The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League (NFL). The club was founded by Minneapolis businessmen Bill Boyer, H. P. Skoglund and Max Winter in 1959 as a member of the American Football League. However, they forfeited their membership in January 1960 and became the National Football League's 14th franchise in 1961.
There have been ten head coaches in the history of the franchise, beginning with Norm Van Brocklin, who was head coach for six seasons between 1961 and 1967. Van Brocklin's successor, Bud Grant, is the only coach to have had more than one tenure with the franchise, and also the only one to have won an NFL championship with the team, at the 1969 NFL Championship Game. Grant is the all-time leader in games coached (243), wins (151), and winning percentage (.622). Les Steckel has the worst winning percentage of the franchise's nine head coaches (.188), with just three wins in his only season in charge. Two Vikings coaches have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Grant and Van Brocklin, although Van Brocklin was elected for his playing career. Mike Tice is the only former Vikings player to have become a head coach for the franchise. Dennis Green was the first African American head coach in franchise history. Former defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who took over as interim head coach from Brad Childress after the latter was fired on November 22, 2010, was the team's head coach from January 3, 2011, until December 30, 2013, when he was fired after compiling a 21–32–1 record as head coach. On January 15, 2014, the Vikings appointed Mike Zimmer as the team's ninth head coach, and served until being fired on January 10, 2022, compiling a 72–56–1 record with the team. Two days after he won the Super Bowl as the Los Angeles Rams' Offensive Coordinator, the Vikings signed Kevin O'Connell to be their 10th head coach in team history.
History
Following the Minnesota Vikings' admission to the National Football League, there were ultimately two candidates for the position of head coach: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Norm Van Brocklin and Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Bud Grant. Van Brocklin was favored by three of the Vikings' five board members, and after discussions with the franchise management on January 18, Van Brocklin signed an initial three-year contract and was appointed as head coach on January 18, 1961. In Van Brocklin's first season in charge of the Vikings, the team won just three of their 14 games, a record that got worse before it got better. The team had a record of 2–11–1 in Van Brocklin's second season as head coach, but improved to 8–5–1 in the 1964 season. However, this was not enough to reach the NFL Championship Game as the team finished tied for second place in the Western Conference.
By Van Brocklin's final season at the helm, his relationship with starting quarterback Fran Tarkenton had deteriorated to the point that the two could no longer work together. This resulted in Van Brocklin's resignation on February 11, 1967, shortly followed by Tarkenton being traded to the New York Giants. In the search for Van Brocklin's replacement, Vikings founder Max Winter and general manager Jim Finks re-approached Bud Grant, who joined the Minnesota side on March 10, 1967, after 10 seasons coaching the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. With a record of 8–6, the Vikings finished top of their division in Grant's second season in charge, reaching the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. However, they lost out to the Baltimore Colts 24–14 in their Western Conference Championship Game. The following year, they went two better by beating the Los Angeles Rams and the Cleveland Browns to claim the NFL Championship, before losing out to the Kansas City Chiefs 23–7 in Super Bowl IV. Nine more divisional titles followed in the next 11 seasons, including NFC Championships in 1973, 1974 and 1976, making Grant the first head coach to lead teams to four Super Bowls, despite never winning one.
Grant retired as head coach after the 1983 season, and was replaced by receivers coach Les Steckel in January 1984. However, under Steckel, the team had their worst season to date, only managing to win three of their 16 games in 1984. After Steckel was fired, Grant was coaxed out of retirement to replace him for the 1985 season. After Grant's second retirement, Vikings assistant coach Jerry Burns was named as his successor. Burns' tenure as head coach lasted for six seasons, including three playoff appearances, one of which resulted in a loss to the Washington Redskins in the 1987 NFC Championship Game.