Even though he probably anticipated it would be, Monday still turned out to be a highly emotional day for Aaron Green.
And how could it not have been?
Green brought an end to his high school boys basketball coaching career, the last 16 years of which he spent at Oak Ridge High School.
“When it’s time, it’s time,” Green said.
Green led the Wildcats to TSSAA state runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2025, and he won 428 games in his 16 seasons.
None of his teams had a losing season.
Oak Ridge hadn’t reached a state championship game since 1963 until Green led the program there in 2014.
The 48-year-old Green met with the players and gave them the news on Monday afternoon.
“I didn’t ever see myself coaching 30-plus years based on the amount of effort and time. Coaching is hard,” said Aaron, who played for his father Danny at Sweetwater. “I think the last few years I realized, as you get a little bit older, how valuable your time is. Combination of a lot of factors. The quality of life you want to live while you’re alive.
“When you know, you know. Just not having the get up and go like you used to, I think you start realizing you’re going to be out of it sooner rather than later.”
Aaron Green won 1994 state tournament MVP when he helped Sweetwater claim a Class 2A state championship. He then played basketball at the University of Tennessee from 1995-99, helping the Vols reach two NCAA Tournaments. After his playing days ended, he joined the coaching ranks and was head coach at Cleveland High School. He led the Blue Raiders to 155 wins and six winning seasons before joining Bruce Pearl’s staff as a graduate assistant coach in 2007.
After three seasons on Pearl’s staff at Tennessee, Green accepted the head coaching position at Oak Ridge in late April 2010. He went 26-3 in his first season at the helm, forecasting many wins and winning seasons to come.
“It’s tough,” Green said of retiring. “You love the kids. It was an emotional locker room (today). I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to do it, but I do consider it a retirement. I don’t see myself coaching anymore.”
Green does not plan to coach in the AAU circuits, either.
He manages a rental company and is also a real estate agent.
Green said he relished coaching at Oak Ridge High School and the Oak Ridge community, as well as its commitment to excellence in academics and athletics. He didn’t forget the fan base’s immense passion, either.
But Green said he’ll miss the relationships he developed from coaching the most.
“Most good coaches will tell you: it’s the relationships,” Green added. “I don’t think that’ll be any different from me. … I think competing with these kids over the years and going through the ups and downs and enjoying the wins and growing through the losses — all that — but, as a coach, it’s: focus on the process and not the end result. That’s a motto we had, really ever since I was here. That process is fun as a coach, trying to figure out how to get better and how to get the most out of your team. Strategies. Xs and Os. All that, I enjoyed.
“Coaching has gotten harder. But I would explain it like this: you win and there’s relief. And you only get to enjoy it for a small period of time, and then you start the stress of trying to figure out how to win another one. If you lose, it’s misery. And you’re trying to figure out how to get out of the misery. That cycle, for me, over the years, will wear on you a little bit.”
Article written by Jesse Smithey/5Star Preps. To read more on area high school sports or to see photo galleries, videos, stat leaders, etc., visit 5StarPreps.com — and use promo code HAMMERS for 30% off your first year or month subscription.
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