EDEN PRAIRIE, Minnesota – The Minnesota Vikings have relieved Leslie Frazier of his head coaching duties.
“We have tremendous respect and appreciation for Leslie and what he has done for the Minnesota Vikings,” said Vikings owner Zygi Wilf. “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.”
“Unfortunately, we did not achieve consistent success and did not achieve the progress we expected,” said Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman. “We believe a coaching change is needed to help build a successful team moving forward.”
There will be a 2:00 p.m. press conference held at the Winter Park Fieldhouse.
Video: NFL Network: Frazier Out In Minnesota
Frazier, who has a year left on his contract, was 21-33-1 after taking over for Brad Childress with six games left in the 2010 season. The team weathered adversity that included the collapse of the Metrodome roof late that season, and Frazier was named permanent coach following it.
The Vikings were 3-13 in 2011, but made the playoffs at 10-6 last season. Rather than extend Frazier’s contract, the team picked up an option for 2014, making this season make-or-break.
The Vikings finished 5-10-1, losing four games despite leads late in the fourth quarter, and tying another under the same circumstances. Quarterback Christian Ponder was ineffective and eventually benched, and the team’s defense came within four points of setting a Vikings record for most points allowed in a season.
COURTESY MINNESOTA VIKINGS MEDIA RELEASE
READ RELATED ARTICLES
Players admired Frazier as coach, friend
No comments:
Post a Comment