Professional Football Coach. For thirteen seasons, he served as a head coach in the National Football League with the Minnesota Vikings (1992 to 2001) and the Arizona Cardinals (2004 to 2006). Green suffered through the tragedies of both his parents' deaths prior to his teenage years. While attending the University of Iowa, he distinguished himself at the halfback position for their football squad, as he worked his way towards receiving his degree in Recreation Education. After a brief playing career in the Canadian Football League with the British Columbia Lions, Green turned to coaching, initially as a running backs coach at Dayton in 1971. He followed this with stints at Iowa (1974 to 1976) and Stanford (1977 to 1978). When Bill Walsh was hired from Stanford to serve as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, he brought Green with him to coach special teams. Following a second stint at Stanford in 1980, Green served as head coach at Northwestern University from 1981 until 1985 (He received Big Ten Coach of the Year honors in 1982.), prior to returning to the 49ers, this time as a wide receivers coach from 1986 until 1988. During this period, Green experienced a Super Bowl championship (January 1989). He returned to Stanford and served as head coach from 1989 until 1991. During his tenure with the Vikings, he guided Minnesota to eight playoff berths. The 1998 Vikings' team which featured quarterback Randall Cunningham, wide receivers Cris Carter and Randy Moss, produced a 15 win, 1 loss record and reached the 1998 NFC Championship Game, however they failed to defeat the Atlanta Falcons to reach the Super Bowl. While head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, Green may perhaps be remembered for his rant following a loss to the Chicago Bears on "Monday Night Football" in 2006, in which the Cardinals squandered a sizable lead. The clip of his tirade was later used in a Coors Light Beer commercial. Green went on to serve as head coach of the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League from 2009 to 2011. He died from cardiac arrest.