Dennis Green, a trailblazing coach who led a Minnesota Vikings renaissance in the 1990s and also coached the Arizona Cardinals, has died. He compiled a 16-18 record and took the Cardinal to the 1991 Aloha Bowl in Honolulu, where it lost to Georgia Tech 18-17 to complete an 8-4 season. He turned the Vikings into consistent winners, going to the playoffs in eight of those 10 seasons.
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Green, who coached with the 49ers and Stanford, was often connected with the Raiders’ head coaching job. Knox was National Football League coach of the year three times, 1973, 1980 and 1984 and finished his career with a recor of 193-158 with a postseason mark of 7-11.
“After talking to Walsh, I had just heard at that time that Mike Holmgren was going to Green Bay, and I said to Walsh, ‘What’s the difference between Holmgren and Denny Green?’ And he said, ‘I think of them the same'”. In an interview, Green once said, “As you know, I’ve always considered myself part of the 49er family”, He was an assistant under Bill Walsh in the late 70s, coaching special teams and wide receivers like 49er legend Jerry Rice.
Although the Cardinals had a losing record during Green’s tenure, Green is credited for putting in the ground for the team that would win its first NFC Championship and play in the Super Bowl two years after being let go.
Green graduated with a degree in finance where he also played football for three seasons for Iowa.
Green also served as a head coach at Northwestern (1981-85).
Green’s winning percentage with the Cardinals was the fourth-worst among all coaches (with at least 48 games) in franchise history. Most mentions of his name are quickly followed by the refrain: “The Bears are what we thought they were”.
Many people have laughed at Green for his uncensored moment of public coaching pain.
“Dennis Green created an outstanding environment for his players and I was privileged to spend four great years under his guidance in Minnesota”, said Del Rio, in a statement.
Rest in peace, Coach.
Playoff appearances by Green’s Vikings.
“These other coaches have a lot to live up to, hopefully they’ll get back to that level of success, the new stadium, they’ve got a new group of core players coming in that hopefully can get us back to that level of competition”, said Boyer.
Green coached the Vikings from 1992 to 2001, when he was dismissed mid-season. “I lost my mother in April, I feel like I just lost a father”.
It’s unfortunate that Denny Green is known best by young football fans for a frantic and unintentionally comical post-game press conference meltdown as the coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
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The Cardinal went 3-0 against Cal, including a 38-21 victory over a sixth-ranked Bears team.
