NFL Black Monday: Vikings fire coach Leslie Frazier

Leslie Frazier became the first official casualty of NFL’s so-called Black Monday, losing his job as Minnesota’s head coach after the leading the Vikings to a 5-10-1 record in his third full season at the helm.

He is the league’s third head coach to be fired this season, following the Houston Texans’ Gary Kubiak earlier this month and Cleveland Brown’s Rob Chudzinski on Sunday.

Frazier took over for the fired Brad Childress in Week 12 of the 2010 season and led the Vikings to a 3-3 record down the stretch.

He kept his job even after going 3-13 the following year and rewarded the organization with a 10-6 record and a playoff berth in 2012, largely riding workhorse running back Adrian Peterson.

But the Vikings came back to earth this year, thanks in large part to instability at the quarterback position with Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel and Josh Freeman (in a disastrous “Monday Night Football” appearance in October just 10 days after signing with the team) all making starts at some point.

Frazier finishes his Vikings run at 21-33-1.

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