, you could be a five-tool SID, but if you don’t have a great work ethic and you aren’t loyal or don’t care about your coaches and athletes you probably are going to have a hard time making it in this field.”
 
It’s what he does and one of the many things that has made him successful.
 
Iowa State Athletics has been lucky to have him in its corner.