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Leslie Antonio Frazier (born April 3, 1959) is an
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
coach and former
cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...
who is the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). He previously served as the
head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
of the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
from 2010 to 2013 and previously served as an assistant coach for the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
,
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
,
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
,
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
and
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
.


College career

Frazier started his sports career at Stephen D. Lee high school in Columbus, Mississippi where he won 9 high school letters playing three different sports: Baseball, Football, and Basketball. Frazier played
college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...
at
Alcorn State University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. O ...
from 1978-1980, where he lined up in the defensive secondary next to
Roynell Young Roynell Young (born December 1, 1957) is a former professional American football safety and cornerback who played for the Philadelphia Eagles his entire National Football League (NFL) career, from 1980 to 1988. Young was selected by the Eagles fr ...
. In his freshman season, Frazier recorded six interceptions and 62 tackles. His sophomore season was even better, as he set a school record with 9 interceptions, while also breaking up 26 passes, recovering 2 fumbles, and making 44 tackles, while his team finished with an 8-2 record. Frazier's junior season was cut short by a torn hamstring injury, but he still put up 5 interceptions and 49 tackles. At the end of the year, Frazier decided to skip his senior season and declare for the NFL draft.


Professional career

Frazier went undrafted in 1981, but was signed by the Bears just days later. He spent most of his rookie season on special teams, returning six kickoffs for 77 yards. In the 9-game strike shortened season of 1982, Frazier made the starting lineup, intercepting 2 passes and recovering 1 fumble in six starts. Over the next three seasons, he intercepted 18 more passes. Frazier was a part of the 1985 Chicago Bears team that won
Super Bowl XX Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
. During the 1985 championship season, Frazier led the team with six interceptions. His playing career was cut short due to a knee injury he suffered returning a punt in the second quarter of the Super Bowl. During a Super Bowl XX punt return, he suffered a knee injury and was carried off the field. Surgery was conducted by Dr. Bill Clancy of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the damage revealed to the knee included tears of the anterior cruciate, posterior cruciate, and medial collateral ligaments and a fractured bone under the kneecap. It was initially anticipated that he would be able to return during the latter half of the 1986 NFL season. However by October it was clear he was not going to be able to play for the rest of 1986. His knee never healed completely to the point of making a comeback and was cut by the Bears on August 3, 1987. He was also a member of the "G Crew" in "
The Super Bowl Shuffle "The Super Bowl Shuffle" is a song performed by the Chicago Bears football team (credited as the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew) in . It was released in December 1985 on Chicago-based Red Label Records and distributed through Capitol Records two mo ...
".


Coaching career

Frazier started his coaching career in 1988 as the first head coach at Trinity College in Illinois, now known as
Trinity International University Trinity International University (TIU) is an evangelical Christian university headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. It comprises Trinity College, Trinity Graduate School, a theological seminary (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), a law school ...
. He held the position for nine seasons, built the NAIA program from the ground up and won a pair of Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Conference titles before he moved on to the University of Illinois in 1997 as the Illinois defensive backs coach.


Philadelphia Eagles

In 1999, Frazier joined first time head coach
Andy Reid Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012. From 200 ...
as defensive backs coach for the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
. It was there that Frazier worked as a fellow assistant with the Vikings future head coach,
Brad Childress Bradley Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 19 ...
. The Eagles defense improved steadily in the four years that Frazier was there.


Cincinnati Bengals

In 2003, Frazier was hired as defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals under new head coach
Marvin Lewis Marvin Ronald Lewis (born September 23, 1958) is an American football coach who is the special advisor to the head coach at Arizona State. Previously, Lewis was the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League (NFL) for 1 ...
where he helped turn the unit into a group that increased takeaways from 24 in 2003 to 36 in 2004. The Bengals' 36 takeaways ranked third in the NFL in 2004. The 2004 Bengals notched 20 interceptions, the most since 1996. The Bengals' defense improved from 28th in the league in total yards allowed in 2003 to 19th in 2004, and declined in the two years following his dismissal.


Indianapolis Colts

In 2005, Frazier was hired by
Tony Dungy Anthony Kevin Dungy ( ; born October 6, 1955) is an American former football safety and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. Dungy's teams be ...
as a defensive assistant for the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
, receiving the title of special assistant to the head coach as well as defensive backs coach. He was specifically brought in by Dungy to help the Colts' young corps of defensive backs. During his time in Indianapolis the Colts passing defense improved from 15th in 2005 to second in 2006. On February 4, 2007, the Colts beat Frazier's former team, the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
, in
Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...
.


Minnesota Vikings

On February 8, 2007, Frazier became the
defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...
for the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
under head coach
Brad Childress Bradley Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 19 ...
following the hiring of Vikings defensive coordinator
Mike Tomlin Michael Pettaway Tomlin (born March 15, 1972) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led the team to ten playoff runs, se ...
by the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
as their head coach. On November 22, 2010, the Vikings fired head coach
Brad Childress Bradley Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 19 ...
after the team started 3–7 and named Frazier the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2010 season. Frazier ended the 2010 season with a loss to the Detroit Lions, putting the Vikings in last place in the NFC North. Frazier's record in 2010 was 3–3. On January 3, 2011, the Vikings and Frazier reached an agreement making him the permanent head coach. In his first season as head coach, the rebuilding Vikings went 3–13, their worst season since 1984. On December 5, 2011, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf stated Frazier would return in 2012. In Frazier's second full year as head coach, the Vikings improved to 10–6, making the playoffs. The biggest single-season turn around in Vikings history resulted in Frazier finishing fourth in voting for the
NFL Coach of the Year Award The National Football League Coach of the Year Award is presented annually by various news and sports organizations to the National Football League (NFL) head coach who has done the most outstanding job of working with the talent he has at his disp ...
and the Vikings exercising their fourth year team option to keep Frazier under contract through 2014. On December 30, 2013, Frazier was fired as the Vikings head coach after a 5–10–1 season.


Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Frazier was hired by the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
to be their defensive coordinator on January 3, 2014. On January 7, 2016, the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
announced that they would not pick up Frazier's 2016 option.


Baltimore Ravens

On January 15, 2016, Frazier was hired by the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
as their secondary coach.


Buffalo Bills

On January 12, 2017, Frazier was hired by the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
to be their defensive coordinator, reuniting him with new Bills head coach
Sean McDermott Sean Michael McDermott (born March 21, 1974) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2001, ...
, whom Frazier worked alongside as assistant coaches for the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
from 1999-2002. In Frazier's first year with the Bills, the team made the playoffs for the first time since
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
and ended what was previously the longest playoff drought in the 4 major North American professional sports leagues. On March 4, 2020, Frazier was promoted to assistant head coach. In Frazier's first year as assistant head coach, the Bills won both their first
AFC East The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). There are currently four teams that reside in the d ...
title and playoff game since
1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
and made their first AFC Championship Game since
1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
, in which they lost to the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...
38-24.


Potential return to head coaching

Since 2018, several teams around the NFL have considered hiring Frazier as their next head coach. In 2018, he was interviewed by his former team, the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
for their vacant head coaching spot, before the team hired
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
offensive coordinator
Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich Jr. (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Maryland a ...
on February 11, 2018. In 2021, he was nearly hired by the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
as their next head coach, a spot that eventually went to
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
assistant head coach
David Culley David Wayne Culley (born September 17, 1955) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). Culley has 45 years of coaching experience in both collegiate an ...
on January 27, 2021. In 2022, Frazier was interviewed for multiple head coaching vacancies for teams such as the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
,
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
, and the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
, whom he previously played for from 1981-1985 and won
Super Bowl XX Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
with the team. Frazier was nearly hired by the Giants in 2022 before the job was eventually handed to Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator
Brian Daboll Brian Michael Daboll (; born April 14, 1975) is a Canadian-born American football coach who is the head coach of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Brown ...
on January 28, 2022. Frazier hasn't held a head coaching position since 2013, which was his 3rd and final year as the coach of the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
.


Head coaching record

* – Interim head coach


Personal life

Frazier is a
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
. He is married to Gale Frazier. They have three children.


References


External links


Buffalo Bills profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frazier, Leslie 1959 births Living people African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football Alcorn State Braves football players American football cornerbacks Baltimore Ravens coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Chicago Bears players Cincinnati Bengals coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches Minnesota Vikings head coaches National Football League defensive coordinators Philadelphia Eagles coaches Trinity International Trojans football coaches 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople