Dennis Green
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dennis Green | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | February 17, 1949 (age 58) |
| Place of birth | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |
| College | Iowa |
| Career Record | 113-94-0 (Regular Season) 4-8 (Postseason) 117-102-0 (Overall) |
| Coaching Stats | Pro Football Reference |
| Coaching Stats | DatabaseFootball |
| Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |
| 1981-1985 1989-1991 1992-2001 2004-2006 |
Northwestern Wildcats Stanford Cardinal Minnesota Vikings Arizona Cardinals |
Dennis "Denny" Green (b. February 17, 1949 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) is a former American football head coach. During his professional career, Green coached the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings.
Green's best season in Minnesota was in 1998, when the Vikings finished 15-1. However, they lost in the NFC Championship Game both that year and 2000. Despite compiling a record of 97-62 in the regular season, Green was unable to reach the Super Bowl.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Green grew up in the blue collar section of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His father was a postal worker and his mother a beautician. His father died in 1960 and his mother died in 1962.
He attended John Harris high school (now Harrisburg high school) in Harrisburg. In college he was a star halfback for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Green has said that he was in attendance at the game where Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in Hershey. Green played briefly for the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League in 1971, then worked as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa, University of Dayton and Stanford University, initially under Bill Walsh.
[edit] College coaching career
When Green was named the head coach of Northwestern University a school that had only won one of its last 35 games, in 1981, he was only the second African American head coach in Division I-A history (the previous coach, Willie Jefferies, coached at Wichita State, which no longer has a football team) [1]. Green was named the Big Ten Conference coach-of-the-year in 1982. He left Northwestern in 1985, doing a stint as running backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers under his former boss at Stanford, Bill Walsh. In 1989, Green took the head coach position at Stanford University, inheriting a team that had graduated 17 of its 21 starters from 1988. Green led the Cardinal from 1989-1991, his tenure culminating in an appearance in the 1991 Aloha Bowl, where his team lost to Georgia Tech on a last-minute punt return.
[edit] NFL coaching career
[edit] Minnesota Vikings
Green was a disciple of Bill Walsh's West Coast offense and was touted by Walsh and other NFL pundits as a likely candidate to be the next African-American head coach in the NFL. Walsh also had his eye on the job at Stanford after a stint in the broadcast booth. On January 10, 1992, Green was named head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, replacing the retiring Jerry Burns. He would be only the second African American head coach after Art Shell in the modern NFL era, and only the third of all time after Fritz Pollard.
In November 1997, Dennis published his autobiography No Room For Crybabies (ISBN 1-57167-175-7) in which he threatened to sue for partial ownership of the team.
The high point was the 1998 season where the team lost only one regular season game, at Tampa Bay. In the playoffs, the Vikings were heavily favored, but lost at home in the NFC championship to the Atlanta Falcons.
In 2001, Denny's final season was marked by problems such as the death of Korey Stringer at training camp, the retirement of running back Robert Smith and star receiver Randy Moss reporting that "he plays when he wants to." The Vikings bought out Dennis Green's contract on January 4, 2002. Assistant coach Mike Tice led the team in their final regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens. Tice was eventually named the head coach of the Vikings.
[edit] Arizona Cardinals
After spending two seasons as an analyst for ESPN, Green was hired by the Arizona Cardinals on January 7, 2004. He led the team to a 6-10 finish during his first season, his best finish during his tenure with Cardinals.
On October 16, 2006, after losing a 20-point lead over the Chicago Bears in less than twenty minutes, Green threw a tirade during a post-game media conference, leading to Green's famous quote "They are who we thought they were": "The Bears are who we thought they were. That's why we took the damn field. If you wanna crown 'em then crown their ass." [2] The following day, he fired offensive coordinator Keith Rowen and replaced him with quarterbacks coach Mike Kruczek.
The Cardinals finished the 2006 season with a 5-11 record. On January 1, 2007, the Arizona Cardinals fired Green, despite the fact he had a year left on his contract. [3]
[edit] Coaching Tree
Dennis Green has one of the larger branches of the Bill Walsh coaching tree. He has helped groom future NFL Head Coaches such as Tony Dungy, Brian Billick, and Mike Tice.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.bcasports.org/micontent.aspx?pn=FAQs&#stats
- ^ http://www.parislemon.com/2006/10/dennis-green-crown-their-ass.html
- ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-cardinals-greenfired&prov=ap&type=lgns
[edit] External links
- Green's official website
- 2006 Northwestern Football Media Guide (History)
- 2006 Stanford Football Media Guide (History)
| Preceded by Rick Venturi |
Northwestern University Head Football Coach 1981–1985 |
Succeeded by Francis Peay |
| Preceded by Jack Elway |
Stanford University Head Football Coach 1989–1991 |
Succeeded by Bill Walsh |
| Preceded by Jerry Burns |
Minnesota Vikings Head Coach 1992–2001 |
Succeeded by Mike Tice |
| Preceded by Dave McGinnis |
Arizona Cardinals Head Coach 2004- January 1, 2007 |
Succeeded by Ken Whisenhunt |
Ames • Noyes • Ewing • Culver • Van Doozer • Bannard • Hollister • McCornack • Johnson • Horr • Hammett • Grady • Murphy • Bachman • McDevitt • Thistlethwaite • Hanley • Waldorf • Voigts • Saban • Parseghian • Agase • Pont • Venturi • Green • Peay • Barnett • Walker • Fitzgerald
Camp • Bliss • Cross • Brooke • Chamberlain • Yost • Fickert • Clemans • Lanagan • Presley • Brown • Wylie • Evans • Powell • Van Gent • Kerr • Warner • Thornhill • Shaughnessy • Schwartz • Taylor • Curtice • Ralston • Christiansen • Walsh • Dowhower • Wiggin • Elway • Green • Willingham • Teevens • Harris • Harbaugh
| Minnesota Vikings Head Coaches |
|---|
| Van Brocklin • Grant • Steckel • Burns • Green • Tice • Childress |
| Chicago/St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals Head Coaches |
|---|
| Driscoll • Horween • Barry • Chamberlin • Gillies • Scanlon • Nevers • Andrews • Chevigny • Schissler • Creighton • Nevers • Conzelman • Handler • Conzelman • Lambeau • Handler • Kuharich • Stydahar • Richards • Ivy • Lemm • Winner • Hollway • Coryell • Wilkinson • Wilson • Hanifan • Stallings • Kuhlmann • Bugel • Ryan • Tobin • McGinnis • Green • Whisenhunt |
