Brad Childress never should have been fired as the Vikings coach in November of 2010. His supporters may be thinking about his fate this week as the Vikings prepare to face the Chiefs on Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium.
Childress now works for the Chiefs and long time friend Andy Reid, the Kansas City head coach. This will be Childress’ 17th season in the NFL but only the four-plus he spent with the Vikings were as a head coach. It will be five years next month that he was let go, despite his success in rebuilding the franchise.
Childress was fired after 10 games of the 2010 season. His regular season record as Vikings coach was 39-35. During the 2008 and 2009 seasons the Vikings won an NFC-best 22 games. The club won consecutive division titles those seasons, for the first time since 1977-78. The 2009 team reached the NFC championship game for the first time in nearly a decade and was among the elite teams in the NFL.
The Vikings were 3-7 in 2010 when Childress was let go, but he had proven his coaching ability. Some disgruntled players may well have contributed to his dismissal, but political situations in locker rooms have a way of disappearing over time. What also may have impacted Childress’ job security was his unpopularity with fans, but he was a solid coach who was successful when surrounded by talented players such as in 2009.
I knew Childress and enjoyed his company one day when we visited legendary Gophers coach Murray Warmath at Friendship Village of Bloomington. Childress knew of Warmath but the two had never met. He spent a lot of time that day visiting with the old coach who had also worked for the Vikings. While we were visiting Warmath, Childress quipped, “Where do I sign up for 95?” Warmath died in 2011 at age 98.
Childress didn’t have to take time from his busy schedule to meet Warmath, but it wasn’t surprising. While in the role of Vikings head coach he was involved with community activities. He is a good guy, good football coach and someone who didn’t deserve such an abrupt ending to his time as the Vikings boss.
Worth Noting
Between now and a home game on November 22 with the 5-0 Packers, the Vikings play five teams with a combined record of 7-19. The 2-2 Vikings have an opportunity to build their record with home games against the 1-5 Chiefs and 2-3 Rams, and away matchups with the 0-5 Lions, and the 2-3 Bears and Raiders.
Odds indicate the one-win Chiefs are due for another “W” soon. Does that add extra concern for Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer? “No, not really,” he answered. “We’ve only won two games—so no, not at all. Our focus is on us and what we do, and how we need to win…and how we need to get better, how we need to perform in the crucial situations of the game. Really, that’s all I’m concerned about.”
The Vikings are chasing perhaps the NFL’s best team, the Packers, who lead the NFC North with their unbeaten record. The Bears have surprised by winning a couple of games already while the winless Lions are a disappointment. What are Zimmer’s thoughts about the division race so far?
“Well, I think it’s a great division, but I’m so focused on us, to be honest with you. I know what the records are. I know who is leading the division, but we’ve got 12 more games to go, so there’s a lot of things that can happen. …Really, all I care about ever is us and how we play…let’s add them up at the end of the year and see what happens.”
Vikings wide receiver Mike Wallace, who missed a couple of practices recently, said his left knee was sore “but I feel good now.” Wallace said he hasn’t had previous problems with the knee.
Vikings superstar running back Adrian Peterson feels “rejuvenated” after the team had last weekend off because of its bye in the schedule. Peterson said he feels pressure to perform after missing most of last season.
Unless the Chiefs return a portion of their visiting team tickets allotment, Sunday’s game at TCF Bank Stadium is already sold out.
A Vikings spokesman told Sports Headliners the number of workers on the U.S. Bank Stadium project is now at 1,400—a peak number since construction began and the number will decline soon and not reach that total again. The project is 75 percent complete and the facility will be completely enclosed by the end of November. The stadium opens next summer.
Prayers and best wishes to former Gophers All-Big Ten linebacker Bill Light who has pancreatic and liver cancer. Bill’s many friends were informed via e-mail this week of his health issues. He was named all-conference in both 1970 and 1971.
The University of Minnesota “M” Club Hall of Fame honored 14 inductees last night at a ceremony inside TCF Bank Stadium. Congratulations to: Luke Becker (wrestling); Ronda Curtin (women’s hockey); Chris Darkins (football and track); Roland DePaul (men’s hockey); Olga (Splichalova) Espinosa (women’s swimming); Brent Gates (baseball); Clifton Gustafson (wrestling); Jack Manders (football); Dick Meredith (men’s hockey); Jennie (Moe) Coughlin (women’s tennis); Dave Odegard (track and field); Joey Ray (men’s gymnastics); Bill “Buzz” Schneider (men’s hockey); Byrl Thompson (track and field).
Shannon Brooks, the Gophers freshman running back who has established himself as the team’s most explosive player, reports not having a serious football injury since ninth grade. Brooks, who believes it’s a “blessing” to have the opportunity to make big plays as a true freshman, said the most carries he had in a high school game was 25. How many could he handle here? “As much as they give me,” he said.
Could Brooks rush the ball 40 times or more in a single game? “I could do that,” he said. “If they feed me the ball, I am gonna run it.”
Gophers fans may talk about missing the speed of departed tight end Maxx Williams but quarterback Mitch Leidner believes present tight ends Nick Hart and Brandon Lingen are comparable. Leidner said “they might have been a little bit faster than” Williams who left the Gophers last winter for the NFL Draft.
The Gophers play Nebraska tomorrow, a school that didn’t join the Big Ten until 2011, but Minnesota and the Cornhuskers had a long nonconference rivalry in football that began in 1900. A few years ago there was quiet talk in the Minnesota Athletic Department about creating a rivalry trophy but nothing is planned. Winners of the last two games with the Cornhuskers, Minnesota leads the all-time series 31-22-2.
The Wild finished ahead of other Minnesota pro sports franchises in the recent 2015 ESPN The Magazine Ultimate Sports Standings. The standings rank 122 franchises from major league baseball, the NBA, NFL and NHL. The NBA’s Spurs ranked No. 1 in voting by fans to evaluate the franchises. The Wild ranked No. 37, ninth best among NHL teams, and ahead of the No. 47 Twins, No. 86 Vikings and No. 97 Timberwolves.
There is no word on when Gophers executive associate athletics director Mike Ellis may return to work from his leave of absence.
Fox Sports North will televise both the Lynx parade and championship celebration today starting at 11:30 a.m. The Lynx, who defeated the Fever for the WNBA title Wednesday night, will host a parade beginning at the corner of 12th Street and Hennepin Avenue before turning down 7th Street toward Target Center. Starting at 12:15 p.m. a celebration will be held at Target Center that includes a video commemorating the championship season and Lynx players will speak to the crowd. Both events are free and open to the public. Target Center opens at 11:30 a.m.
Former Timberwolves player and executive Fred Hoiberg, now head coach of the Bulls, turned 43 years old yesterday.
The Capital Club, featuring local sports figures as speakers, hosts Gophers interim athletics director Beth Goetz on November 3 at Town & Country Club in St. Paul. For more information about membership, contact Patrick Klinger, Patrick@thebrandenhancementgroup.com.