35 years ago, the Vikings hired their worst head coach ever

The 1984 NFL season was not one full of pleasant memories for the Minnesota Vikings as they won just three games under new head coach Les Steckel.

For those who were disappointed in the lack of success the Minnesota Vikings experienced during the 2018 season, just know that it could have been much worse.

As much as the Vikings failed to live up to their expectations, they at least had a respectable record this year. Something that was not the case for Minnesota back in 1984 under head coach Les Steckel.

During Steckel’s one and only season as the top guy for the Vikings, the team finished 3-13 and gave up more than 30 points per game to their opponents. After their final contest of the year, Minnesota decided it was best that they part ways with their rookie head coach.

To be fair, Steckel had the monumental task of being the first guy to lead the Vikings after legendary head coach Bud Grant decided to retire after the 1983 season.

Still, Minnesota won eight games in 1983, so it’s not like the team was in horrible shape heading into the following season. Despite this, the Vikings took a nose dive in 1984 with Steckel as their new head coach.

Perhaps it was the approach that he took with the players that caused Minnesota’s season to go down the drain.

As a former Marine, Steckel tried to install more discipline into the Vikings’ players and he put them through rigorous training sessions. Clearly, these tactics were not anything that translated into success for Minnesota in 1984.

Instead, Steckel’s methods ended up breaking the morale of his players and it resulted in one of the worst seasons ever in the history of the Vikings franchise.

Unsurprisingly, Steckel was never hired for another head coaching job in the NFL after his awful 1984 campaign in Minnesota.