EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — After an eventful and often tumultuous run marred recently by player unrest, livid fans and a boss angry about abrupt personnel decisions and a 3-7 start, Brad Childress is out as coach of the Vikings.
His conservative approach to offensive strategy and rigid communication style are gone too, leaving behind a talented team that’s out of the playoff race and a leadership vacuum in an organization trying hard to rebuild public good will toward a new stadium.
Childress was fired Monday, 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. Team owner Zygi Wilf read from a script and wouldn’t get into specifics about his decision a day after the Vikings were blown out at home by the Packers.
“It’s often difficult to articulate one reason why change is needed,” Wilf said.
Defensive coordinator Les- lie Frazier, who has interviewed seven times for NFL head coaching jobs, will serve as Minnesota’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season. He wasted no time in answering a big question: The 41-year-old Favre is still the starting quarterback despite his 17 interceptions and looming retirement, whenever that might come.
“There’s no hesitation from me in that regard,” Frazier said, adding: “I’m of the belief that Brett Favre is going to get it going and the turnovers are going to come down and we’re going to get going as a football team.”
Childress went 40-37 with the Vikings, including 1-2 in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Tony Dungy, who played quarterback for the University of Minnesota and was a defensive coordinator for the Vikings under Denny Green in the 1990s, said he’s happy working as an analyst for NBC and is not interested in returning as a coach.
