Brad Childress should be thanking his lucky stars that he still has a job.
According to a team source, Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf considered firing Childress when he found out the coach bypassed his opinion about putting Randy Moss on waivers.
Wilf was reportedly furious that Childress did not follow team protocol and toyed with the idea of firing the head coach and bringing Moss back. But what was done stayed put as Wilf spent most of this past week observing practices and meeting with veteran players.
One of the players who met with Wilf told ESPN that he believed the owner was hanging around practice to estimate how much support still existed for Childress in the locker room. He also was on hand to lend support to the team, promising that the playoffs are not yet out of reach.
Childress is now in a tough position. With the owner of his team watching his every move, Childress is definitely in the hot seat as he hopes to keep his job, which is under contract for another three seasons.
After making the controversial move, Childress was asked Friday if he believed he still had support from the owner.
"My sense doesn't make any difference," Childress told reporters. "You'd have to speak to him on that. We've always communicated very well and I haven't seen any change on that."
The coach doesn’t exactly expect to get the best reaction from Minnesota fans on Sunday when they host the Arizona Cardinals.
"I'm not crazy enough to think there won’t be catcalls," he said. "That's part of the deal that happens every time I walk on or off of a field. It's always interesting to hear what people have to say. That's part of the audience participation thing."
The Star Tribune reported Friday that after the Vikings-Patriots game last Sunday, Moss went directly to Wilf and urged him to fire Childress.
Familiar with Moss’ forward attitude, a few teammates understood why Moss didn’t work out with the new Vikings staff.
"I guess some people didn't know how to take on that personality," said veteran offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie who played with Moss during both when he was first drafted by the Vikings and when he was traded from the Pats. "When I got here the first time, he was already here and everybody was used to him. So for him to come back to this team and the whole new coaching staff probably didn't know how to take on such a strong personality."
