BROWNNOSE
BOOTLICKER
ESPN.com news services
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Brad Childress is gone, one season after he famously picked up Brett Favre at the airport, got a contract extension and came within a field goal of reaching the Super Bowl.
The Minnesota Vikings fired Childress on Monday, ending an eventful and often tumultuous run with the team marred recently by player unrest, livid fans and an angry boss over everything from his abrupt decisions to a 3-7 start.
Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who has interviewed seven times for NFL head coaching jobs, will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season. Frazier and owner Zygi Wilf, who stormed out of the locker room after Minnesota's 31-3 loss at home to rival Green Bay on Sunday, were scheduled to talk with reporters at 4 p.m. ET.
"I know it's a tough one to take over because he was working for a guy he loved and was loyal to," said Colts coach Jim Caldwell, a friend of Frazier's who was also a candidate for the job here before Childress got it. "And it's hard for all of us because Brad Childress is a good man and a good coach. But Leslie deserves an opportunity, and I know he'll do a good job."
Childress, who is the second NFL coach to be fired this season after Dallas cut Wade Phillips loose, thanked the Vikings for the chance to coach in Minnesota.
"I have a great respect for the players and coaches who I have worked with and for their dedication to each other and to the organization. I am proud of our accomplishments and believe the foundation of this football team is stronger today than when I became [coach] in 2006," he said.
The loss to the Packers was the final blow to Childress in his fifth season in charge of the team. His most-lopsided home defeat as head coach dropped his overall record to 40-37, including 1-2 in the playoffs.
Childress took over for the fired Mike Tice in 2006 after spending seven years with the Eagles, including four as the offensive coordinator. He was chosen by Wilf to instill discipline and demand better off-the-field behavior from a team that was embarrassed the year before by a bye-week boat party gone bad and a number of other legal problems for players.
However, Childress stumbled in his first year and never fully gained the faith of the fans -- or some of his players.
He infamously cut dissatisfied wide receiver Marcus Robinson on Christmas Eve, had trouble connecting and communicating with some of his players and often came across to the public as rigid and aloof.
The offense struggled without a clear solution at quarterback, and it wasn't until last year, when Childress persuaded Favre to put off retirement a second time, that the Vikings finally put up points and became the dominant team that matched the Pro Bowl talent on the roster.
Still, they went from 6-10 to 8-8 to 10-6 to 12-4 in his first four seasons, losing in the NFC title game in overtime last January to the eventual champion New Orleans Saints. Last November, Wilf -- pleased by the stability and the progress -- gave Childress a contract extension. The deal runs through 2013 but the final year is the team's option.
This season almost seemed destined for doom, given how smoothly it all went in 2009 until the very end and how well the 40-year-old Favre played by taking care of the ball and making age-defying throws into the end zone.
Favre didn't show up for camp until mid-August, and the next week wide receiver Sidney Rice had hip surgery. Wide receiver Percy Harvin missed big chunks of time, mostly because of migraine headaches, and center John Sullivan was out of action for several weeks with a nagging calf injury.
Coincidence or not, the offense was out of sync to start, Favre began turning the ball over at costly times and the Vikings suddenly were missing last year's magic.
The relationship between Favre and Childress, which was tense at times in 2009, seemed to sour further when Favre threw three ill-fated interceptions in the Oct. 24 game at Green Bay and the Vikings lost to Favre's old team.
Childress, who was just 3-9 against the rival Packers as Minnesota coach, was sharply critical of Favre's decision-making afterward, and the coach drew his own criticism for failing to challenge a Packers touchdown catch that could've been overturned because the ball was being bobbled.
On Sunday, Favre told ESPN's Ed Werder that he's still stung by Childress' postgame criticism following the 28-24 loss at Lambeau Field in Week 7.
"It's a **** shame," Favre told Werder about the game in which he suffered two fractures in his left foot. "What I think about is going to my press conference knowing he had taken some shots at me.''
Then the situation really went south following a loss at New England. Wide receiver Randy Moss, acquired in a trade for a third-round draft pick just four weeks earlier, went out of his way to praise the Patriots and criticize Childress in a post-game rant.
The next day, Childress told his players he had cut Moss and never fully explained the situation to them or the public, amid reports that Moss had launched a tirade over a post-practice bufffet in front of the local restauranteurs who had supplied it.
Wilf was reportedly angry that Childress didn't tell him first of his plan, and there were anonymous reports of growing dissatisfaction in the locker room about the boss. Childress and Harvin got into a heated argument during one practice over an MRI test on his sprained ankle.
The debate escalated and "was as close to physical as you can get," according to a source.
After the two were separated, according to sources, a teammate told Harvin: "You just did what a lot of us have been wanting to say for years."
Fans made no secret about their frustration, with thousands of "Fire Chilly" signs distributed on Nov. 7 outside the stadium before the Vikings played Arizona and several chants breaking out from the seats during the game.
The Vikings rallied for an overtime victory over the Cardinals to table the firing talk temporarily, but a 27-13 loss at Chicago on Nov. 14 and the blowout against Green Bay cranked it back up again.
Last month, a number of Vikings aired their grievances with Childress anonymously in a Chicago Sun-Times report.
"We know that [Brad] Childress doesn't have our backs, so why should we have his?" one player told the newspaper. "We're playing for us, and we're winning despite him."
Childress, according to the Sun-Times, had criticized his players and questioned their effort. "He has absolutely no people skills," one team source said.
The Packers also blew out Dallas the day before the Cowboys fired Phillips earlier this month. Green Bay linebacker Desmond Bishop posted on Twitter on Monday that he hates to see anyone lose his job.
"However, that's gotta be a record of some sort to get 2 head coaches fired," Bishop tweeted.
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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Brad Childress is gone, one season after he famously picked up Brett Favre at the airport, got a contract extension and came within a field goal of reaching the Super Bowl.
The Minnesota Vikings fired Childress on Monday, ending an eventful and often tumultuous run with the team marred recently by player unrest, livid fans and an angry boss over everything from his abrupt decisions to a 3-7 start.
Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who has interviewed seven times for NFL head coaching jobs, will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season. Frazier and owner Zygi Wilf, who stormed out of the locker room after Minnesota's 31-3 loss at home to rival Green Bay on Sunday, were scheduled to talk with reporters at 4 p.m. ET.
"I know it's a tough one to take over because he was working for a guy he loved and was loyal to," said Colts coach Jim Caldwell, a friend of Frazier's who was also a candidate for the job here before Childress got it. "And it's hard for all of us because Brad Childress is a good man and a good coach. But Leslie deserves an opportunity, and I know he'll do a good job."
Childress, who is the second NFL coach to be fired this season after Dallas cut Wade Phillips loose, thanked the Vikings for the chance to coach in Minnesota.
"I have a great respect for the players and coaches who I have worked with and for their dedication to each other and to the organization. I am proud of our accomplishments and believe the foundation of this football team is stronger today than when I became [coach] in 2006," he said.
The loss to the Packers was the final blow to Childress in his fifth season in charge of the team. His most-lopsided home defeat as head coach dropped his overall record to 40-37, including 1-2 in the playoffs.
Childress took over for the fired Mike Tice in 2006 after spending seven years with the Eagles, including four as the offensive coordinator. He was chosen by Wilf to instill discipline and demand better off-the-field behavior from a team that was embarrassed the year before by a bye-week boat party gone bad and a number of other legal problems for players.
However, Childress stumbled in his first year and never fully gained the faith of the fans -- or some of his players.
He infamously cut dissatisfied wide receiver Marcus Robinson on Christmas Eve, had trouble connecting and communicating with some of his players and often came across to the public as rigid and aloof.
The offense struggled without a clear solution at quarterback, and it wasn't until last year, when Childress persuaded Favre to put off retirement a second time, that the Vikings finally put up points and became the dominant team that matched the Pro Bowl talent on the roster.
Still, they went from 6-10 to 8-8 to 10-6 to 12-4 in his first four seasons, losing in the NFC title game in overtime last January to the eventual champion New Orleans Saints. Last November, Wilf -- pleased by the stability and the progress -- gave Childress a contract extension. The deal runs through 2013 but the final year is the team's option.
This season almost seemed destined for doom, given how smoothly it all went in 2009 until the very end and how well the 40-year-old Favre played by taking care of the ball and making age-defying throws into the end zone.
Favre didn't show up for camp until mid-August, and the next week wide receiver Sidney Rice had hip surgery. Wide receiver Percy Harvin missed big chunks of time, mostly because of migraine headaches, and center John Sullivan was out of action for several weeks with a nagging calf injury.
Coincidence or not, the offense was out of sync to start, Favre began turning the ball over at costly times and the Vikings suddenly were missing last year's magic.
The relationship between Favre and Childress, which was tense at times in 2009, seemed to sour further when Favre threw three ill-fated interceptions in the Oct. 24 game at Green Bay and the Vikings lost to Favre's old team.
Childress, who was just 3-9 against the rival Packers as Minnesota coach, was sharply critical of Favre's decision-making afterward, and the coach drew his own criticism for failing to challenge a Packers touchdown catch that could've been overturned because the ball was being bobbled.
On Sunday, Favre told ESPN's Ed Werder that he's still stung by Childress' postgame criticism following the 28-24 loss at Lambeau Field in Week 7.
"It's a **** shame," Favre told Werder about the game in which he suffered two fractures in his left foot. "What I think about is going to my press conference knowing he had taken some shots at me.''
Then the situation really went south following a loss at New England. Wide receiver Randy Moss, acquired in a trade for a third-round draft pick just four weeks earlier, went out of his way to praise the Patriots and criticize Childress in a post-game rant.
The next day, Childress told his players he had cut Moss and never fully explained the situation to them or the public, amid reports that Moss had launched a tirade over a post-practice bufffet in front of the local restauranteurs who had supplied it.
Wilf was reportedly angry that Childress didn't tell him first of his plan, and there were anonymous reports of growing dissatisfaction in the locker room about the boss. Childress and Harvin got into a heated argument during one practice over an MRI test on his sprained ankle.
The debate escalated and "was as close to physical as you can get," according to a source.
After the two were separated, according to sources, a teammate told Harvin: "You just did what a lot of us have been wanting to say for years."
Fans made no secret about their frustration, with thousands of "Fire Chilly" signs distributed on Nov. 7 outside the stadium before the Vikings played Arizona and several chants breaking out from the seats during the game.
The Vikings rallied for an overtime victory over the Cardinals to table the firing talk temporarily, but a 27-13 loss at Chicago on Nov. 14 and the blowout against Green Bay cranked it back up again.
Last month, a number of Vikings aired their grievances with Childress anonymously in a Chicago Sun-Times report.
"We know that [Brad] Childress doesn't have our backs, so why should we have his?" one player told the newspaper. "We're playing for us, and we're winning despite him."
Childress, according to the Sun-Times, had criticized his players and questioned their effort. "He has absolutely no people skills," one team source said.
The Packers also blew out Dallas the day before the Cowboys fired Phillips earlier this month. Green Bay linebacker Desmond Bishop posted on Twitter on Monday that he hates to see anyone lose his job.
"However, that's gotta be a record of some sort to get 2 head coaches fired," Bishop tweeted.
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