After another Brett Favre incomplete pass ended another Minnesota Vikings drive, the chant went up, "Fire Childress! Fire Childress! Fire Childress!" And today, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf did just that. Brad Childress is out, and defensive coordinator (and more importantly, member of the 1985 Chicago Bears) is in. I'm happy for Leslie Frazier, although not so happy that I'll wish him success in his new position. Nevertheless, I'm not entirely sold on this decision.
Any fraternity boy who ever woke up with a massive hangover and shaved eyebrows can tell you: Don't listen to what the crowd is chanting. The same people who are cheering you now, will be posting YouTube videos of you crashing later on.
Angry mobs are not known for their decision making skills. They tend to overlook any subtleties and nuances, present in a given situation. That's why historically the crowd is better off relegated to chants like "DEE-Fense!...DEE-Fense!". or "GO (Team Name) Go!", rather than something like," Two-Four-Six-Eight! Go to the shotgun formation, and have the tight end pull back and help block the left side!"
Brad Childress was offered up as a sacrificial lamb, or in this case goat, to the angry Vikings villagers, who were waving their purple and yellow pitchforks and demanding someone be held accountable for their disappointment. Because, the Minnesota Vikings have a lot of problems this year.
But firing Childress doesn't solve any of them, that I can see.
It doesn't take any names off the injury report, that at one time or another has listed nearly every wide receiver on the Vikings roster. It doesn't make Brett Favre's body 25, or even 35 years old. Leslie Frazier (who according to John Mullin of csnchicago.com, might have been the Bears head coach by now, in a parallel universe) was coaching the defense that gave up 374 yards and 31 points to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, so the defense doesn't improve.
It might make Brett Favre happy. Brett, who didn't want to deal with the drudgery of training camp, because you know, he's Brett Favre,didn't get along with Childress. Even though Childress was apparently willing to let him come in after camp straight out of Hattiesburg with his own personal Honor Guard, and lead Minnesota's professional football club towards a championship.
Somewhere in between looking sad at press conferences, turning 41, and committing 22 turnovers this year, Everybody's All-American Brett Favre courted discontent over Childress in the Vikings locker room. Suddenly, like a bunch of wanna-be's following the example of the BMOC, everyone was complaining about Childress. Suddenly, he's not a 'Player's Coach'.
Last year, when Minnesota was 14-2, nobody complained that Brad Childress wasn't a player's coach. And come to think of it, it wasn't Brad Childress that threw the INT that kept the Vikings from beating the New Orleans Saints in regulation, either.
The only reason to fire Brad Childress, that I can think of, is that he lost control of his team. He had a bad season, but it was the first time since taking over as head coach, that his team's record hadn't improved. They gave him the job, after the infamous "Love Boat" scandal, when management decided that the players were out of control. They brought in a disciplined coach, who won football games.
Then they brought in a media darling, who clearly has his own discipline problems, and the tide of public opinion suddenly turned on Childress.
Next year, Brett Favre and his massive ego, and his overblown contract, and his own personal problems are going away and not coming back. The rest of the team that followed his example and brought down their head coach, will still be there.
Will they be any better?