Former NFL coach Dennis Green, who died Friday, worked with John Elway at Stanford
Former NFL coach Dennis Green, who coached the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals, died Friday morning from complications of cardiac arrest. He was 67.
Green coached the Vikings and Cardinals for 13 total NFL seasons and ranks second in Vikings franchise history in wins and winning percentage. He led the Vikings to two NFC Championship Game appearances and was the second African-American coach (after Art Shell) in the modern NFL era.
But one coaching stop in Green’s career has been largely overlooked: engineering the 1980 Stanford Cardinal offense, with sophomore quarterback John Elway.
With Green calling the shots, Elway finished the 1980 season with a 147.2 passer rating and threw for 2,889 yards and 27 touchdowns. Elway won Pac-10 Player of the Year that season and knocked off three top-20 ranked teams.
Stanford finished with a 6-5 record.
Green served as Stanford’s running backs coach from 1977-78, then got a job as the San Francisco 49ers special teams coach in 1979. He held the position for one year before returning to Palo Alto.
The offense with Green was “a little more simplified, it makes a little more sense (than in 1979),” Elway said in a June 4, 1980 interview with the Stanford Daily. “The memory system is easier to remember and there’s more continuity.”
Green held the position for one year before Northwestern hired him as coach in 1981.
In this Dec. 28, 1992 photo, Minnesota Vikings coach reacts after being doused after a 27-7 win over the Green Bay Packers at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Green, a trailblazing coach who led a Vikings renaissance in the 1990s and also coached the Arizona Cardinals, has died. He was 67. Green’s family posted a message on the Cardinals website on Friday, July 22, 2016, announcing the death. (Brian Peterson/Star Tribune via AP)
In this Dec. 1, 1996 photo, Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green is shown on the sideline during an NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals in Minneapolis. Green, a trailblazing coach who led a Vikings renaissance in the 1990s and also coached the Arizona Cardinals, has died. He was 67. Green’s family posted a message on the Cardinals website on Friday, July 22, 2016, announcing the death. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES LOCAL TELEVISION OUT TV is soft out
FILE – In this Nov. 19, 2006, file photo, Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green watches from the sidelines during the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions in Glendale, Ariz. Green, a trailblazing coach who led a Minnesota Vikings renaissance in the 1990s and also coached the Cardinals, has died. He was 67. Green’s family posted a message on the Cardinals website on Friday, July 22, 2016, announcing the death.(AP Photo/Matt York, File)
FILE – In this Sept. 24, 2006 file photo, Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green watches from the sidelines during the first half of an NFL game against the St. Louis Rams in Glendale, Ariz. Green, a trailblazing coach who led a Vikings renaissance in the 1990s and also coached the Arizona Cardinals, has died. He was 67. Green’s family posted a message on the Cardinals website on Friday, July 22, 2016, announcing the death. (AP Photo/Rick Hossman, File)
FILE – In this July 17, 1992, file photo, Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green is shownnam ja th au. Green, a trailblazing coach who led a Vikings renaissance in the 1990s and also coached the Arizona Cardinals, has died. He was 67. Green’s family posted a message on the Cardinals website on Friday, July 22, 2016, announcing the death.(Jerry Holt/Minneapolis Star Tribune /Star Tribune via AP)