One of them was former FSU cornerback Corey Fuller, who spent his first four years in the National Football League from 1995-98, playing for Green with the Minnesota Vikings.
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Former Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss shared some memories of former Vikings coach Dennis Green Friday on ESPN’s NFL Live, and Moss remembered one Monday Night Football game during his rookie season for which Green was especially wound up. Green, a trailblazing coach who led a Vikings renaissance in the 1990s and also coached the Arizona Cardinals, has died. “We express our deepest sympathy to his family and many friends”. “He helped pave the way for minority coaches and recently served as a key advisor on the NFL’s Career Development Advisory Panel”. Ultimately it was that lack of success and the feeling that the Vikings were missing at least one Super Bowl ring in his tenure that ended Green’s time in Minnesota even though he had a 97-62 record with a postseason mark of 4-8.
With the recent attention being paid to the NFL’s lack of diversity in the hiring of head coaches, Green’s illustrious career should be used as an example of what a Black coach can achieve when given the opportunity and a blueprint for any man longing to assume the fragile, overwhelming and burdensome job of NFL HC. He is considered by many to be one of the strongest branches off the Bill Walsh coaching tree, having served as WR coach for the San Francisco 49er from 1986-1988 during Walsh’s tenure.
In 1992, the Vikings hired him as their head coach, making him the second African-American to ever hold that position in the NFL. He returned 3 years later as the head coach of the Cardinals from 2004 through 2006.
He coached Arizona for three years, from 2004 through 2006. “We lost a good man way too soon”.
Green’s family confirmed the death early Friday morning, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Green was the second African-American head coach both in NCAA Division I-A history (at Northwestern) and in modern National Football League history (after Art Shell), leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 97-62 record from 1992-2001. Green was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1982.
Northwestern had lost 31 of its last 33 games when it made Green the first African-American head coach of a power-conference school in 1981.
Green’s second career win against the Dolphins came in Week 2 of the 2000 campaign as the Vikings eked out a 13-7 victory.
“I still use that “Denny-ism” today”, Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said.
Green’s passion and focus made him a favorite of his players and assistant coaches.
The news of Green’s passing comes on a day when the Vikings are holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new stadium and are ushering a grand new era for the team. Most mentions of his name are quickly followed by the refrain: “The Bears are what we thought they were”.
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Just got the news of the passing of Denny Green. His team was going through an eight-game losing streak and blew a lead of 20 points against the Bears with two fumbles late in the game and giving up a TD on a punt return.
