The Tribune

By JONATHAN BURROWS

Tribune Sports Reporter

jburrows@tribunemedia.net

FROM a struggling jumper at A.F. Adderley High School to one of the most respected coaches in American collegiate athletics, Bahamian Rolando “Lonnie” Greene has come a long way, and his work with two of the world’s leading hurdlers has earned him recognition on the international stage.

Greene has been named one of three finalists for the 2026 World Athletics Coach of the Year award after guiding American Masai Russell and Bahamian Devynne Charlton through outstanding seasons that included a world record and a world championship title.

Russell broke the women’s 100 metres hurdles world record with a time of 12.09 seconds in Zurich, Switzerland, while Charlton equalled her own world indoor 60m hurdles record of 7.65 seconds to capture the world indoor title.

The performances have put Greene in contention for one of the sport’s major coaching honours, with Brazil’s Felipe de Siqueira and Zimbabwe’s Ken Harnden completing the shortlist.

The winner will be announced at the World Athletics Awards in Monaco on November 29.

While the nomination recognises his latest work with Russell and Charlton, Greene’s coaching career stretches back more than three decades and includes stops at Missouri State, Minnesota, Arkansas, Purdue and Kentucky.

His success has been built on developing athletes and creating opportunities for others, particularly Bahamians, to make their mark in collegiate athletics.

Greene’s own journey began in Nassau, where he attended A.F Adderley High School and competed in track and field. At the time, becoming a collegiate coach was far from his plans.

After receiving an opportunity to attend Murray State University in Kentucky, Greene initially pursued biochemistry, but struggled with the academic demands of the programme after entering college without having taken chemistry in high school.

In an interview with The Tribune during the Bahamas Athletic Foundation’s Coaches Professional Development Conference in 2018, Greene recalled how career planning eventually pointed him in a different direction.

“I took it and the professor said with the talent that I have, I need to be working with people. 

“I looked at this dude and I said I wanted to be a doctor. That was my flesh, but God had something else in plan and in store for me,” he said.

A conversation with Patrick Bailey while Greene was attending graduate school at Southwest Missouri State University helped encourage him to pursue coaching. He immersed himself in the sport and eventually secured his first opportunity as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas.

Greene spent 16 years with the Razorbacks after joining the programme in 1996, progressing to associate head coach while overseeing the sprints, hurdles, horizontal jumps and multi-events.

His athletes produced four NCAA champions, five NCAA event titles, 114 All-America honours and 16 Southeastern Conference championships. His work also earned him the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s National Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2004.

He moved to Purdue University in 2012 to take charge of its men’s and women’s track and field programmes, a position that brought him his first opportunity to lead a collegiate programme as head coach.

Greene admitted that he initially questioned why he had been given the Purdue opportunity rather than a position at one of the more established programmes in the country.

“I went there for the interview and after I got the job, I was ‘Lord, why did I get this job. Why couldn’t I get a Texas or Florida or a programme that was banging,” he recalled.

However, he eventually came to appreciate the opportunity to build something of his own. During his six seasons at Purdue, Greene transformed the programme into a nationally respected NCAA Division I operation. The women’s team won its first Big Ten outdoor championship in 2017 and recorded its best NCAA Outdoor Championships finish at the time with an eighth-place showing in 2018.

His athletes also collected numerous All-America honours, including Bahamian hurdler Charlton, who became a 12-time Big Ten champion and 12-time first-team All-American during her collegiate career.

Looking back at his time in Indiana, Greene said the relationships he developed with athletes were just as important as the championships.

One of his most memorable moments came when a former athlete returned to introduce him to his young son, who had been named Rolando in his honour.

“When he said coach Rolando, I want you to meet Rolando, I just broke,” Greene said.

“He could have named his son after his dad, but he named his son after me.”

The development of Bahamian athletes was another source of pride. Greene recalled Charlton arriving at Purdue running 13.8 seconds in the 100m hurdles before progressing to 12.6 seconds and becoming one of the leading hurdlers in the world.

He also pointed to the academic achievements of his athletes, including Charlton’s pursuit of a marine biology degree and fellow Bahamian Carmiesha Cox’s completion of graduate studies while working towards her MBA.

His departure from Purdue in 2018 to take over at the University of Kentucky also allowed him to continue building a strong Bahamian presence within his coaching staff.

He played an important role in recommending fellow Bahamian Norbert Elliott to succeed him as head coach at Purdue, ensuring that the programme remained in the hands of someone he trusted.

The relationship between the two men went back to their days in The Bahamas, when Elliott, then an established jumper, offered Greene advice that helped him secure his college scholarship.

Greene recalled competing with a hamstring injury at a high school national meet when Elliott called him over to the fence.

“He asked me what happened to my hamstring and I told him I pulled it. He said move your approach three feet back and run. He said tear the hamstring and jump,” Greene recalled.

“That simple advice allowed me to jump 49-feet, 2-inches to get a scholarship to go to college.”

Years later, their paths crossed again in the United States as assistant coaches. They had agreed that if either secured a head coaching position, they would look to bring the other into their programme.

When Greene eventually landed the Purdue job, he honoured that agreement by bringing Elliott onto his staff. He later recommended him to take over the programme when he left for Kentucky.

Greene also continued the tradition of bringing Bahamian coaching talent into his programmes by recruiting former Olympic champion Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie as an assistant coach at Kentucky.

“She’s a Bahamian, but I knew she was out there, so she would have had to tell me no,” he said.

“Charity begins at the house. Charity begins at home. She’s a home girl.”

That commitment to Bahamian involvement has remained a defining part of Greene’s coaching philosophy, and his latest nomination has brought renewed attention to the work he has done with athletes from his homeland.

His relationship with Charlton has continued to flourish at Kentucky, where she has become a three-time world indoor champion and the world record holder in the women’s 60m hurdles.

Russell has also reached the highest level under his guidance, adding the 2026 world record to the Olympic gold medal she won in Paris in 2024.

Greene has consistently spoken about his desire to make an impact on the lives of those he coaches. He has often described coaching as an extension of his faith and his responsibility to help others.

“I know I’m in the place where God would have me to be,” he said during the 2018 interview. “I’m just going to continue to be a good steward of what he has blessed me with, holding people to the highest expectations.”

Despite spending much of his professional career in the United States, Greene has never distanced himself from the possibility of giving back to Bahamian athletics through national team coaching.

He has previously made it clear that he would accept the opportunity if the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations called on him.

“I would be here tomorrow if they say, ‘Lonnie would you be one of our coaches’,” he said.

“Anytime you get to serve your country in any which way, it is an honour.”

Greene’s latest nomination is a reflection of a career that has taken him from the schoolyards of New Providence to the highest levels of collegiate and international athletics.

On November 29, he will have the opportunity to add another distinction to a résumé that already includes NCAA championships, Hall of Fame recognition and the development of world-class athletes.