Welcome to the All-Time Favorite Viking Team series. We’re going through and voting by position for your favorite Minnesota Vikings. We’ve completed the on the field portion and we’re on to the coaching staff. The coordinators are set and I assume the results of today’s Head Coaching poll will be lopsided.
Norm Van Brocklin (1961-1966)
29-51-4 Regular Season (36.9%)
The Dutchman skipped his senior year in High School and joined the US Navy for World War II from 1943-1945. After the war he played QB for the Oregon Ducks. He was a hell of a player winning MVP in 1960 and was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1971. He was the QB for the only team to beat Vinve Lombardi’s Packers in a playoff game. Van Brocklin only came to Minnesota after a misunderstanding around an agreement for him to take over for the retiring Buck Shaw. He accepted the Vikings Head Coaching job a month after winning the 1960 NFL Championship. He frequently fought with Fran Tarkenton and was the reason for Tarkenton’s request for a trade. Van Broklin resigned on February 11, 1967 and the Vikings traded Tarkenton soon after. He later coached the Falcons and retired to a pecan farm in Georgia. He came back to coaching for one season as Running Backs Coach for Georgia Tech.
Bud Grant (1967-1983, 1985)
158-96-5 Regular Season (62.0%) / 10 – 12 Postseason (45.5%)
Grant was a tough as they come. He regularly held practice outside in the cold and did not allow heaters on the sidelines. He’s a legend. I can’t do him justice here. Grant’s coaching tree includs Neill Armstrong, Jerry Burns, Pete Carroll, Bob Hollway, Jack Patera, Buddy Ryan, Les Steckel, and Marc Trestman. Grant won Coach of the Year in 1969. He was coach for Alan Page’s MVP/DPOY Season, Chuck Foreman’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, Fran Tarkenton’s MVP/OPOY Season and Sammy White’s Offensive Player of the Year. He was coach for all four of the Vikings Super Bowl appearances.
Grant played football, basketball and baseball for the University of Minnesota. He was drafted in the 1st Round of the NFL draft and 4th round of the NBA draft. He won the championship with the Minneapolis Lakers in 1950. He played DE for the Eagles in 1951 and led the team in sacks. The next season he switched to WR and led the NFL in receiving yards. He left after he felt the Eagles refused to pay him what he was worth. He went on to play for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He spent 10 seasons with the Blue Bombers as their Head Coach after his playing days were over. He won 4 Grey Cups as coach. Marv Levy and Bud Grant are the only coaches to coach a Super Bowl and a Grey Cup. A statue of Grant was unveiled in 2014 outside of Winnipeg’s IG Field.
Jerry Burns (1986-1991)
52-43 Regular Season (54.7%) / 3-3 Postseason (50%)
Burns was a Viking from 1968-1991. The longtime OC for the Vikings took over after Grant’s 2nd retirement. He was an assitant for two legends in Vince Lombardi and Bud Grant. Grant was coach for Keith Millard’s Defensive Player of the Year season and Tommy Kramer’s Comeback Player of the Year. Burns had the honor of introducing Paul Krause for Krause’s Hall of Fame speech.
Dennis Green (1992-2001)
97-62 Regular Season (61.0%) / 4-8 Postseason (33.3%)
Green was coach for Randy Moss’ Offensive Player of the Year season. Green was popular with his players. He came to Minnesota after having the pleasure of being Jerry Rice’s WR Coach in San Francisco. The team gave him 10 seasons before firing him after the 2001 season. He is untimately judged for not being able to get the Vikings to the Super Bowl with the great offenses in the late 90s. Many non-Viking fans know him for his rant “They are who we thought they were” rant with the Arizona Cardinals. I’ll let him off the hook and blame the Vikings curse for the lack of playoff success. His coaching tree includes Tony Dungy, Brian Billick and Mike Tice.
Kevin O’Connell (2022-present)
34-17 Regular Season (66.7%) / 0-2 Postseason
KOC has started off on fire in the regular season, but he hasn’t been able to find the postseason magic he found in Los Angeles. O’Connell came to Minnesota after winning the Super Bowl as Offensive Coordinator for the Rams. He won the Coach of the Year award this past season.
Mike Zimmer (2014-2021)
72-56-1 Regular Season (56.2%) / 2-3 Postseason (40.0%)
Zimmer spent a long time in the league before getting his Head Coaching opportunity. He was DC for the Washington State Cougards for 5 years before coaching with the Cowboys for 13 seasons as DB Coach and then Defensive Coordinator. He also spent one season in Atlanta and six in Cincinnati as Defensive Coordinator before getting a chance in Minnesota in 2014. It was up and down with Zimmer. The odd years were good and even years were not. The inconsistency and lack of playoff success led to his exit in 2021, the only odd year Zimmer didn’t have a wining record as coach. Zimmer always made sure there were no fat cats on his team. I still have my Zim Reapers t-shirt. His bigget mistake was putting his faith in Blair Walsh for a game winning field goal in sub-zero tempersatures.
Mike Tice (2002-2005)
32-32 Regular Season (50%) / 1-1 Post Season (50%)
The Randy Ratio inventor was not the smartest coach in team history. Tice was an assitant from 1996 to 2001. The team decided to hire Tice as HC in 2002 after firing Brad Childress. Tony Dungy joined the Colts that same offseason. Tice hung around hte league for 13 years after the Vikings, but never had a Head Coaching job again.
Brad Childress (2006-2010)
39-35 Regular Season (52.7%) / 1-2 Postseason (33.3%)
Childress came to Minnesota after coaching with Andy Reid for 7 seasons. He was likely given too much credit in Philadelphia. His biggest accomplishment was putting together a 10-6 season with Gus Frerotte and Tarvaris Jackson as QB. 12 men on the field, throwing the ball with Favre limping, and the entire debacle of the NFCCG against the New Orleans Saints still haunts many fans. If he’s your favorite, I question you’re a fan of the Vikings. I was a frequent visitor of the Fire Chilly site back in the day.
Leslie Frazier (2011-2013)
18-29-1 Regular Season (38.5%) / 0-1 Postseason
It took a miraculaous season by Adrian Peterson for Frazier to make the playoffs. He watched the tape and never figured out why his team couldn’t muster up any offense outside the run game. He was the coach for Adrian Peterson’s MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards. Remember when Adrian Peterson was 8 yards shy of the record with 24 seconds and two timeouts left. Frazier decided it was a good time to sit and trust Blair Walsh with a 29 yard winning FG.
Les Steckel (1984)
3-13 Regular Season (18.8%)
I only Les him because it’s better than ‘Someone Else’ in the poll.
Defensive Coordinator – Brian Flores (2023-present)
Offensive Coordinator – Jerry Burns (1968-1985)
Defensive Tackles – Alan Page (1967-1978) & John Randle (1990-2000)
Defensive Ends – Carl Eller (1964-1978) & Jared Allen (2008-2013)
Safety – Harrison Smith (2012-present) & Paul Krause (1968-1979)
Cornerbacks – Antoine Winfield (2004-2012) & Bobby Bryant (1967-1980)
Outside Linebackers – Matt Blair (1974-1985) & Chad Greenway (2006-2016)
Inside Linebacker – Scott Studwell (1977-1990)
Kick Returner – Cordarelle Patterson (2013-2016)
Punter – Greg Coleman (1978-1987)
Kicker – Fred Cox (1963-1977)
Running Back – Adrian Peterson (2007-2016)
Quarterback – Fran Tarkenton (1961-1966, 1972-1978)
Wide Receivers – Randy Moss (1998-2004, 2010) & Cris Carter (1990-2001)
Tight Ends – Steve Jordan (1982-1994) & Jim Kleinsasser (1999-2011)
Offensive Tackles – Ron Yary (1968-1981) & Gary Zimmerman (1986-1992)
Offensive Guards – Randall McDaniel (1988-1999) & Steve Hutchinson (2006-2011)
Center – Mick Tingelhoff (1962-1978)
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