With the 2020 NFL regular season winding down after a pandemic ridden build up and several postponements, football fans have seen a number of things they thought they would see. Among those items, the Buffalo Bills winning a division title. Well, go ahead and cross that off the list, because it happened, thanks in part to a legendary figure in TIU's football history.

Leslie Frazier, who served as Trinity's first ever head football coach from the program's founding in 1988 through the 1996 season, has made a name for himself in the NFL. After several stops around the league in various roles, Frazier is currently coaching as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach of the Bills, who, after a win over the Denver Broncos on Saturday night, clinched their first AFC East division title since 1995, when Frazier himself was in his eighth year at Trinity.

A division that for the last two decades has been dominated by future Hall of Famers Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, Buffalo's division title secures the Bills in the postseason for a second consecutive season, and just the third time this century. The Bills reached the pinnacle of their franchise's success in the early 1990s, as they became the first NFL team to play in four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990-1993, although Buffalo lost all four. Since then, Buffalo's last postseason win came in 1995 in an AFC Wild Card Game against the Dolphins. Now Frazier, in his fourth year with the Bills, looks to coach his defensive unit deep into the playoffs and make a run towards Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Florida.

With a handful of head coaching vacancies around the NFL heading into 2021, Frazier's name has been mentioned as a potential head coach around the league. Frazier's only other head coaching position came in 2010 when he was named the interim, and later full time head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. Under Frazier, the Vikings reached their highest level of success in 2012 with running back Adrian Petersen being named league MVP with a 2,097 rushing yard season and playoff appearance.

A native of Columbus, Mississippi, Frazier played defense at Alcorn State before signing with the Chicago Bears in 1981. In 1985, he led the Bears' famed "46 defense" with six interceptions en route to Chicago's first Super Bowl championship over the Patriots, although he was injured during the second quarter of the game.

Lingering injuries forced Frazier to retire after the championship season, but he quickly found a new home as he was hired to lead the new Trojan football program for then-named Trinity College. In his nine seasons at the helm, Trinity won two conference championships in the MSFA-Midwest League and qualified for the 1994 NAIA Playoffs. 

While coaching the Trojans, Frazier was named the 1994 MSFA Coach of the Year, and accumulated a 35-33-2 record, making him the winningest coach in program history. In his nine seasons, Frazier coached six NAIA All-Americans, five NAIA Scholar-Athletes and 23 MSFA All-Conference selections. Frazier also coached defensive lineman Herb Coleman and quarterback Jon Stark, the first two Trinity players ever selected in the NFL Draft. He also coached receiver Karl Hankton, who became the first former Trojan to play in a Super Bowl when he played for the Carolina Panthers against New England in Super Bowl XXXVIII in February 2004.

Frazier left Trinity after the 1996 season to become the defensive backs coach at the University of Illinois. After two seasons with the Fighting Illini, Frazier found himself back in the NFL, this time as a coach with the Philadelphia Eagles. Frazier would also coach with the Cincinnati Bengals before joining the Indianapolis Colts in 2005, where he would help lead the Colts to a Super Bowl title in 2006 as defensive backs and assistant head coach. Frazier would also coach on the defensive staffs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens before joining the Bills in 2017.

Trinity International University is a comprehensive, national university affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America and located in Bannockburn, Illinois, 25 miles north of Chicago. TIU educates men and women to engage in God's redemptive work in the world by cultivating academic excellence, Christian faithfulness and lifelong learning.