The four biggest turkeys in Minnesota Vikings history

2. Les Steckel

Following the retirement of legendary head coach Bud Grant, Les Steckel was hired to be the Vikings’ new head guy in charge in 1984.

Steckel had been an assistant on Minnesota’s coaching staff under Grant since 1979, so the team just decided to promote him to head coach, at 38-years-old, instead of hiring someone new from the outside.

Well, perhaps the Vikings should have done a better job with their coaching search because their selection didn’t end up being the right one.

After years of success with Grant leading the way, Minnesota finished with an embarrassing 3-13 record in 1984 with Steckel as their head coach.

During the season, the Vikings saw their offense perform horribly and their defense couldn’t stop a sloth stuck in quicksand. Under Steckel, Minnesota suffered 13 losses by an average of 16.8 points per game.

Unsurprisingly, he was fired after the miserable season. His tenure as the team’s head coach was basically summed up by former Vikings defensive tackle Charlie Johnson who, after Steckel’s firing, said, “the players were sort of happy about the whole thing,” and, “whatever happens now, it can’t be worse than this year.”