Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Denny Green dies at 67
Jul 22, 2016, 8:21 AM | Updated: 11:29 am
(AP Photo/Rick Hossman)
The football world is mourning the death of longtime coach Denny Green, who passed away Friday at the age of 67 from cardiac arrest.
BREAKING: Former Vikings, Cardinals coach Dennis Green has died of cardiac arrest. He was 67. pic.twitter.com/6zyOSPkhpi
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 22, 2016
Green served as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals for three seasons from 2004 to 2006, compiling a record of 16-32.
The coach’s greatest success came in Minnesota, where he guided the Vikings for 10 seasons, posting a 97-62 mark and leading the team to four NFC Central titles and eight playoff appearances. Green’s best team was the 1998 Vikings, who went 15-1, but were upset by the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game.
Prior to his accomplished tenure in the NFL, Green was a successful college coach. He began his coaching career with Dayton in 1971 before moving on to Iowa, then Stanford.
In 1981, Green took over as Northwestern’s head coach and registered a record of 10-45 in five seasons for the long-dormant program. After that, Green was the wide receivers coach for the San Francisco 49ers for three years before landing another head coaching position, this one at Stanford.
Green guided the Cardinal for three years, showing improvement in each season. In 1991, Stanford went 8-4 and earned an invitation to the Aloha Bowl — its first bowl appearance in five years.
The NFL noticed, and the Vikings hired Green to take over Jerry Burns.
Green’s tenure in Arizona included the Cardinals’ first season in their new state-of-the art stadium in Glendale, which opened in 2006. That season also featured Green’s notorious post-game meltdown after the Cardinals squandered a 20-point lead and lost to the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.
Although the Cardinals had a losing record during Green’s tenure, he is widely credited for helping build the team that just two years later, would win its first NFC Championship and play in the Super Bowl.
Cardinals president Michael Bidwill released a statement on Green’s passing Friday morning.
Cardinals President Michael Bidwill on the passing of Dennis Green: pic.twitter.com/5dpTYZDNkC
— Mark Dalton (@CardsMarkD) July 22, 2016
Following his time in Arizona, Green surfaced in the now-defunct United Football League, where he coached three seasons for the Sacramento Mountain Lions.
He is the second former Cardinals head coach to pass away this summer. Buddy Ryan, who coached in Arizona from 1994 to 1995, died June 28 at the age of 85.