Top 5 moments of Dennis Green’s career
By Hunter Cooke
4. Northwestern – Big 10 Coach of the Year
Dennis Green was named the head coach of the Northwestern Wildcats in 1981. Before Green came to Northwestern, they had gone 1-31-1 in their past three seasons. Green never really broke through at Northwestern, but his 10-45 record was leaps and bounds better than 1-31-1.
There were so many things wrong with the Northwestern Wildcats that it was difficult to count the failings. They didn’t have a blistering offense, they didn’t have any dominating defenders, and it was hard to recruit top-tier athletes to the academically rigorous school. Northwestern isn’t a school that has traditionally had football success, and it’s very difficult to achieve that in a conference as rich in football tradition as the Big 10. Green had to go up against the likes of Michigan under Bo Schembechler, Iowa under Hayden Fry and Penn State under Joe Paterno year in and year out. Despite all these obstacles, Green still pulled out a respectable record, considering he was at Northwestern.
He was named Big 10 Coach of the Year in 1982 for his 3-8 seasons that featured their first Big 10 win in 5 years. Turning around Northwestern was ultimately a Sisyphean task, and Green bolted for the NFL in 1985 to become the receivers coach under 49ers legend Bill Walsh.
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