Tag: Les Steckel

Who is the worst head coach in Vikings franchise history?

Which Minnesota Vikings head coach has been the worst in the franchise’s history?

The Vikings all-time winningest coach also notched the most losses in franchise history. That would be Bud Grant, arguably the best coach Minnesota has ever had.

To register the most losses for a franchise, the coach will typically have to be there a long time. So the worst coach in the history of a team is often out after a brief stint.

That’s the case with the Vikings, according to FTW’s Steven Ruiz. Ruiz tabbed Les Steckel as Minnesota’s worst-ever coach.

Ruiz wrote:

“The Vikings made Steckel the youngest coach in the NFL when they chose him as Bud Grant’s successor. It took only a season to realize they had made a huge mistake. Steckel was fired after refusing to resign at the end of his first season in charge. Get that severance package, Les.”

After Steckel, Grant ended up taking over the head coaching reigns again, leading Minnesota to a 7-9 record in 1985. Then, Jerry Burns helped turned the Vikings fully around.

Ex-Titans OC Les Steckel calling plays again after two decades

Les Steckel hadn’t held an offensive coordinator position in over two decades.

Former Tennessee Titans coach, Les Steckel, who was the offensive coordinator for the franchise’s Super Bowl XXXIV team, has returned to a familiar position with a Division III school.

Steckel, whose last coaching gig came with the Buffalo Bills as their running backs coach in 2003, originally took the quarterbacks coach job with Centre College back in January.

However, just days after he took the job, the offensive coordinator spot became vacant and Steckel was promoted, per David Boclair of Sports Illustrated.

Steckel originally was hired as quarterbacks coach. Within days of his arrival, however, the program lost its offensive coordinator and the one-time NFL head coach (Steckel led the Minnesota Vikings in 1984) promptly was promoted.

The funny thing is, Steckel really didn’t have much of an interest in returning to coaching. As he said, he’d be interested in a short-term position, but that was the extent of any interest for the 74-year-old.

“I said, ‘If somebody calls me and said, Would you come coach the team for two weeks or maybe even two months? I would do that,'” Steckel said. “But that’s it.”

With Steckel calling plays, Centre College concluded its regular season on Saturday and will now turn its focus to postseason play.

Steckel spent a grand total of five seasons with the franchise from 1995 through 1999, serving in numerous roles, including wide receivers coach, tight ends coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.

He also spent one season as the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach (1984) and another season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator (2000) among several coaching jobs during his career.

[lawrence-related id=58281,58230,58132]

[vertical-gallery id=57972]

Cowboys’ McCarthy won’t join ranks of one-and-done coaches

The NFL is no stranger to quick hooks among the coaching ranks, but Stephen Jones confirms that Mike McCarthy will return in 2021,

The 2020 season has gone badly enough that the question had to be asked on Monday: will first-year head coach Mike McCarthy survive the proverbial bloodbath to return next year? The answer from Stephen Jones was an unequivocal yes, but that got the wheels turning. Just how bad do things have to go for a coach to last a year or less?

Not as bad as some might think. There is a rich history of trigger-happy owners showing their new charges the door in a hurry. Peruse the handy list below to take a look at some of the quickest hooks the league has ever seen. Note: for those wondering, Bill Belichick’s day-long employment with the New York Jets is not included; he never actually coached a game.

Year Team Coach Record
2019 CLE Freddie Kitchens 6-10
2019 ARI Steve Wilks 3-13
2013 CLE Rob Chudzinski 4-12
2011 OAK Hue Jackson 8-8
2009 SEA Jim Mora 5-11
2007 MIA Cam Cameron 1-15
2007 ATL Bobby Petrino 3-10
2006 OAK Art Shell 2-14
2001 WAS Marty Schottenheimer 8-8
2000 NYJ Al Groh 9-7
1999 GB Ray Rhodes 8-8
1994 NYJ Pete Carroll 6-10
1993 WAS Richie Petitbon 4-12
1984 MIN Les Steckel 3-13
1978 SF Pete McCulley 1-8
1977 LAR George Allen 0-2*
1976 NYJ Lou Holtz 3-10

Poor Al Groh got shown the door after a winning record! A nine-win season would require the Cowboys to run off a seven-game win streak, a statistical improbability that would dash the dreams of all draft fans. Three different men finished a respectable .500 before getting the axe. The majority of the coaches, though, really put in the kind of work that rightfully earned them a ticket to the unemployment line. This much is clear, however: working for the Jets, Browns, or Raiders could be considered an occupational hazard.

Still, just two team owners, if they had any semblance of self-awareness, would look back and rue the day they moved on from their coaches so quickly. Pete Carroll would go on to build a mini-dynasty that’s still going with the Seattle Seahawks, winning one Super Bowl and appearing in another. And Marty Schottenheimer went on to a critically-acclaimed run with the San Diego Chargers, though he always fell short of the promised land.

This won’t be the case for McCarthy and the Joneses. Even though a three- or four-win season in 2020 seems as likely as any other outcome, and as badly as some fans already want to pivot in a new direction, it’s not happening. It’s hard to say that the newest coach in Dallas deserves as much criticism as he’s received, given the circumstances he’s faced.

At a minimum, McCarthy’s job security for next year was likely locked in the moment starting quarterback Dak Prescott was lost for the season. Even though a divorce is inevitable, as it always is in the league whose initials are said to stand for “Not For Long,” it won’t happen in Dallas this off-season.

[vertical-gallery id=638027]

[vertical-gallery id=637633]

[lawrence-newsletter]