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

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. Then the Cardinals' defensive coordinator, he interviewed for the Bears' head-coaching role after the team fired Dave Wannstedt. Chicago announced McGinnis had been hired before a contract was finalized, taking McGinnis by surprise. One day later, McGinnis withdrew from consideration, saying it "did not feel right in my gut."

After his firing by the Cardinals, McGinnis joined Jeff Fisher's staff on the Titans as linebackers coach from 2004-11. He would follow Fisher to the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams as assistant head coach from 2012-16.

"The lives he touched, and the number of people that cared about him, it's amazing really," Fisher said in a statement to the Titans. "Mac treated people so well, and made everyone feel like they were important. Even in the hospital, people would stop by to see him, and he would ask about their families, their grandkids, even when he could barely speak. He made a big impact on so many people. Everyone loved Mac."

Following that season, he began his broadcast career as a color analyst for the Titans Radio.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dave McGinnis, former Cardinals head coach, dies at 74