It's not easy being Green

Sporting News, The, Jan 4, 1999 by Chris Jenkins

The Vikings' coach just doesn't seem to get the respect or recognition he deserves--particularly for the team's success this season

When you're watching the wild-card games this weekend, gather your most NFL-savvy friends and start a discussion about the NFL's best head coaches. Using my favorite Mike Ditka catch phrase, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts you won't hear Dennis Green's name mentioned. Why not?

The reasons for the Vikings' astounding success this season are simple: They treat scoreboards like Vanderbilt students treat an Abercrombie & Fitch cash register, and terrorize offenses that have to abandon the run to make up huge deficits.

But who's getting the credit? Randy Moss. Randall Cunningham. Cris Carter. Brian Billick. Robert Smith. John Randle. Foge Fazio. Jimmy Hitchcock. Some cat in a purple No. 84 jersey (maybe you've heard of him; I'm told Moss didn't even play big-time college football). It seems that when this not-so-humble pie gets sliced by Vikings observers, there isn't much of a piece left for the head coach.

And while, the suddenly svelte Green probably isn't enjoying much pie of any sort these days (suggested title for his next book: "No Room for Dessert"), don't you think it bothers him he doesn't get the leaguewide respect that, say, Steeelers coach Bill Cowher gets?

In fact, Green's coaching resume compares pretty favorably with Cowher's. Both men took control of their respective teams in 1992, taking them to the playoffs in their first year as NFL head coaches. Since then, each team has missed the playoffs only once. Green and Cowher have nearly identical winning percentages. But in terms of perception, Green lags far behind.

Despite the Steelers' disappointing 1098, Cowher is nearly universally heralded as one of the NFL's best coaches. Who doesn't love Cowher, a charming combination of intensity, humor and humility? Admit it: Every time you see him slobbering through a motivational pregame speech on some NFL Films clip, you can't help but feel a few hairs stand up on the back of your neck and look for the nearest wall to run through.

No coach has done more with less in the 1990s. If you were to put together a team using players the cash-strapped Steelers have lost to free agency on Cowher's watch, you could probably win an NFC wild-card spot. And that's with Neil O'Donnell at quarterback.

But many of the things Cowher gets credit for could be said of Green. Yes, the Vikings did spend liberally in the offseason to keep marquee free agents such as Randle and Smith. But that was very much out of character for a tight-fisted group of owners that committed the money, then sold the team to Red McCombs before the season. Like Cowher, Green has been doing more with less for years.

And like Cowher, Green also has managed to be a "players' coach" without being a doormat, finding a happy existence somewhere between the scalding ferocity of Jets coach Bill Parcells and the warm gooiness of the Rams' Dick Vermeil. He helped establish Carter as a superstar. He talked Cunningham out of retirement. Moss, who was passed over by nearly everyone in the draft because of a troubled past, has been in the end zone, and he hasn't been in the back of a squad car.

Green dearly has the respect of his players and his new owner, who quickly deemed him worthy of a healthy contract extension. So why doesn't he enjoy the same reputation as Cowher?

It certainly has something to do with his lack of success in the playoffs. Until last year's upset of the Giants, the Vikings were 0-4 in the postseason under Green, causing some fans to view him as a not-so-greasy Wayne Fontes, the former Lions coach who seemingly lasted forever in Detroit without winning in the playoffs.

But why would there be more pressure on Green than there was on less-successful coaches such as the Bengals' Bruce Coslet, the Oilers' Jeff Fisher or the Bears' Dave Wannstedt?

There has to be something more to it than just losing in the playoffs. It might be a simple question of how the two men carry themselves in public. For such an intense guy, Cowher has remarkable patience, both with the media and players (hello, Kordell Stewart). That's endeared him to fans in Pittsburgh and across the country.

Green, in contrast, comes off as rather prickly. His autobiography ripped the Vikings' ownership group and threatened a lawsuit. He has had a running feud with the Minneapolis media, which he likes to blame on a conspiracy to get him fired. But his strained relationship with the local press might have more to do with the fact that they're constantly having to ask him difficult questions about sometimes-sordid details of his personal life and some of the off-the-field actions of a few former players. Of course, nobody likes to answer those sorts of questions. But some handle it better than others, and their public perception is boosted as a result (hello, Bill Clinton).

If that's the real reason Green doesn't get the respect he deserves as a coach, that's a shame. In fact, it's unfair. But it's also his fault.