Brought to you by Mr. Cheer or Die and the Vikes Geek, welcome to the
Views and Personal Photos on the Vikes from the Inaugural Hall of Fame fan.
Brought to you by Mr. Cheer or Die and the Vikes Geek, welcome to theWelcome to a special edition of the Viking Underground Podcast. In VU Podcast Thirty-Seven I phoned up fellow 1999 Visa Hall of Fans inductee Michael Torbert, otherwise known as Boss Hogette, and we talk about the playoffs and losing out on making Gregg Williams the Vikings new head coach.
Mikey T. and I met for the first time at the induction ceremonies for the inaugural class of fan inductees at the Hall of Fame in Canton following the 1998 season. In the photo above, Mike is on the left and we are joined by Hogette Howiette. I saw Mike again at the Visa pregame ceremony before Super Bowl XXXIV. Since he was not in costume, I at first wondered who this guy was!
You can read more on the history of the Hogettes at their web site. It is a great read.
Other Stuff
Over at Vikes Geek, the blog discusses some coaching prospects that probably won't be hired.
And for locals, Carl Eller's new Purple People Eatery in Woodbury got mixed reviews by the Star Tribune. I haven't been there yet, but intend to. Have you been there? If so, leave a comment and let us know how it was.
Late Coaching Update
By all accounts late Thursday night, the Vikings intend to make Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress their new head coach, with an official introduction possibly coming as early as Friday morning. Childress was scheduled to leave for a visit to the Packers but the team kept him from leaving and tried to talk him into taking the job. A popular candidate right out of the gate, Childress was sought by no fewer than four teams seeking to fill vacancies. Childress arrived in Minneapolis on Monday evening, after the Vikings were granted permission Sunday night to speak with him. He met on Tuesday and Wednesday with Vikings owner Zygi Wilf and other club officials.
The goal is to announce the move at an 11:00 a.m. press conference on Friday. The hiring will be made official if a deal can be reached with Childress. As of 8:30 p.m. EST on Thursday night, an agreement has not been reached. In fact, I'm told that numbers have not yet even been discussed. All this must be kept in mind until an official announcement is made.
Childress has the endorsement of a former Vikings coach....the best in history. Bud Grant, who was involved in the interviewing of Childress, said he was impressed with his football knowledge. Grant was quoted as saying:
I had never met the man before, but my impression was that he had the background and experience that the Vikings need," Grant said. "He has been around in the NFL for some time. I believe he is prepared to lead a playoff contender like the Vikings. He is prepared to take the next step after being an assistant.
Now, the ass who is Jim Souhan would have you believe the Vikings moved to fast. This is the same man who wrote about Zygi Wilf not having a plan just a few short days ago. Now Sour Souhan says that our man Zygi moved too fast. Here is one line that particulary irked me:
Where's the proverbial fire, and why aren't the other teams rushing to the same hydrant?
Let me explain this to you Sour Souhan: because the Vikings shut out the other four teams trying to interview him. I've actualy stopped reading his trash months ago but just had to read it today. But let's move on and not make this a Souhan bash.
Just as I discussed with Boss Hogette in the latest VU Podcast, the most important thing a head coach can do to have a successful team is hire a great coaching staff. Childress has started to inform members of the current Vikings staff that he will be the new coach and is starting to discuss changes. I can't wait to see who he will bring in...or retain for that matter.
So what do you think about the hiring? Leave a comment and let us know. And also, vote your feelings below. Have a great weekend everyone!
Late Afternoon Coaching Update
Official Statement from the Vikes
The Minnesota Vikings have named Brad Childress the seventh head coach in franchise history. Childress comes to the Vikings following seven seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, including the past four seasons as offensive coordinator.
“Coach Childress has the combination of integrity, experience and competitive spirit that were important in our search for a new Vikings coach,� said Vikings owner Zygi Wilf. “Being a key part of the winning program in Philadelphia and his respect throughout the NFL made Brad the best choice to lead the franchise into the future.�
Childress has eight seasons of NFL coaching experience (1985-Indianapolis, 1999-2005 Philadelphia) and 28 seasons of pro and college coaching under his belt. His first stint on the sidelines came in 1978 at the University of Illinois.
During Childress’ four seasons as Eagles offensive coordinator the team represented the NFC in Super Bowl XXXIX, amassed an NFC-leading 43-21 regular season record and won the 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 NFC East titles. During his Eagles tenure the team had seven offensive players earn 14 berths in the Pro Bowl and QB Donovan McNabb was runner-up for the Associated Press NFL MVP award in 2000.
Childress, born 6/27/56, is a native of Aurora, IL where he attended Marmion Military High School. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University. Childress and his wife, Dru-Ann, have four children- Cara, Kyle, Andrew and Christopher.
VU Videocast
COD dicusses the Childress press conference at the Videocast page under VU Videocast Nine.
Please note: Comments and trackbacks are not working properly right now within the UThink environment of the University of Minnesota Library system. They hope to have the problem fixed by Monday.
Posted by maasx003 at January 6, 2006 1:00 AMGood points RW. I think the fact that Childress was seen in a shouting match with TO earlier this season indicated he will not back down from anyone. I saw one quote that TO actually respected Childress. If Childress has TO's endorsement....addd to Bud's....this can't be a bad thing!
Posted by: MrCheerOrDie at January 6, 2006 7:45 AMI thought I read somewhere during the TO fiasco that Childress actually went to Reid and recommended the eventual course of action the Eagles took.
The fans will turn on him quickly Vike fans always do. But I think it was a good hire. It will be interesting to see what happens. One would have to believe Culpepper was discused in interviews which in my mind the winning canidate's opinion would have had to matched the Vikings opinion.
Lonnie: The one question I hope will be answered at the forthcoming press conference would be his plans for starting QB next year, especially if the Poutin' QB is not ready to go.
Posted by: MrCheerOrDie at January 6, 2006 9:09 AMOn a food note: Wasn't Eller's PPE supposed to be at MOA? I swore I heard his commercials for it on KFAN about 2 or 3 years ago.
Posted by: Eric at January 6, 2006 9:44 AMWas Torii Hunter consulted about this move.* If not, there could be trouble in the Twins clubhouse.
For those of you, who only follow a sport where the ball is oblong, Torii Hunter is the CF for the Minnesota Twins, who annointed himself "team leader" and managed to disparage the manager, a fragile young future star on the team, and the front office for various things throughout the season. One of his big gripes was not being consulted about a coaching change, thus my nod to Team Leader, thinking that why should Team Leader restrict himself to his own sport.
Posted by: J. Lichty at January 6, 2006 10:12 AMI'm very interested to see what Childress says about the QB situation. This seems like a good move at head coach, but one can never be sure. I'm excited to see what will happen.
Posted by: Peter at January 6, 2006 10:17 AMMy bet is that one of the reasons why Childress was brought in was his success with McNabb. Another would be that the Eagles rarely turned the ball over.
Add those two things up, and I'd bet the Vikes want Daunte to be the starter if he is ready. Brad is a great backup QB and an average starter. Daunte, when he's right, is a top 5 QB. The only reason that there is any question is because of the knee injury.
Posted by: TBird41 at January 6, 2006 2:46 PMSouhan's just pissed off because he thought he was going to get another 2 weeks worth of columns out of speculating about the new coach, and now he actually has to work.
If Souhan ain't whining, Souhan ain't happy.
Posted by: Gonzo at January 6, 2006 3:15 PMRW, as far as Culpepper being under .500 and Johnson being over .500, I think there's more to it than that. Culpepper was trying to score on every play; he was trying to carry the team and force big plays. Johnson was just trying to move the chains. Also, the defense stunk when Culpepper was playing, they improved greatly around the time Johnson took over. Finally, the teams that Culpepper played (Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Chicago, Carolina) are TOUGH teams. Johnson got some easier teams (Detroit twice, Green Bay, Cleveland, St. Louis). The only tough team Johnson beat was the Giants (no small feat) so we can't say Johnson is so much better for the Vikes than Culpepper is.
On the other hand, we still don't know how well a Moss-less Culpepper can play. If we get a decent O-line and can get Birk back at Center, that will help. However, with our opponents not having to worry about Moss, receivers are open less and the running game finds less success. I think the ideal situation is still to draft a young guy (we could certainly trade Culpepper to Denny Green in Arizona for a few good early picks) and let Johnson start and mentor the new guy. I think that we can find success in Culpepper too, so it wouldn't be a bad thing to keep him.
Posted by: Peter at January 6, 2006 4:58 PM