Dennis Green
Dennis Green went 26–63 as a head coach, 1981–1991, at Northwestern and Stanford. Share
- Record
- 26–63 career
- Seasons
- 8
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1991 8–4, No. 22
Season by season
0
3
2
2
3
3
5
228
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Northwestern | 0–11 | 10th | |||
| 1982 | Northwestern | 3–8 | T–8th | |||
| 1983 | Northwestern | 2–9 | T–8th | |||
| 1984 | Northwestern | 2–9 | 9th | |||
| 1985 | Northwestern | 3–8 | T–9th | |||
| 1986–88: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1989 | Stanford | 3–8 | T–7th | |||
| 1990 | Stanford | 5–6 | T–6th | |||
| 1991 | Stanford | 8–4 | T–2nd | Aloha Bowl L | 22 | |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Chris HintonNo. 4 pick, 1983
Bob WhitfieldConsensus All‑American, 1991- Tommy VardellNo. 9 pick, 1992
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 26 | 5–21 | 19% |
| Against top-10 teams | 11 | 2–9 | 18% |
| Against rivals | 26 | 9–17 | 35% |
| Conference games | 68 | 20–48 | 29% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 25 | 12–13 | 48% |
| At home | 44 | 15–29 | 34% |
| On the road | 44 | 11–33 | 25% |
| At neutral sites | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 12 | 9–3 | 75% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 77 | 17–60 | 22% |
His own 89 games on file, 1981–1991, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lou Holtz 1981–1991 | 2–4 | Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame | 6 | |
| Dave McClain 1981–1985 | 1–4 | Wisconsin | 5 | |
| Earle Bruce 1981–1985 | 0–5 | Ohio State | 5 | |
| Hayden Fry 1981–1985 | 0–5 | Iowa | 5 | |
| Mike White 1981–1985 | 0–5 | Illinois | 5 | |
| Bo Schembechler 1981–1984 | 0–4 | Michigan | 4 | |
| Leon Burtnett 1982–1985 | 0–4 | Purdue | 4 | |
| Don James 1983–1991 | 0–4 | Washington | 4 | |
| Bruce Snyder 1989–1991 | 3–0 | California | 3 | |
| Joe Salem 1981–1983 | 2–1 | Minnesota | 3 |
Dennis Green’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesotaseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| Indianaseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| Michigan Stateseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Wisconsinseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Ohio Stateseries | 5 | 0–5 |
| Illinoisseries | 5 | 0–5 |
| Iowaseries | 5 | 0–5 |
| Purdueseries | 5 | 0–5 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Iowa | Graduate assistant | |
| 1973 | Dayton | Running backs and wide receivers coach | |
| 1974–76 | Iowa | Running backs coach | |
| 1977–78 | Stanford | Running backs coach | |
| 1979 | San Francisco 49ers NFL | Special teams coach | |
| 1980 | Stanford | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1981–85 | Northwestern | Head coach | |
| 1986–88 | San Francisco 49ers NFL | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1989–91 | Stanford | Head coach | |
| 1992–2001 | Minnesota Vikings NFL | Head coach | |
| 2004–06 | Arizona Cardinals NFL | Head coach | |
| 2009–11 | California Redwoods / Sacramento Mountain Lions UFL | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Frank LauterburIowa
- Ron MarciniakDayton
- Bob CommingsIowa
- Bill WalshStanford, San Francisco 49ers
- Paul WigginStanford
Dennis Green
Assistants who became head coaches
- Francis PeayNorthwestern
- Jim CaldwellWake Forest, Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions
- Nick QuartaroDrake, Fordham
- Ron TurnerSan José State, Illinois, Florida International
- Maury WaughDubuque, Simpson (IA), Lake Forest
- Brian BillickBaltimore Ravens
- Fred von AppenHawai’i
- Tyrone WillinghamStanford, Notre Dame, Washington
- Monte KiffinNC State
- Dick CouryCal State Fullerton, Portland Storm, Boston / New Orleans / Portland Breakers
- Foge FazioPittsburgh
- John LevraNew Mexico Highlands, Stephen F. Austin
- and 6 more
Worked under (5)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Lauterbur | Iowa | 1972 | Graduate assistant | |
| Ron Marciniak | Dayton | 1973 | Running backs and wide receivers coach | |
| Bob Commings | Iowa | 1974–76 | Running backs coach | |
| Bill Walsh | Stanford | 1977–78 | Running backs coach | |
| Bill Walsh | San Francisco 49ers NFL | 1979–88 | 1979: special teams coach; 1986–88: wide receivers coach | |
| Paul Wiggin | Stanford | 1980 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (18)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Francis Peay | Northwestern, 1981–84: linebackers coach; 1985: defensive coordinator | Northwestern | |
| Jim Caldwell | Northwestern, 1981: offensive assistant | Wake Forest, Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions | |
| Nick Quartaro | Northwestern, 1981–85: defensive backs, defensive line and special teams coach | Drake, Fordham | |
| Ron Turner | Northwestern, 1981–82: quarterbacks and wide receivers coach; Stanford, 1989–91: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | San José State, Illinois, Florida International | |
| Maury Waugh | Northwestern, 1983–85: linebackers coach | Dubuque, Simpson (IA), Lake Forest | |
| Brian Billick | Stanford, 1989–91: assistant head coach and tight ends coach; Minnesota Vikings, 1992–93: tight ends coach; 1994–98: offensive coordinator | Baltimore Ravens | |
| Fred von Appen | Stanford, 1989: defensive coordinator; Minnesota Vikings, 2000: defensive line coach | Hawai’i | |
| Tyrone Willingham | Stanford, 1989–91: running backs coach; Minnesota Vikings, 1992–94: running backs coach | Stanford, Notre Dame, Washington | |
| Monte Kiffin | Minnesota Vikings, 1992–94: linebackers coach | NC State | |
| Dick Coury | Minnesota Vikings, 1993: assistant coach | Cal State Fullerton, Portland Storm, Boston / New Orleans / Portland Breakers | |
| Foge Fazio | Minnesota Vikings, 1995–99: linebackers coach and defensive coordinator | Pittsburgh | |
| John Levra | Minnesota Vikings, 1995–97: defensive line coach | New Mexico Highlands, Stephen F. Austin | |
| Andre Patterson | Minnesota Vikings, 1998–99: defensive line coach | Cal Poly | |
| Alex Wood | Minnesota Vikings, 1999–2001: quarterbacks coach; Arizona Cardinals, 2004: offensive coordinator | Buffalo, James Madison, Florida A&M | |
| Mike Kruczek | Arizona Cardinals, 2004–06: quarterbacks coach; 2006: offensive coordinator; California Redwoods, 2009: offensive coordinator; Sacramento Mountain Lions, 2010–11: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | UCF | |
| Steve Loney | Arizona Cardinals, 2006: offensive line coach | Morehead State, Drake | |
| Trent Bray | California Redwoods, 2009: linebackers coach | Oregon State | |
| Robert McFarland | Sacramento Mountain Lions, 2011: offensive line coach | Stephen F. Austin |
Other assistants under him (8)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Willie Shaw | Stanford, 1989: defensive backs coach; 1990–91: defensive coordinator; Minnesota Vikings, 1992–93: defensive backs coach; 2001: assistant head coach and defensive backs coach | |
| John Teerlinck | Minnesota Vikings, 1992–94: defensive line coach | |
| Tom Moore | Minnesota Vikings, 1992–93: assistant head coach | |
| Tom Olivadotti | Minnesota Vikings, 1996–99: linebackers coach | |
| Brian Baker | Minnesota Vikings, 2001: defensive line coach | |
| Bob Wylie | Arizona Cardinals, 2004: offensive line coach | |
| Clancy Pendergast | Arizona Cardinals, 2004–06: defensive coordinator | |
| Jeff Burris | Sacramento Mountain Lions, 2011: defensive backs coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Books
Books: Open Library (CC0); most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.