Dennis Green passes away; Former Vikings, Cardinals head coach

Former Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green has passed away, it was reported on Friday.

Green, who was 67 years old, began his coaching career in 1971 with the University of Dayton as a running backs and wide receivers coach. He then moved to Iowa (1874-1976) and Stanford (1977-1978) as a running backs coach. He made his first NFL coaching move in 1979 as the special teams coach for the San Francisco 49ers before returning to Stanford in 1980 as the team’s offensive coordinator. He was hired in 1981 as the head coach at Northwestern, holding the job for five years.

In 1986, Green returned to the 49ers as the wide receivers coach before again moving to Stanford as the head coach in 1989. In 1992, he was hired away from Stanford as the Vikings head coach, a position he held until 2001. He returned to coaching in 2004 as the head coach of the Cardinals, holding that spot until 2006. From 2009 to 2011, he served as the head coach of the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League.

He passed away Friday of sudden cardiac arrest. He is survived by his wife, Marie, and his four children, Patti, Jeremy, Zach, and Vanessa.

For more on Green’s career, check out SB Nation’s Vikings blog, Daily Norseman, and Cardinals blog, Revenge of the Birds.