football

Former Cardinals head coach, longtime NFL assistant Dave McGinnis dies at 74

Yahoo Sports

Former Arizona Cardinals coach and Tennessee Titans radio analyst Dave McGinnis died Monday at 74, the Titans said.

Former Arizona Cardinals head coach and Tennessee Titans color commentator Dave McGinnis died Monday, the Titans announced. He was 74. McGinnis, who spent 31 years coaching in the NFL, had been hospitalized since March, per the Titans.

The Athletic reported that he died of renal failure. An assistant coach for nearly a decade for the Chicago Bears, McGinnis broke through to the head-coaching ranks during the 2000 season, when he took over as interim coach after Vince Tobin's midseason firing. He was given the full-time job after the season and would remain in the role through the 2023 season, when he was fired after a 4-12 campaign.

McGinnis finished with a 17-40 record as a head coach, including his 1-8 mark as an interim. "We were deeply saddened to learn of Dave McGinnis' passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to all who knew and loved him," Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said in a statement. "As Dave often said, he was a 'ballcoach' through and through and no one ever filled that role with more passion, enthusiasm, and charisma.

Coach Mac truly loved the game and everything - and everyone - associated with it, especially his players. He was one of a kind and will be greatly missed. " In January 1999, McGinnis found himself at the center of one of the stranger chapters of NFL coaching searches.