Less than one year after receiving a contract extension from the Vikings, Leslie Frazier no longer has a job in Minnesota.
Frazier was fired on Monday morning after capping off a 5-10-1 season on Sunday, according to the team. Reports of his expected firing began to pop up during the day on Sunday, even before winning the season finale 14-13 against the Lions.
Team owner Zygi Wilf released a statement, announcing Frazier’s firing and thanking him for all he did with the organization on Monday morning.
“We have tremendous respect and appreciation for Leslie and what he has done for the Minnesota Vikings,” Wilf said in a statement. “He stepped in and established a strong positive culture here and he has been the consummate professional as our head coach and in this community. Making this change is difficult, but what we determined is best for the organization.”
Frazier, 54, took over as head coach for Brad Childress during the 2010 season and managed to keep the job by leading the Vikes to a 3-3 finish that season. He was 21-33-1 in three-plus seasons as head coach, leading the Vikings to the playoffs just once. He also failed to develop a reliable starting quarterback during his tenure, even after spending the 12th-overall pick on Christian Ponder in 2011.
Before becoming a head coach, Frazier was a very successful defensive coordinator both with the Cincinnati Bengals (2003-04) and the Vikings (2007-10). While he likely won’t garner much interest in the head-coaching market this offseason, he will certainly be one of the top candidates for defensive coordinator jobs around the league.
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