Childress was overmatched as a head coach, just as Wade Phillips, Dom Capers and Norv Turner have been. They're still some of the best defensive / offensive coordinators in the history of the NFL, though. That said, Childress lost his team, and did so in a hilarious fashion.
Let's face it: You can't travel down to a player's home to try to convince him to come back, and then pick him up from the airport and drive him to the practice facility, and then turn around and hope to retain any amount of credibility in your locker room. Once you take steps like that, it's very clear who wears the pants.
But was this Childress or were these directives coming from higher on in the organization (Zygi Wilf is trying to get a new stadium built)? Childress always seemed 'lukewarm' when discussing Favre, even when they were winning.
Alot of what is being said about Childress and Jackson seem to be somewhat revisionist, I guess to keep from hurting Favre's feelings?
The last four games Jackson played from the Vikings 2008 season (3 wins and 1 loss)...
@ Detroit - 8/10, 105 yds, 1 TD
@ Arizona - 11/17, 163 yds, 4 TD
Atlanta - 22/36, 233 yds, 2 TD
NY Giants - 16/26, 239 yds, 1 TD
Seems like a guy that with continued development could have been a decent NFL QB. Let's also not forget that he was Childress' "guy", drafted in the 2nd round of the 2006 draft.
All-in-all, I not 100% certain the current Vikings' debacle lies on Brad Childress doorstep alone.
And the worst thing that can happen for the Vikings' at this point is for them to win a couple of games and Favre play a little better... then you have this circus with Favre going on next August again.
The Vikings' need to move on from Favre as soon as is humanly possible. Which Leslie Frazier seems reluctant to do.