The Daily Nole

Former Noles React to Loss of Coaching Legend Dennis Green

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Dennis Green, who was one of the more accomplished NFL coaches of the last quarter-century and a trailblazer for African American coaches, died Thursday night.

The cause of death, according to a statement released by the family, was cardiac arrest. Green was 67 years old.

After spending eight years as a head coach at Northwestern and Stanford, Green coached 13 years in the NFL and many players, including former Florida State standouts. One of them was former FSU cornerback Corey Fuller, who spent his first four years in the NFL from 1995-98, playing for Green with the Minnesota Vikings.

“It was a great privilege to play for Dennis Green,” Fuller said. “I felt an obligation and privilege to play (for him) with everything I had in my soul.”

A video of Fuller, who is now the head coach of East Gadsden High School in Florida, went viral last week. In the video, Fuller returns to the impoverished community he grew up in and gave an impassioned speech to his players about the importance of hard work and self-determination.

Gadsden County, where Fuller coaches is 56 percent black, according to the Florida Department of Health. Fuller said Green was the first black head coach he ever played for.

“At that time, there wasn’t very many African American coaches in the NFL and a lot weren’t getting a shot,” he said. “I tried to reward him with my play and the way I carried myself on and off the field.”

Green went just 26-63 in his career as a college coach, but was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1982 after leading Northwestern to just three wins. In 1991, Green coached Stanford to an 8-4 record, an Aloha Bowl appearance and a No. 22 national ranking.

In 10 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings from 1992-2001, Green had just one losing campaign and four division titles. Green’s teams made the playoffs eight times and twice, made the NFC Championship, including in 1998 when Minnesota finished the regular season a league-best 15-1. The Vikings bought out Green’s contract in 2001.

“It’s a loss for the football world, a loss for a lot of young coaches, even the older coaches who he had forged a career with them,” Fuller said. “Dennis Green had an impact on me with the way he carried himself and the way he was scrutinized for his demeanor. It was humbling to see a coach winning and that still wasn’t enough.”

Green returned to the NFL in 2004 to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, where he finished just 16-32 in three seasons. We were unable to reach any other former Seminoles who played for Green, but Darnell Dockett, who spent his first three seasons in the league playing for Green with the Cardinals, tweeted this:

“He was very intelligent outside the game of football,” Fuller said. “Just his leadership and the way he had us unite as a team and move together with cohesiveness. He was very well respected in our locker room. He was a great man. It’s a great loss, but at the end of the day, we all have to take that journey and God knows what’s best.”

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