Coach Green's Friday Mailbag (6/5/2026)

Happy Friday GangGreen

Thanks for all the awesome mailbag feedback.

I'm sure a lot of you saw on social media that my new gig at NYMA is taking off.  I'm excited to be in that role and trying to replicate what was done at Sem a few years back.  Our kids graduate Saturday, but watch our socials all summer as I go about finding ways to provide a unique, high-level private school experience with world-class wrestling to young men and women across the nation.

Do we think the elite state of high school wrestling can continue? Or is it just the byproduct of the top 1% being generational? Or is the age wrestlers are in their “prime” decreased as well? - RudisRowley

I think HS wrestling will continue to evolve.  Kids have more access to clubs, RTC, and resources.  I think the logical product of that is HS kids are performing at levels that we haven't seen before.  The by-product of that is a lot of miles on your body- so you may see athletes leaving competition earlier.  I don't really have an opinion on whether that is good or bad, but there won't be a lot of Kyle Dake's moving forward.

I also think HS kids will seek out routes besides your traditional public school more and more.  I think that is a mixed bag as well.  Some destinations are equipped to educate kids, as they have been doing since the 1800s.  Other models are in their infancy and may or may not work.  We are no different than any other sport- a percentage of kids and parents will sacrifice education in lieu of three practices a day.  It will be interesting to see what happens next.

How coach keep guys fresh with demands of Army for a full season - Hijo

Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn't.

When I was at West Point, we worked hard to be sure our guys weren't banged up going into EIWA.  Both Kevin Ward and Troy Nickerson are cognizant of this.  Troy had our guys go live way less than most coaches.  KW was big on giving guys more days completely off the mat.  As an assistant, my job was to execute on both those philosophies.  I think one thing that is overhyped is how busy guys are at academies.  Every year, they put the daily schedule of the Cadet up in a graphic during the Army/ Navy football game.  Everyone who works at one knows it is complete BS.  Army wrestlers have down time and plenty of opportunity to engage in recovery.  Shoutout to Spencer Sallee- the best athletic trainer in the biz!  He works hard to keep the Army guys healthy

I saw you respond to Willie's tweet about RAF stats. Which stats or metrics would you like to see or be able to measure in wrestling? Aside from pins, techs etc  - Tony S

Think of your favorite sport and think of the numbers you associate with it.  20 game winner.  50 goals.  Triple doubles.  1000 yards.

We don't have anything like that.  WrestleStat tries but fans don't really buy in.  I think some standardization of schedule would be cool.  There should be strong recognition at the NCAA level of season leaders in wins, pins, etc..We should make a bigger deal out of it.  Maybe it will become a way to qualify for NCAA’s?

RAF kinda has carte blanche to do stuff like this.  I'm intrigued to see if they lean into it

Why do hot dogs come in a pack of 10 but hot dog buns come in a pack of 8? - Jimmy Overhiser

A guy is educated at Wyoming Seminary and Cornell and he can't figure this out?  Hot dogs, in general, are sold by weight like most meats.  Generally speaking - 10 dogs is a pound.  

Note - That doesn't mean eat 10 dogs if you are a 1lb under.  Unless you are a heavyweight.  

Buns were produced on standard baking trays, which usually come in 4s.  So eight is a multiple of 4, but 10 isn't.

I feel like my job of educating Overhiser should have ended when he became a grown man and a DI Head Coach, but I guess I'm a teacher for life.