Arizona hires Dennis Green as its new head coach

(Tempe, AZ) --- (AP) Dennis Green, one of the winningest NFL coaches in the 1990s, signed a four-year contract Wednesday to guide the struggling Arizona Cardinals.The 54-year-old Green, who had a 97-62 record in 10 seasons with Minnesota and led the Vikings into the playoffs eight times, spent the day in San Diego exchanging faxes and phone calls with Cardinals officials in Tempe."He is a proven winner with an outstanding track record of success," Arizona owner Bill Bidwill said in the club's release announcing the hiring.Green will at least $10 million in the deal, which includes a club option for a fifth season. He was the first candidate interviewed by Cardinals officials, and the team has considered him its No. 1 choice from the outset of its coaching search, which began after Arizona dismissed Dave McGinnis on Dec. 29.Green's will average more money than Arizona has ever paid any of its previous head coaches. A news conference introducing Green is expected to be held Friday morning at the team complex in Tempe, Ariz."The attraction of Arizona for Denny is that the Cardinals' organization has had trouble winning and now a lot of people don't expect them to start winning," said Gary O'Hagan, Green's agent told The Associated Press late Wednesday. "That creates a lot of upside, an opportunity for success.""They need to have a winning team because they need to sell tickets. Dennis is a proven winner and that's what the Cardinals need."Determined to land Green, Cardinals vice presidents Michael Bidwill and Rod Graves on Tuesday morning flew to San Diego, where Green lives, to interview him a second time and allow both sides to get more comfortable with one another.No offer was made by Michael Bidwill and Graves in that session, but the pair spent most of the day with Green and then flew back to Arizona to brief Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill and endorse Green as their choice. The elder Bidwill authorized the team's initial offer to Green, and contract negotiations with O'Hagan cranked to life Tuesday evening.Green's hiring represents the third of the NFL's seven coaching vacancies to be filled this offseason. The New York Giants and former Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin agreed to a four-year contract for about $12 million on Tuesday, and Washington struck a five-year deal with Hall of Fame head coach Joe Gibbs early Wednesday.The Cardinals also interviewed three other candidates besides Green: former Giants head coach Jim Fassel, Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, and Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. All received interviews last week, with the team's search being conducted by Graves, as well as Michael Bidwill and his brother, William Bidwill Jr., who are both team vice presidents and the sons of Bill Bidwill. Graves is Arizona's vice president for football operations.From the outset, Graves was firmly behind Green's candidacy, believing his proven track record of NFL success was the wisest path for a franchise that has endured five consecutive losing seasons and made just one playoff trip (1998) since relocating to the desert from St. Louis in 1988.Arizona officials interviewed Green at its team complex last Wednesday before flying east to interview Crennel and Thursday and Friday. Fassel received the fourth and final interview by the Cardinals, on Saturday in Arizona.Until Gibbs entered the picture in Washington, Green was clearly the most accomplished former NFL head coach available in this year's job market, and one of the most sought after. He led the Vikings to the playoffs eight times, twice reaching the NFC title game. Green also interviewed for Washington's vacant head coaching job over the weekend in San Francisco, and was in Oakland on Monday to interview with the Raiders about their opening.McGinnis was both respected and well-liked as the Cardinals head coach, but he went 17-40 in his three and a half seasons, never finishing with a better record than 2001's 7-9.Michael Bidwill, who is also the team's general counsel, is emerging as the franchise's primary decision-maker, and is it believed that he has been given the authority by his father to make significant changes to how the low-budget Cardinals have traditionally done business. The hiring of Green is the first step in that process.Green's strongest selling points to the Cardinals were his track record of getting the Vikings to the playoffs in eight of his 10 seasons in Minnesota (1992-2001), and his stellar work with quarterbacks over the course of his career. Seven different quarterbacks started a playoff game for Green in Minnesota, including Rich Gannon, Jim McMahon, Warren Moon, Brad Johnson, Randall Cunningham, Jeff George and Daunte Culpepper.Green's deft touch with quarterbacks is a key factor to Arizona, which holds the No. 3 overall draft pick and figures to be in position to select one of the two top-rated collegiate quarterbacks, either Ole Miss standout Eli Manning or Miami of Ohio's Ben Roethlisberger.Green's candidacy in Arizona was further enhanced by the fact that he is represented by IMG, who is considered the overwhelming favorite to represent Manning next spring. The giant sports representation firm also has as a client Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, Eli's older brother. By hiring Green, the Cardinals figure to only enhance their chances of being able to sign Manning to the eight-digit contract that he'll be able to command.Just as important, the potential pairing of Green and Manning is likely the best possible combination the Cardinals could hope for in their perennial quest to generate fan interest. Arizona annually ranks last in the NFL in ticket sales, and did not realize much of a bump in signing the league's all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, in free agency last offseason.The Cardinals have two more seasons to play at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe before they are scheduled to move into a new, retractable-roof stadium in suburban Phoenix. They were intent with this coaching search to land a proven commodity who will have completed the early stages of a rebuilding program by the time the new stadium opens.With an eye on reviving the Cardinals flagging on-field fortunes, and helping at least close the gap between them and every other NFL franchise in terms of ticket sales and revenue streams, the league also encouraged the Bidwills in the direction of Green. In addition, Green's hiring in Arizona raises the NFL's contingent of black head coaches to four, which is always a consideration that the league office is sensitive to.Green resigned with one game to go in 2001, with the Vikings at 5-10 and in the midst of their worst season of his tenure. Less than a year before, he had led Minnesota to its second NFC title game appearance in a three-year span. He has spent the past two seasons working as an NFL analyst for ESPN, as well as tending to other business interests.While Green expressed much interest in both the Washington and Oakland jobs, sources say he felt drawn to the challenge of building a winner for the Cardinals, who have languished in the bottom third of the NFL's pecking order for most of the past three decades.