RIP Coach Green

I was saddened and shocked to hear that Dennis Green had died Thursday night. 67 is far too young.

As a Cal fan and a Minnesota Vikings fan, I was delighted when the Vikings hired Green in 1992 to be the fourth (actually 5th but I have a hard time counting Les Steckel) head coach in franchise history. As a Cal fan I was delighted that he was leaving Stanford. As a Vikings fan I was delighted that he was coming to Minnesota. I liked his coaching experience with the San Francisco 49ers and Bill Walsh and I was impressed with what he was doing at Stanford as their head coach. He lost more than he won in his three years there but he had the Cardinal pointed in the right direction. I didn't much care for that direction so the Vikings swooped in at the perfect time. For Cal and for the Vikings.

Dennis Green coached the Vikings for ten seasons. That's second in tenure only to Bud Grant's 18 years in franchise history. Green brought football fun back to Minnesota. Despite losing four Super Bowls, the Vikings were one of the best teams in football from 1969 through most of the 1970s. Except for a nice little stretch at the end of the decade, Vikings football was more miss than hit in the 1980s. Green might have been a little abrasive at times but in terms of winning football games he made the 1990s feel a little bit like the 1970s in Minnesota. In his ten years he took the Vikings to the playoffs eight times. That's made even more impressive by the fact that seven different quarterbacks led those eight teams into the playoffs. The lack of a franchise quarterback was often viewed as a criticism of Green. People tend to forget that unless you're the Green Bay Packers or Indianapolis Colts finding a franchise quarterback isn't that easy. Green's last quarterback was supposed to be the end of the Vikings long search for a franchise quarterback. Daunte Culpepper. If Green's coaching career hadn't ended with the disastrous 2001 season, who knows where the Green-Culpepper union would have gone.

Listening to the coaches that coached with and for Dennis Green and the players that played for him has sure brought back memories of those Vikings teams and those times. Sometimes the last days are the only days that you remember of a person or a time. The 2001 Vikings season was horrible in so many ways. The 2000 season ended and the 2001 calendar year started with that disastrous 41-0 thrashing by the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game. Running back Robert Smith shocked everyone by retiring at the age of 28 a few weeks later. The Vikings team and the NFL were rocked by the tragic death of Korey Stringer during training camp. 15 years later, I still have vivid images of Cris Carter, Randy Moss, and Dennis Green trying to deal with and make sense of the sudden loss of Big K. Then the whole world was floored by 9/11. It was the sort of year that you just want to forget. The sort of year in which a football season has little importance. It was the sort of year in which Vikings owner Red McCombs decided to end Dennis Green's time in Minnesota. As much as I want to forget about that 2001 season it's often the time that I remember first when I think of Green's Vikings coaching career. That's unfortunate because Vikings football was fun again in the 1990s. Especially 1998.

The Minnesota Vikings 1998 season was a thrill from start to the stunning, disappointing finish. The Vikings had a pretty good offense before 1998. That was one of the givens with a Dennis Green-led team. The offense could score. No matter who or what was under center. Then they happily scooped up Randy Moss with the 21st pick of the 1998 NFL Draft. Green gets a lot of credit for his shrewd decision to take a chance on Moss. Personally, I felt that Green should have been shown the door if he hadn't taken a chance on this unbelievably, freakishly talented football player. How can anyone pass on a player like this? Thankfully, enough teams found a reason to do so. With Moss, the Vikings 1998 offense became ridiculous and Green just turned it all loose. It was a blast. They could score from anywhere on the field and whenever they wanted. In many of the games it felt like they were just toying with their opponent. Toying with them like a cat would a mouse. I often wished that the defense was a little better but they did enough. They even scored some points of their own. It was an amazing season that ended a game sooner than it was supposed to end.

Dennis Green was an excellent football coach. He was a player's coach. He knew when to press a player. He knew when to back off of a player. He was also patient with players. That was especially evident with the manner in which he handled the development of Jake Reed and Robert Smith. Reed took a while to adjust to the NFL. It wasn't until his fourth year in the league before he did anything of note. Some coaches would have booted him long before that. Green didn't and Reed rewarded him with four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Injuries threatened to derail Smith's career before it ever got started. It was year five before he was able to stay on the field for the majority of a season. Some coaches wouldn't have waited. Green did and as a result the Vikings had one of the most dangerous backs in the league. Perhaps Green's best trait as a head coach was simply letting his assistant coaches coach. It seems so simple but some head coaches can't let go and let the people that they hired do their jobs. Green was an offensive football coach yet he let offensive coordinator Brian Billick run the offense without interference. He did that with all of his coaches. He just let them have a say and do their jobs. It helps when you've hired talent football coaches like Tony Dungy, Tyrone Willingham, Tom Moore, Monte Kiffin, John Michels, Mike Tice, Chip Myers, Willie Shaw, and Billick. Green let his coaches coach and his players play. Seems too simple but some coaches simply don't get it. Dennis Green did.

RIP Coach Green. And thank you for bringing the fun back to Minnesota Vikings football.