As much as the NFL is run by the good ‘ole boys network, it has become less of a league full of retread coaches than it used to be. Coaches like Chan Gailey, Norv Turner, Eric Mangini, Wade Phillips, and even Bill Belichick were lucky enough to get a crack at a second head coaching job (or in the case of Turner and Phillips, a third). More and more that trend has changed.
25 of the 32 head coaches in the league got their first head coaching jobs from their current team. Some of those coaches are longer tenured than others (Jeff Fisher, Andy Reid, etc.), but over the past few years we’ve seen teams turning to young coordinators to see if they could find their franchise’s answer. This new trend makes it less likely that Brad Childress will ever get another head coaching job in the NFL.
Childress’ record with the Minnesota Vikings wasn’t bad — he went 39-35 in 4.5 seasons winning the division twice and reaching the NFC Championship Game in 2009. The problem is there wasn’t a coach more publicly criticized this season than Childress, except for maybe Wade Phillips.
From the day Chilly left training camp to personally pick up Brett Favre to the reports from anonymous players that they wanted Chilly gone, there hasn’t been a coach whose character was shredded more than Brad’s. He gave Brett Favre special rules, lost the locker room, and waived Randy Moss before consulting with the team’s owners. He took misstep after misstep and presided over Minnesota’s collapse this year.
It’s hard enough for retreads to get second head coaching jobs — ask Brian Billick and Jim Fassel how their quests are going. It will be just as difficult for Chilly to get just a callback now.
