Rollie Greeno - Inducted 2015
The 1944 Langford High and 1950 Northern State grad coached the Milbank football team to 44 consecutive victories before embarking on a 37-year coaching career at Jamestown College.
The Amherst native began his coaching career at Wessington Springs from 1950-56, coaching four sports with great success. His football teams there were 37-9-3, including a 27-game win streak. He spent the next nine years at Milbank, going 68-5-1 with the 44-game win streak (still a state 11-man record).
In 1965 he moved to Jamestown, where he coached indoor and outdoor track (37 years), cross country (37), football (27) and wrestling (17) and was athletic director (18). With the way the seasons overlapped, he often was coaching more than one sport at a time. Greeno was legendary for his long hours and for the cot he had set up in his office if the day’s work ran too long. His football teams went 154-83-2 and won eight North Dakota Collegiate Athletic Conference titles. He had winning seasons in 22 of his 27 years, including 19 years in a row (1966-84). The 1967 and ’68 teams went unbeaten. His wrestling teams were 150-110-4 and his cross country teams won 21 conference titles.
It was in track, however, that he made his greatest mark. His teams were nearly unbeatable, winning 28 indoor and 26 outdoor conference titles. Twenty-one of the indoor titles were in a row and his outdoor teams won the final 22 NDCAC titles. He retired in 2002.
Greeno was selected as the South Dakota High School Coach of the Year in 1958. He is a member of the following halls of fame: Northern State, Jamestown College, South Dakota High School Football Coaches Association, North Dakota Sports and NAIA Football Coaches. In 1999, the Jamestown College football field was renamed in his honor.
Greeno joins his brother Rich in the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.
As a prep athlete, he excelled in basketball, track and baseball. At Northern, he was the first athlete to win 12 letters in three sports: football, basketball and track. He won the SDIC 880-yard dash and ran on the championship mile relay team with his brother Rich.
