The Education of Frank Green, Part 1

On this episode, Danny sits down with Chef/Coach/Berkeley High Alumni, Frank Green! They talk about growing up in Cross, SC, moving to Moncks Corner, playing football and basketball as a youth, the impact of Coach Dr. Jerry Brown at Berkeley High, finding his groove at wide receiver, his most memorable high school opponents, making the North/South All-Star Game and catching the eye of recruiters during practice.

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Intro-Late Night Jam by Infrared Krypto

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What is good, good people? You are now listening to another episode of Since We Last Spoke with Danny Foxworth. I am your humble narrator, Danny Foxworth. And this episode here, man, I've been looking forward to this one. Extremely special guest sitting to the sitting next to me. Originally from across South Carolina, amongst corner zone. Man, chef extraordinaire. He be throwing down on the grill. Coach. The man is a man of many hats, man. So uh fellow Berkeley High Alum. And I've been looking forward to this one because we had a great combo prior to recording, and we were trying to get our schedules to line up. And hey, we're here now. So, ladies and gentlemen, chef, coach, Frank Green. Frank, man, what's going on with you? Man, nothing much, man. It's a pleasure to be here, man. First of all, thank you for having me on. I think this is a this is a great opportunity, man. I like what you got going on, man. And so I'm I'm I'm honored to be here right now. I'm honored that you that you uh took time out of your business schedule to uh be a guest. So looking forward to this one. So let's take it back to the beginning, man. Across South Carolina. What was that country life like for you? Well, you know, so my parents they moved out across kind of like the mid-80s, right? So I I was I was pretty young when all of that happened. But uh we came to Monk's Gorner in the mid-80s, moved uh right here on um on Bradley Road, man, St. Francis Villa, uh what we call the projects, man. Shout out to everybody, all my St. Francis Villa uh people, y'all know what that is. But um, we moved back there, man, like I said, mid-80s. And then, you know, I kind of spent a lot of time bouncing back and forth between Monk's Gorner and Cross, man. Like a lot of my weekends and my summers were spinning cross. Uh, you know, of course, you know, when school's in, I'm in Monks Gorner, but the weekend come in, I'm hitting my grandma up and we we go into cross, man. Okay, and uh you know, that's and like I said, that that's cross, you know, for me, man, that's that's my roots. That's my home. Yeah, um, my mom and dad are from cross, so all a lot of my family members uh are in cross. And a lot of my uh early athletic experience comes from cross, man. So that's that's what that's all about. So what sports did you gravitate to? Basketball and football, straight up. More so football than basketball, but we did it all out there in the country, man. You know what I mean? Yeah, uh, you know, shout out to uh shout out to my big cuz uh Mr. Moses Rollison, man. He he he welded us a backboard, man, and and we were we were getting it in on a dirt court, man, out there across, man, getting it in. And when my uh my cousin Pop Jimmy uh cornfield was down, we was down in there, man, getting in, running routes, catching passes, all up in there, up in the cornfield, man. So like I said, a lot of my athletic, my early athletic beginnings starting to cross. Wow. So then take us to what that adjustment like was like moving to uh Monks Corner and then getting playing sports in Monks Corner and then having to get acclimated with you know having new teammates, so to speak. Well, you know, I don't I don't know if many people know this. The people who are kind of close to me, they may know this. But you know, I I didn't play any recreation in Monks Corner. No, I did not play any recreation. And, you know, that's why St. Francis Villa, man, Bradley Road will always hold a special place in my heart, man, because even though we didn't have much back there, man, we got it in. I'm talking about we got it in. I mean, I remember back in the day, man, we there like in the back part of St. Francis Villa, there's a there's a concrete slab back there, and it had two trash cans at the end at the end of each one. We were out there playing full court basketball, shooting in two trash cans, man. Hey, man, yes. By any means, yes, by any means, man. Humble beginnings. And uh so we started off that, and then uh one of my boys, man, shout out to Spoon Spencer. That's my guy right there. He had yes, Spencer, yes. Hey, big shout out to Spencer. Shout out to my dog Spoon dog, yes uh, Spoon. He had he got the idea of cutting the milk crate out and nailing it to the tree uh behind his mom's uh apartment, man. And then that's we went from playing in uh on the trash can to behind Spoonhouse, man. Hooping, bro. When I say hooping, I'm talking about some of the who's who's amongst gonna got their early humble beginnings back there, man. Hooping back there on a on a milk crate, man. So we was getting it in, and that's basketball. And then football, bro, we in between the speed bumps, getting it in, throwing passes, getting it in. So that is honestly where my athletic start got there. That's it. It it was in in St. Francis Villa, man. And then I transitioned, I remember in the seventh grade was when I went out for football. That's when I first went out for football. It was seventh grade. Yeah. So, you know, that's so no you feel, man. No you feel. Frank Frank Green did not play any U feel at all. Wow, no wreck. No wreck. Well, no, hold on. I stand let me correct that. I played recreation basketball one year. That was it. No wreck football. And I and I stand corrected on that. I played recreation basketball one year for the Bulls, and we won a championship that year. One and done. One and done, and that was it. So I stand corrected on that. But as far as football, I did not come up on the youth field, man. Not at all. I went straight from uh straight to uh B team in the seventh grade. No kidding. Yes. So talk about that experience. What was that like? You know, having no no prior as far as like structure in terms of like playing a like a structured team game. Well, you know, I I'll say this, man. Um the guys that I grew up around and which I have to I have to take it back to cross because a lot of we we had and shout out to Mr. uh Kenneth Pinckney, uh Mr. Blake Nelson, those guys out across, man, Coach Jones, those guys out across, because those guys, you know, even though we did not cross technically didn't have a recreation department, these were some stand-up guys in the community that would come and come to your grandma's house, come to your auntie house, come to your mama's house, and get you and bring you to the gym and cross. And they were, you know, teaching us fundamentals in that aspect. And so that's why I said coming up, bouncing back and forth between Monscorner and Cross, I was getting those fundamentals out there, but it just we it just wasn't under a recreation uh umbrella because Cross didn't have that at that time. And so, you know, I'm very thankful for those guys because they were, you know, teaching us things like that. And so by the time I did make it uh to B team, you know, I did have, you know, I had a con idea or concept of what you know I needed to do as far as football-wise. And then, you know, I was always I was always a pretty fast kid. So a lot of my a lot of the athletic ability it was kind of natural. Yeah, and then you know, getting under uh Coach Brown's umbrella, that that sealed the deal, man. To be honest with you, that sealed the deal. Because, you know, and uh shout out to Coach Brown, man. Shout out to Dr. Coach Jerry Brown, you know, he dude, his between his philosophy and how he pushed us in the weight room, it it just turned it solidified me as an athlete, man. So uh I'm very uh very thankful for his guidance and his leadership all those years, you know, because back in my time, you know, we were a feeder program, man. Yeah, you know, Coach Brown was, dude, he you know, we he he had us running varsity plays in the seventh grade. And so I can't think of a better uh experience, man. Um you talk about transitioning from middle school to high school to college. I can't think about a better uh going through a better program, man. Coach Brown's philosophy, like I said, his philosophy and his uh his demand for work ethic and all of those things, man, it it really shaped me into the athlete that I became. So when you first got uh got your feet wet with B Team, what was that experience like? Bro, you know, B Team, I I I remember, dude, it was so much competition back then. Like almost everybody you could possibly think of in the Munchstone community and surrounding areas, Cordsville, everywhere, man. Everybody would be out there. And you know, back then it was much different because you know, you had more teachers, more PE teachers. A lot of our PE teachers and things like that, they were they were coaches, and the way Coach Brown had everything set up, pretty much if you were involved in any sport, you had to coach football. So, like for example, you know, I started off as a DB, I was a free safety on B team starting off, free safety slash cornerback starting off. And uh my DB coach was our head wrestling coach at the time. Really? Yes, wow, yes, man. Uh, shout out Jake Stewart, man, and uh, you know, he was the head wrestling coach. And you know, these guys, you know, they were able to tap in uh to the community, and it was just very competitive, man. I mean, some of the some of the some of the best guys, man, you could possibly think of came through that, you know, that whole B team system. But uh that introduction, like I said, you know, just with Coach Brown having his hands not only on the varsity, but on the B team as well, um, we were being shaped. We were being we were being groomed for varsity in the seventh grade. So it that was a that was a heck of an experience, man. So it was like an accelerated learning curve pretty much. Absolutely, man. Uh, because dude, if you know anything, if if you've been around Coach Brown, he's he's very precise, man. You know what I mean? He he wants you to know the why to what you're doing. And you know, that that's that's the thing that made him, in my opinion, such a great coach, because not only was he, you know, uh was he, you know, just about us just as athletes, just that. He he was also about how you were as a student, how you were as a person in the community, all of those things, man. So his philosophy about character, discipline, and all of those things, man, he was instilling that in us in seventh grade from afar, man. So just so like I said earlier, it it just it put the icing on the cake for me, man, as an athlete. Yeah, and that's great that he instilled that knowledge in y'all at such a young age, and you're you know, you're in the middle of that maturation process, and you're impressionable kids still. And yeah, man. Shout out to Coach Brown, man. Yeah, man, yeah, man. We gotta, we gotta give, you know, and and hey, man, you know, I everybody's gonna have their opinion, but you know, for somebody that, you know, and and I know I I can't speak for all the guys because there's so many of us out of that Berkeley umbrella that played for Coach Brown. But, you know, I will say this. I'm pretty sure everybody uh will tip their hat to Coach Brown, man. And you know, he's still around. And so we got to make sure that we give him his flowers and so why while he can still smell the man. And uh, you know, Coach Brown, you know, Coach Brown was most definitely a very influential coach, uh, influential person in my life, man. So we gotta give Coach Brown, we gotta give him his flowers. We got salute got some. So now let's go to varsity. Let's talk about varsity, because man, y'all, the the stags during that time period, man, y'all were some heavy hitters. Man, boy. But once again, I gotta point out that Berkeley High School are Berkeley sports. Football, it was a feeder program. Yeah. So it was levels to it, man. You know, B team, then J V. And some of us was on varsity plus. Uh, you know, and and so you don't for those of you who don't know what varsity plus is, varsity plus is white where you you're practicing with JV and varsity. And as a and and if you're good enough, you can maybe play two quarters with varsity and then play uh play two quarters with JV or play all the quarters with varsity, play all the quarters with JV, just depending on you know what the need was. So it was levels to it, man. And you know, honestly, man, Coach Brown just had a system, his system was just it was immaculate. Yeah, so because it was preparing us for the end goal, which was varsity. So I went through all those processes, you know, B Team JV did a little bit of varsity plus, and then I transitioned to varsity my sophomore year. And that I remember going into that summer workouts, and uh, because remember I told you from so B team, I was a pre-safety slash cornerback, JV. I did the same thing, free safety slash cornerback in that realm. So as I'm transitioning into the 10th grade, I I'll never forget this man, Coach Brown, he brought out the jug machine. You know, you know the bro, he he brought that jug machine out, and he had all of us line up and we had to go up there and catch balls, no gloves, and he's back there just shooting that thing. Yeah, and I'm just sitting there gloving him. No, I mean, excuse me, just catching bare hands, just catching them. I remember he, you know, everybody knows Coach. I mean, he's like, Frankie, it looks like you might have to be a receiver, son. And and and that's and that's how it happened, man. It happened just like that. Uh, you know, going into that summer, he brought up that jug machine. I'm catching the passes. I was one of the ones that was catching it with my bare hands, catching it away from the body, and then I transitioned from a free safety to receiver. And that's that's how my varsity career started, man. Wow. So uh who were some of your most memorable opponents? Boy, of course, you know, number one is Somerville, man. And, you know, I have to be honest about that, man. And I don't know if any of us I never beat Somerville.

unknown 13:04

Really?

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Never. I never beat Somerville, man. And uh, you know, but Somerville, for sure, during that time. Of course, uh Timberland had just came on the scene during that time. So that they were pretty uh big, big games. Who else during that time? James Island, they were some big competitors of ours. Uh those guys out of uh uh Walboro, because not now it's Collaton County, but Walterboro back then, those guys, they were always good opponents for us. And everybody else was kind of mid, man. I don't know, you know, and I know things have changed, but you know, Goose Creek wasn't a factor back then, Wando wasn't a factor back then, you know, which some of these guys are kind of you know, they're factors now, but back in back in my time, man, though those guys weren't. But and and of course, Stratford, sorry, you know, Coach Stackley and those guys, man, they always, you know, they always came, whether we were there or they were at us, they were always some big, uh, big memorable games. Um, but yeah, pretty much though, though that was pretty much it. Mainly Strafford, you know, of course, Strafford and Somerville, man, those are Berkeley's two big rivals, man. So those were always big games and exciting games to play in at Berkeley. So who were the three players that gave you the most fits on defense? Let me see. It probably was a couple you're talking from the opposing teams? Yes. I I remember we coming up, uh Stratford. They had they had uh they had TJ Rose over there. And I don't know if you know that's TJ Rose? Yes. That's a used to play at the Citadel. Yes, John Rose. John Rose, yes, Coach John. You know, he coached uh he coached me uh later on in at Berkeley too. John Rose? Yeah, he did. Big big shout out to him. Shout out to John Rose, yes. I used to work with him at the summer feeding program, yeah, man, in high school. Yeah, man. You talk about a passionate guy, uh Coach Rose, man, energetic guy, you know, all about football. He he brought a lot of good energy to Berkeley when he when he came, man. He was fresh out of college. He was like one of the one one of the few that were fresh out of college, man. So he came. Uh, but I remember his that because that's his little brother. And and uh TJ, he was a he was a he was a stud at Stratford. Um I'm trying to remember who was at Somerville. Uh I think it was it Dwight? I can't remember Dwight's last name. But Dwight, he was a good DB out of uh out of Somerville. Who else was over there, man? God, some of those names. It's just so far removed. I can't remember. Then you had uh Stratford, uh they had the Gladness Twins. I don't know if you know those guys, but those guys, those guys were some good athletes coming out of Stratford High School, the Gladness Twins, and they also ran some good track guys, too. Okay, so they were some good guys. Um, I'm trying to think who else defensive wise. That's all I can think of off the top of my head right now, man. You know, of course, you know, all like Somerville and Stratford, they they those guys were always loaded, man. You know, they were always loaded with good, good athletes out of the air. Mo Thompson. Let me not forget about Moe Thompson. Because I know he's probably gonna see this. Shout out, my boy Big Mo, man. Big Mo. Big Mo, man. That man was so light on his feet at his size. I mean, he played tight in this traffic. But the thing that impressed me the most about his athleticism is I remember when they played each other, y'all played each other in basketball. Yeah, Mo, uh, dude, I I gotta say this, man. Shout out Big Mo, Big Mo Thompson, man. If you know Stratford, you got you, you're not gonna mention Stratford High School without mentioning Mo, man. Yeah, Moe was, I think Mo that year, uh, our senior, he was Mr. Football. Yeah, he was all of those things, man. Yes, and like you said, you talk about a guy with that size and that can move, man. He was like he was very light on his feet. Uh, he was he he was tough, man. He was relentless as as an athlete, man. So he always gave us trouble on defense and offense. So so my bad, Mo, I, you know, I mean, I almost forgot about you there, my guy. But yeah, Mo Thompson was a man child, man. He was a man amongst boys in high school. Yeah, so 6'3, 260. Yeah. And he could just do whatever he wanted to do on that field, boy. He can move, man. He can move. And he was just he was just raw talent, man. He was just really, really, really raw talent. And in and uh it didn't surprise me at all that Carolina came and got in, man, tried to scoop him up and keep him keep him in-house, man. So uh shout out Big Mo, man. Big shout out to Mo Thompson. So the the playoff, like the playoff uh era. Man, yeah. I remember when y'all y'all played uh y'all played Conway for the uh lower state championship. Boy, you talk now you now you opening up a can of worms, man, uh for me. Yeah. Conway, uh, and you know what was so interesting about that year, and uh, if I'm not mistaken, we ended up in camp. We were in camp with Conway, really Marlboro County, I believe Conway, Marlboro County, York. Uh we went to, yes, that was my senior year. We went to Wingate. Okay. Um, up in North Carolina, man. And uh we were in camp with those guys, man. And, you know, and and just ironically, we uh we came because my senior year, yeah, and and you gotta take it back a little bit, because my sophomore year, we ran that Clemson offense. Clemson was running that five wide. And so a lot of people don't, and if you don't, I I can talk about it now, but uh Coach Brown, he had us breaking down college film in high school. And see, a lot of people don't really probably they won't, they're not privy to that information, but I'll put that out there. But so we ran the Clemson, we ran Clemson's offense my sophomore year. And I when I say, bro, we had film study breaking down Clemson's offense. So we wow, and so you talk about not only because Rob pushing us in the weight room and on the practice field and all those things, but he pushed us in the film in the film room as well. And so you're talking about high school kids that are studying college film, and we're doing, we're replicating what Clemson was doing in high school. So that kind of set that set the bar and it set a standard, it set it up high. And so that's why we were able to, you know, compete at certain levels, man, because we we were we were also sharp mentally because of our film study. And so transitioning out of our sophomore year, you know, because my my my my sophomore year, we had Brandon Cantrell. So Brandon Cantrell. Oh yeah, he he he was a gunslinger, number six. Yes, shout out Brandon Cantrell, my QB, you know, and so but so Brandon Cantrell is probably about what 6'2, 6'3, yeah, around that size. The next year, my junior year, we go from a 6'3 quarterback to a 5'7 quarterback, which is Trent Weathers. Trent Weathers. And so I'm setting I'm setting the stage for you, I'm building it up. Okay, but uh so Coach Brown, the offensive mind that he is, he he ought, he I don't think he knew Trent probably would struggle with that shotgun offense because you know the the linemen, you know, they got it, they're popping up. Trent's 5'7, so he switched the offense up completely. So we went from Clipson's offense to Georgia Southern's offense. I see if you're and to the people who are not familiar with that, Georgia Southern, they ran the triple option. Yeah, you know what I mean? And so now instead of me being a split out, I had to come inside. And and this was, man, me and Coach Brown argued about this, you know, behind closed doors because he was like, Frankie, that's the only way you're gonna get the ball, son. You know, yeah, and you know, hey man, and shout out my guys, because we always don't know Coach Brown, because that's how you tell you, Frankie, that's the only way you're gonna get the ball, son. Yeah, because in the triple option, we had what they call A backs or your or your your H backs or whatever, you came in, and that's where they threw the ball at. So the outside receivers weren't really a huge factor in Georgia Southern's offense. And so I had to come in and now become like what we call the A-back. Now I'm coming around in the triple option, getting the pitch, and now I got major blocking responsibilities as well. Yeah, so we shifted our whole offense to fit Trent. And so once again, now we're breaking down Georgia Southern, you know, Division I college football. We're breaking their film down. And he sent us to camp there. We went to camp there for like a month. Really? Yes. Wow, yeah, and and shout out to Coach Brown, man. I don't know, Coach, I don't know if you still got that that that caprice, man, but Coach Brown drove us, he drove us to what's it, States, Statesboro, Statesboro, Georgia. He drove he took us there, man, for camp and dropped us off, man. Big box caprice. Yes, uh, man. Wow. He took us there, man. And uh great experience, but you know, and back to setting that stage to uh when we were talking about playoffs. So now my senior year, we're running the same offense. And so now after my junior year, we got the offense clicking. Going into our senior year, we got it clicking even more. And so we went to camp. We were we were up there with with your went uh with your Conways and your Yorks and your Marlboro counties. We were up there with those guys. They didn't have an answer for that triple option because we were running it exactly like Georgia Southern ran. And so we we we were clicking, man. And so uh ironically, fast forward to the third round of the game before Lower State, we end up seeing Conway and Matt. Now that takes me back to a very uh trying night, man. You know, we had a couple, we had a couple offensive uh mental mistakes, man, that really kind of put us in a position to be in a close game with Conway. But, you know, they had that kid, uh, what's his name? Alan Patrick. Alan Patrick. A shout out to Alan Patrick, man. AP. You talk about a man amongst boys, man. That that guy, I I I remember, man, Alan Patrick. Dude, this dude was probably about what? A good, I know he was every bit a 6'2, probably almost 6'3, yeah, playing running back. And he was an outside linebacker. Bro, I remember we had a busted assignment uh about one of our one of my blockers. And Alan Patrick came through there, man. Dude, this dude probably tackled me with his thighs. And I'm being serious, man. Alan Patrick, bro, where I don't know where you are in life now, man, but I'll never forget that, bro. Alan Patrick came through. My boy, he missed the block. Oh, it was a busted assignment. Alan Patrick came through. I caught the pitch. Dude, all I felt was his thighs. Hit me, though. Like his thighs, bro. Like that's he was a man child in high school, man. Uh at the outside linebacker and tailback, man. But he gave us trouble all night, you know. But you know, Coach Brown, you know, offensively, you know, we we we, you know, he's I and I'll give Coach Brown, he he's definitely an offensive guru when it comes to, you know, when it comes to offenses. But that night, man, we we we made a lot of mental mistakes that put us put us in a close game with them, man. And uh and and I think for me, the Conway game is probably gonna be my most memorable game in high school because to the folks that were at that game and who remember that game, yeah, myself included. You know, we we we tried something on the goal line where they moved me from A back to tight end. And I'd never done that before, but it was a critical. I understood this, I understood what was going on, but I'd never done that before. Yeah. And uh it was supposed to be a quick dump pass to me right in the end zone. And I remember, man, me, I ran just a little, just a little scene right in an end zone. And as I'm running, Trent, I know Trent throws the ball, and I remember he, I remember him tiptoeing up, but he threw the ball behind me a little bit. And I'm so I'm my momentum is going forward, but the ball's coming behind me, and I'm trying to catch it, and I'm falling at the same time. Yeah. Now, my hand hit the ball. The ball hit my hand. So the golden rule in the wide receiver world, in the football world, is that the ball hits your hands, you gotta catch it. And I dropped that pass against Conway, man, and we lost that game. And I and I'll tell you, man, that probably bro, that probably was one of the most hurtful moments in my football career is dropping that pass, man, dude. I I remember and to the and I guess it to the folks. Uh shout out to Big Spence, man. You know Spencer? Oh, it was Spence's last name. I can't remember. Uh Scott, Big Spence, man, Spence, uh, I believe Spence Spencer's a Berkeley guy. He played at uh he played at Berkeley. Okay, and he also played at the Citadel. He was an old lineman, man. But I remember Spence, Spence almost had to come and get me off the ground, man. I stayed on the ground for a long time, shedding a lot of tears that night, man. So shout out to Big Spence for coming to console me, man, because he knew that hurt, man. Because I, like I said, the golden rule is that the ball hits your hand, even though the pass was behind me and me, and to this day, man, me and Trent, we still talk about that, you know, man. We run in each other, man. We will we'll bring that up, man, because he'll be like, oh, Fred, that's my bad, man. I threw that, but I threw that pass behind you, man. Yeah, but every receiver knows that's the golden rule in the in the receiver handbook. Is that the ball hits your hand, you gotta catch it, man. And I dropped that pass that night. And and you know, and that was that was the one for the Low State Championship, man. So when you brought that up, man, that I I had to take it because that that that's that that that will always be one that haunts me, man. It still haunts me to this day, bro. So uh, but yeah, that that's kind of you know, that was one of uh a big playoff experience uh for us, man, during that time. So yes, sir.