Youve mentioned the Packers were considering hiring Childress in 2006. What happened back then and were you surprised by his firing?
Once Childress made the unilateral decision to release Randy Moss without consulting his owner or front office, he was a dead man walking, with ownership just looking for the right time to push him off the plank. The right time came on the heels of an embarrassing home loss to the archrival Packers, a team that has figured prominently in Childress's career changes.
Childress was a skilled offensive coach and also a creation of agent Bob LaMonte in 2006. LaMonte, the "Arliss" of coaches' agents, annually unveils his "hot" coaching candidate for interested teams to covet.
In 2006, LaMonte's "hot guy" was Childress (most of LaMontes clients come through the Mike Holmgren coaching tree; Childress was on the staff of Andy Reid, another LaMonte client).
Our list at the Packers at the time included, among others: Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, Wade Phillips -- none clients of LaMonte -- and Childress, whose first interview was in Minnesota before flying to Green Bay.
LaMonte created the strong perception that if the Vikings allowed Childress get on that plane to Green Bay, the rival Packers would hire him and the Vikings would regret it.
The Vikings, who seemed to have a special interest in Packer players they signed Ryan Longwell, Darren Sharper, Robert Ferguson and Brett Favre; they tried to sign Aaron Kampman, William Henderson, Craig Nall and others -- now could get their coach and block the Packers from getting him as well.
When LaMonte said that Childress was delaying his arrival into Green Bay, we knew what was going on. Within a couple hours, a new five-year deal worth $10 million between the Vikings and Childress was announced.
And last season at this time, the Vikings extended Childress through 2013 based on their impressive 8-1 start that was highlighted by a sweep the Packers.
Now comes the termination of Childress -- his contract, not him -- in the wake of the beat down from, yes, the Packers. Their fingerprints seem to be all over Childress and his flashpoint moments, both good and bad.