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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Minnesota Vikings offensive line coach Tony Sparano looks on from the sideline during an NFL preseason football game between the Minnesota Vikings and the San Francisco 49ers in Minneapolis last year.
EAGAN, Minn. >> The Minnesota Vikings say offensive line coach Tony Sparano has died at the age of 56.
The Vikings say Sparano died early today but did not give a cause of death. He had been the Vikings’ offensive line coach since 2016.
Sparano began his NFL coaching career in 1999 and had stints as a head coach with the Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders.
He was the Dolphins’ head coach from 2008-11 and went 29-32. He went 11-5 and won the AFC East in his first season with the Dolphins.
Sparano also spent time with the Browns, Redskins, Jaguars, Cowboys and 49ers.
He played at the University of New Haven where he was a four-year letterman. Sparano was hired as New Haven’s head coach in 1994 and held that position for five seasons.
Sparano is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter and four grandchildren.
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