Proving It to Himself: Donovan Green’s Comeback Story Lands in Stillwater

STILLWATER — Cowboy fans have long been waiting on a renaissance of the tight end position in Stillwater, and Donovan Green has been waiting for an opportunity to get back on the field.

Green was the No. 4 tight end in the 2022 recruiting class and got off to a promising start as a true freshman at Texas A&M, catching 22 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, before a knee injury going into his sophomore year derailed that momentum.

Across the past two seasons (one at A&M and one at LSU), Green has caught two passes for 40 yards. But Green, listed at 6-foot-3, 238 pounds, seems poised to contribute in Stillwater.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been out there and been able to contribute, so I’m so excited to be able to play this season,” Green said. “I’m so excited.”

Riding the rollercoaster life puts you on is tough on everybody, but it particularly had to be tough going from a blue-chip recruit and standout freshman season to struggling to get on the field, but the classics — faith, family and football — have helped Green push through it.

“The love for the game,” said Green on what has kept him going. “I’m married, so I have the responsibility to provide for my family. So that’s also something that’s a big reason. Mainly just the love of the game and the want to prove to myself that I can do it because I know I can.

“The biggest thing for me, I’m big in my faith, so being able to trust in God’s plan even though things aren’t going my way. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about what I want, it’s about what he wants. Just being able to trust and not look at things through my lens but to trust in him that he’s gonna provide for me every day.”

Green is from Houston and went to Dickinson High School, which is southeast of the city — not all that far from Galveston. Drew Svoboda, Green’s new tight ends coach, hails from Tomball, Texas, which is northwest of Houston. Green said Svoboda was college teammates at Stephen F. Austin with with Green’s high school tight ends coach.

Svoboda was the tight ends coach at Alabama in 2021 and tried to recruit Green to join the Crimson Tide before he elected to be an Aggie. But once Green hopped in the portal earlier this year, Svoboda was able to get him.

“They weren’t really the first school to reach out, but as soon as they reached out, they became a big contender in where I wanted to go,” Green said.

When Green got to Texas A&M, Jimbo Fisher coached the Aggies, but he got let go toward the end of Green’s second season in College Station. Elijah Robinson was the interim coach.

Green then spent the 2024 season at A&M under Mike Elko before transferring to LSU under Brian Kelly, who was also let go midyear. Frank Wilson closed out the final five games as the interim. So technically, Green has managed to have five head coaches the past three seasons. You could see why finding consistency in that time might be difficult.

Svoboda said Tuesday that he likes that Green has been in some different offenses — likening Green to a polyglot, a person who speaks, reads, or writes multiple languages well.

“When you’ve played in multiple systems, it’s kind of like learning multiple languages,” Svoboda said. “When you only know one language, it’s hard to learn a second, but once you know a second language, you can learn two, three and four. It’s that way with football, as well. Once you’ve learned a couple different schemes and started translating terminology — ‘Hey, this is the same thing as this, we’re just calling it this’ — you really can start making strides.

“So somebody like him, he’s seen a lot football, played a lot of football and been coached by some great coaches. His foundation was really strong, so coming here and learning what we do and plugging him in has been good.”