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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 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 head 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, talked with reporters Monday afternoon. 

Frazier said the entire team needs to take responsibility for a disappointing record.

"I don't think there's anybody on our team that can stand back and say, 'You know what, I've done my part, I'm not the reason we're 3 and 7.'  And if we have a guy like that, that guy is being a selfish individual."

Childress issued a statement saying he was proud of his accomplishments with the team, and believes it has a better foundation than when he took it over in 2006.


      "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 am proud of our accomplishments and believe the foundation
of this football team is stronger today than when I became head
coach," he said in a statement released by the team.


      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 went all in with Favre, riding his incredible 2009
season to the NFC championship game and then going down this year
under the weight of his 17 interceptions. But the team's problems
transcend the shaky performance by the 41-year-old quarterback.


      And the players, for all their frustration with Childress and
his style, put the blame on themselves after getting beat up by the
Packers.


      "We're grown men. He's not out there playing with us," tight
end Visanthe Shiancoe said when asked on Sunday about Childress's
status. "You've got to look in the mirror sometimes. We're 3-7.
You go 3-7, you always want to blame somebody else. Sometimes you
can't blame somebody else. Sometimes you have to focus on yourself
and what you're doing wrong."


      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.


      Childress 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. According to an ESPN.com report on Nov. 19, the
deal ran through 2013 but the final year was 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 Favre played
last year by taking care of the ball and making age-defying throws
into the end zone.


      This season, 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.


      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. 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.


      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.


      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.
      

Gallery

Sports

Dave Campbell, Associated Press

Author

The Minnesota Vikings fired head coach Brad Childress Monday, a day after the team suffered a 31-3 loss to the Green Bay Packers, and named defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier as interim coach for the rest of the season.

Vikings fire Childress; Frazier named interim coach

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