Tag: Brad Childress

Badger Countdown: Star running back bursts onto scene in ’96

As we continue our countdown to the beginning of the Badger football season, the 1996 season was a momentous one for a freshman ball-carrier.

There is now 96 days until the start of the Wisconsin football season on Sept. 2 versus Buffalo. As we continue our countdown, the 1996 season was a momentous one for a freshman ball-carrier.

In his first season with the Badgers, New Jersey native Ron Dayne became an instant star. The freshman running back burst onto the scene, producing 2,109 rushing yards and 21 scores on the ground, both of which were program records.

The 5-foot-10, 240-pound athlete was the focal point in offensive coordinator Brad Childress’ “Smashmouth” offense, churning out 6.5 yards per carry over 325 chances in 13 games with Wisconsin.

Dayne went on to compile three more successful campaigns with the Badgers, finishing his career with 7,125 rushing yards and 71 touchdowns over his four seasons, which were both program records as well.

The bruising back finished off his time with Wisconsin on a high note, helping head coach Barry Alvarez and the Badgers win their second straight Rose Bowl in January 2000, while also winning the 1999 Heisman Trophy that season. Dayne rushed for 2,034 yards and 20 touchdowns in his final year, ultimately being selected 11th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.

The Vikings finally have their bookend tackles

The Vikings finally have two studs on the outside

The Minnesota Vikings have been struggling to find a quality offensive line since the days of Brad Childress.

When he took over the Vikings in 2006, he correctly identified that the trenches needed a massive upgrade and then spent his first four years doing just that. His mission ended up leading the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game against Sunday’s opponent New Orleans Saints in 2009.

The Vikings have struggled to fix the line ever since the departure of Steve Hutchinson in 2011. In his parting gift to the current rendition of the Vikings, former general manager Rick Spielman selected Christian Darrisaw. His results this season, along with his running mate Brian O’Neill have been nothing short of impressive.

ESPN has two offensive line metrics: run block win rate and pass block win rate. Both players have a great score on one of them.

With the Vikings offensive line showing improvement this season, a lot of that credit goes to Darrisaw and O’Neill.

Former Vikings coach Brad Childress announced he’s retiring, says this time he really is

Brad Childress told the Pioneer Press that this time, it’s for real. He’s retiring.

Brad Childress was head coach of the Vikings during some good years, like when Brett Favre first came to the team.

Favre was always wishy-washy when it came to retiring, announcing one thing, contradicting himself later on.

Childress showed he had that in common with Favre in 2018, after he retired after working as an assistant coach for the Chiefs. Childress then came out of retirement to join the Chicago Bears as an offensive consultant later that year.

Following that, he became head coach of the Atlanta Legends of the AAF, but he quit that gig, only to come out of retirement to be the Bears senior offensive assistant.

But now, he has told Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press that it’s for real this time. He’s done.

“People say, ‘Is he really retired? Is he really, really retired?’ ” Childress told the Pioneer Press. “Yeah. Last year was my last year. I just felt like it was time to move on.”

Childress said he has put his toe in retirement, but pretty soon, he has to jump in.

“It’s more about spending time with my family and grandkids and that type of thing.”

Brad Childress not returning to Bears in 2020

Apparently, Brad Childress served as an offensive assistant for the Bears. If you didn’t know, it’s not a loss as he won’t return in 2020.

In case you weren’t aware, Brad Childress was a member of Matt Nagy’s coaching staff for the last two seasons. He served as an offensive consultant in 2018 and then as a senior offensive assistant in 2019.

But that’s no longer the case, according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, who learned that Childress informed Nagy that he won’t be returning next season.

Brad Childress has already told Bears coach Matt Nagy that he’s not returning in 2020 as his senior offensive assistant, presumably to retire, Childress told cleveland.com.

But he acknowledged there’s at least a remote possibility he’d come back to Cleveland and help his protege Kevin Stefanski in his first season as Browns head coach if he reaches out.

Considering the struggles of the Bears offense — a unit that ranked near the bottom of nearly every statistical category — it’s no wonder Childress went running for the hills.

[lawrence-related id=435786,435750,435220,435714,435707,435687]

5 candidates for Bears offensive coordinator

Following the Bears’ offensive struggles in 2019, they wasted no time in firing OC Mark Helfrich. Now, Matt Nagy is looking for a new OC.

Following the Bears’ offensive struggles in 2019, they wasted no time cleaning part of the house with the firings of four coaches, including offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich.

The Bears now have an offensive coordinator vacancy, and there are several options head coach Matt Nagy is surely looking at. While Nagy serves as play-caller — and likely will remain as such in 2020 — he’ll be looking for someone to better assist him in the development of the play sheet throughout the week as they look to right the broken ship that is Chicago’s offense.

Here are five candidates that could land the Bears’ offensive coordinator position:

1. Mike Kafka

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

When you take a look at all the candidates, Mike Kafka is one that probably makes the most sense. He has the Andy Reid connection — and a connection to Matt Nagy. Kafka played as a backup quarterback with the Eagles during Nagy’s time as an offensive assistant in Philadelphia with Reid.

Nagy is quite familiar with Kafka, whose is from Chicago and went to Northwestern. You have to imagine this would be an enticing opportunity for him.

Obviously, Reid would have to sign off on Kafka going to Chicago, but Reid is someone that tends to encourage his guys to move up the ranks. The only thing stopping him would likely be if Eric Bienemy lands a head coaching job and Reid decides to promote Kafka to Chiefs offensive coordinator.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

8 Possible candidates for the OC position if Eagles part ways with Mike Groh

James Urban among candidates who could replace Mike Groh as Eagles OC

[jwplayer w7ljvvJ7]

The Philadelphia Eagles have had a difficult season thus far but still, control their own destiny in the weak NFC East.

The format is simple for Philadelphia, win the next four straight — all divisional opponents — and host a Wild Card one month from now. Even with a playoff run, the Eagles will most certainly make changes to personnel and the coaching staff.

[lawrence-related id=626844,626815]

On Monday, ESPN NFL reporter Chris Mortensen was a guest on SportsCenter and had this to say about the Eagles.

“Barring a run in the playoffs, I would say there’s going to be some significant changes on the Philadelphia staff.”

Mortensen was simply making a hypothesis, as there’s been no indication from inside the organization that any changes are coming.

Philadelphia is now 5-7 after a loss to 3-9 Miami Dolphins, a game in which the Eagles stopped running the ball after taking a 28-14 lead. With the Eagles signing Carson Wentz to a longterm deal and the franchise focused on returning to the Super Bowl, here are 7 potential replacements at offensive coordinator if the team moves on from Mike Groh.

***

1. Duce Staley — Eagles assistant head coach

Staley is currently the Eagles running backs coach and also the assistant head coach. Staley, the fifth-leading rusher in franchise history, knows the franchise, has been around some creative offensive play-callers and would have no problem holding quarterback Carson Wentz accountable.

Pederson previously promoted Mike Groh to offensive coordinator, in part because Groh was more involved with the passing game daily.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8