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Green quietly nears another milestone
Posted: Friday January 15, 1999 09:43 PM
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -- Dennis Green is one win away from becoming the first black coach to lead his team into the Super Bowl. He already is the first to make it to the NFC title game. Neither subject was an issue this week as the Minnesota Vikings prepared for Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons, and Green saw that as progress. "Absolutely, because what everybody is talking about is the team, and that's the way it should be," he said. Breaking barriers is nothing new for Green. He was the first black coach in the Big Ten when Northwestern hired him in 1981, and he was only the second black coach in modern NFL history when the Vikings hired him in 1992. "What I just try to stand for is somebody who's always tried to do a good job," Green said. "A lot of people write, a lot of people call and talk about the significance of [being the first black coach in the Super Bowl]. That's the breakthrough we're going through right now. It was a breakthrough when I went into Northwestern and I accepted it. I think it's great." Green's tenure hasn't always been smooth, but it has been successful. He has made the playoffs every season except 1995, and this season went 15-1 to boost his regular-season winning percentage to .634, surpassing Bud Grant for the best in team history. Now he has a chance to bring the Vikings their first conference title since the 1976 season and the first Super Bowl championship in their 38-year history. Still, his job security was an issue as recently as August, a mixture of the team's postseason failures (1-5 under Green before this season), off-field turmoil that included allegations of sexual harassment in 1995 and what Green often has described as an undertone of racism. This season's success has allowed him to rise above the rancor that had started to define his tenure. "I think they look at Denny Green as a coach now, as being able to make his players perform at the highest level," defensive end Derrick Alexander said. "In the past, I don't think they've looked at him that way. "I think he's been judged as a black head coach because, he's been to the playoffs every year but one since he's been here but his job's in jeopardy. ... I think because of his skin color he was under that microscope even more his first couple years. But I'm glad he's fought his way through it to put himself in this position." Green has endured the tough times to become the NFL's longest-tenured head coach with the same team, edging Pittsburgh's Bill Cowher by 11 days for that distinction following Marty Schottenheimer's resignation at Kansas City this week. He got a three-year contract extension from new owner Red McCombs on the eve of the season-opener against Tampa Bay late last summer, and his wife, Marie, gave birth to their second child in November. Green finally seems to have found peace in Minnesota. He has become a leading advocate in trying to help other black coaches break through the same barrier he did seven years ago. There currently are three black coaches in the league, all in the NFC Central: Green, Ray Rhodes at Green Bay and Tony Dungy at Tampa Bay. Green sees progress in Green Bay's decision to hire Rhodes to replace Mike Holmgren, along with the handful of black assistants still being considered for top jobs. "And with Ray hiring Emmitt Thomas [as Green Bay's defensive coordinator], I think those are both great signs for the future," Green said. If the Vikings beat Atlanta on Sunday -- they are favored by 11 points -- Randall Cunningham also will become only the second black quarterback to start in the Super Bowl. Doug Williams was the MVP of Washington's championship victory after the 1987 season. A chance to be there if Green becomes the first black coach in the Super Bowl would be a proud moment for the Vikings. "In a situation when we are going into the next millennium and I'm on a team with an African-American head coach, it's a testament to how far we've come," cornerback Jimmy Hitchcock said. "I think it'll make it a lot easier for African-American head coaches to get jobs. "It's like people say: the guys who the owners saw winning Super Bowls in those days when they were kids were white. We have a situation where the young kids of today will see an African-American head coach go to the Super Bowl, so that's going to be huge."
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