Dennis Green

Dennis Green is a former NFL head coach with over 15 years of professional-level experience.

Green started his coaching career in 1981 with Northwestern University, a school that had gone 1-34 in its last 35 games. In 1981, he was only the second African American head coach in Division I-A history and by 1982 was named the Big Ten Conference Dave McClain Coach Of The Year, as chosen by writers and broadcasters. 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 and during that time his teams were 3-0 in the Big Game against California Golden Bears. In 1990, his Stanford team defeated the #1 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana. His tenure culminated with an 8-3 record (Stanford's best in years). A loss to Washington in the opening game of the season was the deciding factor for the PAC-10 championship. The Cardinal made an appearance in the 1991 Aloha Bowl, where his team lost to Georgia Tech on a last-minute punt return.

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 second 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 and Shell.

Through his first six years with the team, Green never posted a losing record and the team failed to qualify for the playoffs only once. Initially, Green earned praise for turning around a what had recently been a lackluster franchise. However, as the team's fan-base grew accustomed to regular season success, Green came under criticism for failing to advance the team deeper into the playoffs.

The high point of Dennis' Vikings career was the 1998 season where the team lost only one regular season game and set the NFL record for the most points scored in a season and finally advancing deep into the playoffs. Green reached several milestones, including coaching the former highest-scoring team in NFL history (now preceded by the 2007 Patriots) and becoming the first black head coach to come within a game of The Super Bowl, losing in overtime to the Falcons.

2001 brought uncharted territory for Green as Vikings' head coach, with a losing record for the first time in his decade with the team. The Vikings bought out Dennis Green's contract on January 4, 2002.

After spending two seasons as an analyst for ESPN, Green was hired as head coach by the Arizona Cardinals on January 7, 2004. Through his first two years with the team, Green totaled 11 wins with the Cardinals, sending players to the pro bowl, and finishing 3rd and 2nd in the NFC West, an improvement over predecessor Dave McGinnis. Unlike his previous two seasons, the 2006 season began with great expectations for the Cardinals with the opening of a new stadium, sellout crowds, the drafting of quarterback Matt Leinart and the signing of Pro-Bowl running back Edgerrin James. After a solid start, however, the Cardinals suffered some tough early losses and Arizona bought out Greens contract on January 1st, 2007.

In August of 2007, the Westwood One radio network announced that it had hired Green to serve as a color analyst on their Thursday night NFL broadcasts.