Former Cardinals head coach Vince Tobin passes away at age 79

Vince Tobin (Twitter)

According to Brian Paget of Yahoo! Sports on Monday, former Arizona Cardinals head coach Vince Tobin of Burlington Junction, Missouri passed away at the age of 79. Tobin had been the head coach of the Cardinals from 1996 to 2000.

In that time period, the Cardinals had a record of 28 wins and 43 losses for a winning percentage of .394. Tobin worked closely with quarterbacks Boomer Esiason of East Islip, New York, and Jake Plummer of Boise, Idaho.

Tobin’s most notable season coaching the Cardinals came in 1998. That year Arizona had a record of nine wins and seven losses for a winning percentage of .563. Arizona made its first NFL postseason since 1982, and had its first winning record since 1984, when the organization was known as the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the 1998 NFL postseason, the Cardinals beat the Dallas Cowboys  20-7 in the NFC Wildcard. That was their first playoff win since the 1947 National Football League Championship Game when the Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21.

Tobin also spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach in the NFL. He was with the Chicago Bears as their defensive co-ordinator from 1986 to 1992, the Indianapolis Colts as their defensive co-ordinator from 1994 to 1995, the Detroit Lions as the defensive co-ordinator in 2001, and with the Green Bay Packers as their special assistant in 2004.

In addition to his time in the NFL, Tobin worked in the Canadian Football League and United States Football League. He was the defensive co-ordinator of the British Columbia Lions from 1977 to 1982, and the defensive co-ordinator of the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars from 1983 to 1985.

The Cardinals meanwhile will be looking to bounce back this season after missing the playoffs. With Kyler Murray at quarterback, expectations were high, but the Cardinals had a record of four wins and 13 losses.

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