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Dennis Green becomes the second Black American professional football coach when he was named head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.
1992 (Jan 10)
Dennis Green became the second Black American professional football coach when he was named to replace the retiring Jerry Burns of the Minnesota Vikings. The only other Black American at that level in the National Football League was Art Shell, coach of the Los Angeles Raiders. Green, age forty-two, was previously an offensive assistant with the San Francisco 49ers, and head coach at Stanford University and Northwestern University. Green's appointment came three days after NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue urged team owners to step up their efforts to hire Blacks and other minority members for coaching and front office positions, recognizing that Blacks already made up about 60 percent of the league's players and several were assistant coaches on winning teams.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.