The B1G’s first African-American football coach, Dennis Green, died early on Friday morning.

According to ESPN, Green died of cardiac arrest.

Green was a B1G pioneer. When he came to Northwestern in 1981, he broke the color barrier for B1G football coaches. He was also the second African-American football coach in Division I history. He spent five years at Northwestern, and he also was a running back at Iowa in the late 1960s.

He worked his way up to the NFL ranks, where he coached the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals for a total of 13 seasons. Green most recently coached in the United Football League in 2011.

Pat Fitzgerald shared his sentiments on the late former Northwestern coach:

Green will always be remembered for paving the way for future minority coaches in the B1G.

He was also responsible for one of the most famous press conference moments in NFL history: