Monday Grab Bag: We're going to war

It's hate week, which means objectivity is out the door.  Great win Saturday for both the program and the seniors, and I think Cabral is inching closer to being a top-3 level candidate for the open coaching job.  Just saying, but had we fired Hawk sooner we could be closing in on that 9 win season I talked about a few months back...  Sigh.  Time to delve into the bag where I'll talk Speedy Stewart becoming Mr. Utility, Coaching Search rumblings, and the disastrous basketball loss in San Francisco.  On to the bag...

Win over KSU - Another impressive win is in the bag for Interim Head Coach Brian Cabral.  CU racked up 476 yards of offense, Speedy nearly cracked 200, Scotty grabbed the TD record, Cody had another near-perfect day, and the defense did just enough to win as the Buffs soared to a 44-36 win in the last Big-12 game ever to be played in Folsom Field.  The Buffs essentially spotted KSU 14 points through some awful special teams play early in the game, but the team never let their heads sag and scored 27 unanswered points to take control of the game.  Senior day went off without a hitch, and the fans even gave a great cheer when Cody was introduced.  A great way to send off a great set of Buffs.

(The family Hawkins on senior day; Cody would eventually win the well-deserved Buffalo Heart award.  From: The BDC)

I was a little concerned that KSU backup QB Carson Coffman was able to come in and spell the injured starter by throwing for 270 yards in limited action, but KSU was behind for most of the game, and they threw on almost every down of the second half.  While Coffman's effectiveness may have been unnerving, KSU's star RB Daniel Thomas' ineptitude running the football made me very happy.  He only grabbed 58 yards (season low) and had a very costly fumble.  It's the second straight running back that we've held to a season-low in yardage.  The Buffs defense added another 6 sacks, and generally looked strong except on 3rd/4th and long, where they gave up a few back-breakers.  Considering how strong they were on 1st and 2nd downs, there should be no problem shoring that area up for Friday's game against the hated corn.

(The Buffs D has gotten back to hitting.  From: The BDC)

Speedy fills up the stat sheet - Speedy did everything Saturday.  267 total yards; 195 rushing (with two scores), 49 receiving, and even 23 passing on a sweet HB option pass to Toney Clemons early in the second quarter.  Stewart is quickly becoming the Buffs workhorse as he grabbed 37 touches out of the 70 offensive plays that the Buffs called.  While he did fumble 3 times, they were all quickly recovered by CU with no harm done.  Speedy is quickly proving that, if he holds onto the ball, he can be one of the best backs in the country.

(Speedy's been a beast the last 2 games.  From: The BDC)

Coaching buzz - The big news over the weekend was that former Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti withdrew his name from the search.  I absolutely expected this as I've said many times that Bellotti never seemed all that interested or drawn in by the job.  As a candidate I was never all that enthused anyway since, while he made great leaps in building the U of O program, they got better after he left, and he made most of those strides with Phil Knight's (Nike) blank checks being cashed all over the place.

On the brighter side of coaching; word is we are actively talking to Les Miles.  Yes, that Les Miles.  If Les is interested, this could be the greatest coaching coups in quite a while.  If he's seriously interested, we need to get this party started, and start honestly talking with him.  If not, let's move on to more viable candidates.  He should know our financial ceiling, and if that's  problem for him, he can't string us along for shits sake; hopefully Les is an honest broker, cause, while Bienemy was the top of my list last week, Les is my A-#1 choice if he'd come..

Cabral - Speaking of the coaching search, Brian Cabral has got to be on our shortlist at the end of all of this.  Whatever his dark Hawaiian voodoo is, it's working wonders fast.  It's obvious that he's focused the team on playing strong, fundamental football with a lot of passion and energy. The team seems to be playing free and easy, and as a result is playing extremely efficient football.  In the two games that he's coached Speedy has 76 touches out of 139 total offensive plays, Cody hasn't thrown a pick, and the defense has racked up 14 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries.  Those are areas that had been lacking under Hawk.  We've also avoided randomly chasing points by needlessly going for it on 4th down or going for 2 when it's not essential.  We're playing basic football; sometimes coaches make the game too complicated, and it seems that Coach Cabral is trying his best to avoid that.  I really like the way the team is playing under Coach Cabral, and, in turn, we owe it to him to seriously consider him for the job.  I'm still not sold that handing someone the reins after a successful interim stint wouldn't be a possibly disastrous knee jerk reaction, but the man deserves a good look.

 (At the very least, he should be our DC next year.  From: the BDC)

Hate week - I thought this would be the case, but CU opened as a 24 point underdog to the hated corn.  LOL, they must have pre-set that line 4 weeks ago when Hawk was still entrenched in Dal Ward.  Word to the betting community; this isn't the same CU team.  While we're on the subject, Nebraska isn't the same as they were a few weeks back, either.  Did you see the game Saturday night?  Their offense blows ass.  This isn't the same offense that was lighting up the nation earlier, and the team seems ready for a season-crushing home loss.  If South Dakota State, Iowa State, even 2010 shitty Texas can make this team blink, then CU can bitch-slap them to close out the modern rivalry.

In his post KSU-game comments to KOA, Coach Cabral closed by saying "we're going to war" this week against the corn.  Damn fucking straight!  This is for blood, this is for multiple years of bragging rights; this is for Sal, and Coach Mac, and Coach Barnett, and Scooter Bienemy.  Chis Brown, Darian Hagan, Brandon Drumm and Brian Calhoun are looking over proudly at this CU team as we go to war against the hated corn this week. I'll even be there to make sure those fucking people know we hate them one last time. The game even means something for each team as a 6th win makes CU bowl eligible, and Nebraska needs a win to clinch the Big XII North.  This shit is fucking on.

Taylor Martinez kinda, sorta quit; but not really - For a few hours Sunday afternoon, it appeared that Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez quit the team after getting raked over the coals by hayseed-coach Bo Pelini on national TV for texting in the locker room.  It's now apparent that Martinez didn't quit, but missed/skipped practice Sunday, and that led to the rumors that exploded all over the interwebs yesterday afternoon.  Here's my question, if Martinez skipped practice, is Bo going to let him play Friday?  That certainly wouldn't fit his M.O. as a tough-headed firebrand of a head coach.  Anyways, love to see the Huskers implode like this, maybe we can touch match to powder and ruin them for the future by handing them an embarrassing loss Friday.




(Pelini's a fucking hick.  Get that shit under control freak!)

Basketball clusterfuck - The men's basketball team fell to a troubling 1-2 start after losing to the USF Dons in overtime 83-81 Saturday night.  The loss was sealed after the refs penalized the Buffs for a phantom timeout.  After USF scored the game tying basket, the refs conferred and awarded the Dons a technical foul because they claimed someone on Colorado had called for a TO the Buffs didn't have.  The Buffs still deny either verbally or physically signaling for a TO.  USF hit the resulting free throws, and the Buffs missed their desperate attempt at the final buzzer.  My Northern California corespondent tells me there was still one TO showing on the scoreboard when the phantom timeout was called, meaning that even if CU had signaled for a TO, they would've had reason to think they had one.  (He also referred to the USF gym as amateur-ish, and mentioned the whole operation was crap.)  Regardless, it's a tough and damaging loss for a team that needs all the wins it can get in non-conference to make the Tourney.  At this rate, the Buffs had better damn near sweep the rest of non-con play if they hope to make it to the dance.

Happy Monday!

Friday Beer Post: Gameday Beer-o-the-week - Kansas State Edition

Each week throughout the football season I'm going to suggest a good beer for the ubiquitous pre-game tailgate. Let's be honest, with tailgates it's not always top quality that you're looking for. To steal a phrase from the heinous beer terrorists at Budweiser, you want "drinkability." (or what a real beer connoisseur calls "a session beer") So, be warned, these may not be "the best" beers around. But, in the words of Dave Chappelle as Samuel L. Jackson "IT'LL GET YOU DRUNK!" 

This will be my final gameday beer-o-the-week post of the year.  Next week, the game is on a Friday, and I won't have time to post.  It's Nebraska next week, anyways.  All you should be drinking is pure, unadulterated hate!  Btw, if you're expecting coherent, unbiased analysis of that game, you clearly don't know who you're dealing with....

This week the "little apple" pussies come to town.  That someone had the gumption to name some random shithole in the middle-of-nowhere Kansas after one of the best cities in the world has always amused me.  Manhattan, KS shares nothing but a name with it's East Coast namesake, but it does give me the opportunity to turn to NYC for beer inspiration.  Across the East River from the real Manhattan is a little hamlet called Brooklyn; you may have heard of it.  Brooklyn so happens to be home of one of my favorite breweries in the world: Brooklyn Brewery.

Brew-master Garrett Oliver is a wonderful ambassador to the brewing world.  He creates some of the best brews in the nation, and is heavily involved in brewing culture in America.  I strongly encourage you to try anything of his you come across.  However, since I have to pick only one, I'm going to name their staple Brooklyn Lager as this week's tailgate beer-o-the-week.

Brewed since the late '80s, and based on a pre-prohibition recipe, Brooklyn Lager is a good version of an easy to drink style.  Dry-hopped and well malted, this beer makes for a great session beer.  It's not going to challenge your palette too much, but it'll make for a great tailgate brew.  If you can find this beer west of the Mississippi River you'd do well to buy a 6-pack or two. 

Happy Friday!  Go Buffs, Beat JuCo State!

Quick Post: Search Committee Grumblings

When you first look at the search committee, you may exclaim, "Hey, there's no football people on that list!  This will be a disaster."

Don't hyperventilate, this isn't an issue.  Search committees are put together to mollify special interests.  Ask yourself who are the special interests, by which I mean those outside of the football program, who are most likely to get bent out of shape by the new coach.  The answer: the academic side of the University and high-level donors.  Guess who's makes up the committee; academics and high-level donors.

They're included to give them the illusion of influence.  At the end of the day, I have no doubt that Mike Bohn will hire who Mike Bohn wants to hire.  His job is basically on the line, why would he put his future employment in the hands of some random committee.

Today, Woody Paige mentioned that we already had a list of 22 potential head coaches.  If the committee is so damn important, why is there already a list?  It's a side show, a way of mollifying people who, when properly motivated, could spike the process.  Get them "involved" in the process and they can't run to the press with dissenting opinions.  It's called politics.  Fuckin-a people, we're looking like a bunch of rubes freaking out over this.

K-State Preview

Senior Day.  While I didn't play football at Dear Old CU, I still got a senior day on Folsom Field.  My Mom was even in town, all the way from the City of the Chi, to see my final performance on the field.  And then CU proceeded to lose 30-3 to the fucking Huskers.  My soul died a little that day.  Anyways....

It's always bittersweet to see exiting seniors take their final bow in black and gold.  It's the nature of college football, but none-the-less, you sort of grow accustomed to seeing them on the field after 4 or 5 years.  To be sure, the 15 seniors on the 2010 Colorado Buffaloes have been through some wars.  From the hollow-promise of the early days of the Hawk era, to the current transitional period, these guys have formed the back-bone of of a team that has mostly struggled..  I'm sure they would've liked to put more wins up on the board, both for their teammates and their now-departed coach, but, none-the-less, they stayed true to the CU spirit and have fought all the way.

(With his father's employment situation dealt with, and a good game under his belt, Sr QB Cody Hawkins can enjoy his Senior Day.  From: the BDC)

It'll be a special moment for those 15 guys when they make their last run out from behind Ralphie on the East side of Folsom.  They've earned, through trial and tribulations, the right to take that final run with their head held high.  Whatever happens Saturday, they did their best during their time here, and have earned the respect of the entire CU community.

--
Rawr-Rawr

(Don't for get to bring your power-towel, or Ron Prince will kill your family)

We laugh about it, but K-State has been pretty successful over the years poaching talent from the lower levels of college football.  With a quick count I found 43 guys on their roster who transferred into the program from either a Juco or another D-1 school.  It's a tradition at K-State to get whatever talent you can, and try and make the most of it, and it's not surprising that they have to go that route.  It must be difficult to beg and plead high school athletes, who have the pick of free rides to multiple schools, to come to the "Little Apple."  Let's be honest, Manhattan is a shit-hole that rivals Waco, Ames and Lubbock in horribleness.  It's a testament to Coach Snyder's recruiting abilities (and the slack admissions standards) that he gets anyone, let alone players with talent, to go there as opposed to anywhere else.

Speaking of Coach Snyder, the living dead still roams the K-State sideline.  He even has his name on the stadium, yet there he remains, coaching on in geriatric spirit.  Even a semi-forced retirement wouldn't keep the old man down, as the Ron Prince era was so awful that the University had to go crawling back to an aging legend in order to return to some semblance of respectability (sound familiar?).

(He's... just... so... old!)

Old Bill is sort of a CU bogey-man.  Besides having built the perennial door-mat Wildcats into a pseudo-national power in the late '90s, he's routinely taken joy in sticking us where it hurts.  My most vivid memory of the man is him running up the score against us in 2003 as the clock expired.  We got him back the next year, however, as "Big-play" Ron Monteilh scored the only touchdown of his career in the final seconds to beat them 38-31 on 2004's Senior Day.  Good times. 


(Suck it, Snyder!)

This year's version of the Wildcats features a powerful rushing attack lead by Senior (and Juco transfer) RB Daniel Thomas.  Thomas is a beast.  Leaping onto the scene last year, he has continued to lead the Wildcats this season by racking up nearly 1,200 yards through the first 10 games.  He gets 5.2 yards per rush, and is damn difficult to tackle.  Expect a 100+ yard day from this guy every time.  The rest of the offense features the middling quarterbacking ability of Sr QB Carson Coffman.  Coffman will try and find Sr wide-out (and Juco Transfer) Aubrey Quarles when he isn't handing it off to Thomas.  Overall, their offense is pretty solid.  Coach Snyder doesn't mess around, and he utilizes a smash-mouth football philosophy built around the talented Thomas.  They get 368 yards per game this way, and usually score over 31 points.  It's a measured, forceful attack, and one that will be difficult for a typically poor tacking CU defense to stop.

 (We'll have a devil of a time stopping Thomas)

Defensively, the Wildcats have been prone to giving up huge chunks of yardage; 436 yards per game to be precise.  The team is currently mired in a 1-3 slump after a promising start, and much of that can be attributed to defensive struggles.  Over those 4 weeks the defense has averaged giving up 511 yards per contest, and the run is highlighted by Baylor's 683 yard offensive blitz 4 weeks ago.  We should be able to move the ball against this team.  The defense is lead by Sr (transfer) DE Prizell Brown, Jr LB Alex Hrebec, and Jr DB Tysyn Hartman.

 Prediction Time

Feel free to call me intrigued.  Like most members of the CU community, my interest was piqued by the intensity shown in last weeks 34-14 win over ISU.  I haven't seen that level of passion from my CU Buffaloes in years, and obviously that has something to do with the installation of Brian Cabral as the interim head coach.  However, as coach Cabral pointed out in his Tuesday press-conference, we're not going to sneak up on K-State.  The intensity must only go up from here.  Any let down will only lead to a season killing loss.

Most exiting senior classes leave a gift to their institutions of higher learning as they exit.  In that spirit, I expect that this class will leave the gift of a 5th victory on the season, and the right to play for bowl eligability against the hated Huskers (It's hate week in 3 days, btw).  The K-State defense has struggled of late, and, if there is any continuance of the level of effort seen against ISU, we should be able to contain (not necessarily stop) Daniel Thomas.

I may be a little homer-happy after last week, but I'm going out on a limb; look for Cody to have yet another massive game, and get the 332 yards he needs to pass negative-nancy Joel Klatt in the CU record books.  CU gets a big win and we move on to the hated corn with high spirits.  CU  38 - KSU 13 (Oh, boy is that a mistake in the making).

GO BUFFS!

Coaching Search Breakdown

Apparently, we're announcing our search committee today.  At least the process is visibly moving along.  Some people have complained about the pace; that, while they never expected to have a new coach in place right away, they are frustrated with the lack of information.  With games still to be played, you can't have the AD publicly running through candidates; that would cheapen the rest of the season.  The players have plenty left to play for, and they showed last week they still cared enough to try and make a bowl; Bohn is doing the right thing by executing a measured and silent (so far) search.  I expect the search to heat up, both in reality and what the press reports, after the Nebraska game is over.

In the meantime, here is my view of the coaching candidates.  These are the names I hear the most, and what I think of them.  In the end, while I would accept a few candidates, there is only one guy I think should be the next coach of the Colorado Buffaloes.  Who?  Well, you'll just have to jump through to find out

Lost Traditions

It was obvious that Hawk tried to change things up.  There were the noticeable tweaks (smoke tunnel entrance, and the Roundup walk to the stadium), and the less noticeable (thunder chute, covering up of the "pride and tradition sign.").  As any head coach would do, he came in a tried to put his own stamp on how the Buffs prepared to run out onto the field.  Some of his changes worked, some of them didn't.  I thought the roundup was a cool concept with unfortunately low response from the fanbase.  The covering-up of the sign seemed like a massive oversight.   Considering the climate he was brought into (the "scandal")  it's rather unsurprising that he tried to change the way the program "felt."  I guess my problem, and one that many others shared, was that he was remaking the entire way that CU saw itself; what it meant to be a Buff.

In that respect its been nice to see Coach Brian Cabral try and use his stint as Interim Head Coach to return the Buffs to some of their old traditions.  In the 7 days he's been running the show, Cabral has: canned the roundup walk, gotten rid of the inflatable smoke tunnel, restored the "Buffalo Heartbeat," and banned the color red.  Coach Jashon Sykes even expects the infamous "pride and tradition" sign to make a quick comeback.

(He's bringing the pride back.)

Yes these are essentially cosmetic changes.  A sign is, for all intents and purposes, just a plaque on a wall.  But, in a sport where you work as a unit of many for one cause, unifying structural concepts can be significant.  I love the concept of the "Buffalo Heartbeat."  While I had never heard of the tradition before, I can see how Buff players of years past could have used it to form a bond with their teammates before heading out onto the field.  Banning the color red is a quirky way of reinforcing the concept of "us vs. them," and it can create a rallying mental point, even in non-Nebraska weeks.  Things like that can be just as important to the identity of the program as the logo or running out behind Ralphie.

You don't always have to do things the same way, and change can be good.  However, I don't think it's merely coincidence that the 4 wins so far this year have come in games that included outside motivation and tradition.  CSU is a rivalry (such as it is) and no context is needed.  In the Georgia and Hawaii games, CU was honoring it's past, and the players were told/shown what it means to be a Buffalo, and what it takes to be successful here.  Against Iowa State, not only was there the external spark of Hawk's firing, but Cabral had re-instituted the pre-game institutions referenced earlier.  It was easy to get up for these games; in these four games, the players were forced to have a sense of purpose greater than themselves, and it showed in the final score.  When I think back on the half-a-lope performances and demeanor of games and teams over the last 5 years, I wonder if this, the lost traditions, is the root cause.

This is all a round-a-bout way of saying: I think we need to stay "in the family" for the next hire.  If we don't, the guy better "buy-in" to what it means to be a Buff the way an outsider like Bill McCartney bought-in 27 years ago.

Unless something interesting happens (read: a coach is hired) by tomorrow, I'll have my short list for the next head football coach up tomorrow.

Monday Grab Bag: Like in the before time, the long-long ago

While watching the Buffs put a cap on one of the best defensive performances I've ever seen a Colorado team produce, my friend commented that "this is like it was in the before time."  Indeed, that was vintage Buffalo football, replete with a crushing defense and a punishing run game.  It's morning in Boulder again.  On with the bag...

Shoulder to Shoulder we will fight, fight, fight-fight-fight! (and win) - It's always nice to win, but, with everything going on with the program this week, I was overjoyed for the players.  They played with heart and earned a much needed win to keep bowl hopes on life support.  It was an all encompassing victory; dominating defense and strong offense combined with an uptick in emotion to push the Buffs back towards respectability.  It was the type of performance that most people expected with the current talent level, and their effort showed the benefits of a coaching change; they played free and seemed to enjoy playing football again.  Let's not get ahead of ourselves, with two tough games left this team is still a very long shot to make a bowl.  However, it's good to see the Buff pride back on the East Sidelines.

 (The pride is back!  From: The BDC)

Defense - I've been racking my brain since Saturday afternoon, and I still can't come up with a more dominating defensive performance in the past 8 years.  Sure, we've shut out a team or two during that time-span, but nothing can compare with an 8 sack shellacking of the opposing quarterback.  Just utter domination.  Not only did the D have 8 sacks, but those 8 came from 7 different players.  This wasn't a one or two man show, it was the whole team, and they killed it out there.  CU held ISU to negative yards rushing and to less than 230 total yards; they even forced 6 three-and-outs and scored a touchdown.  Damn was that an awesome thing to watch.

 

(Sipili, and his defensive mates, made life hell for ISU Saturday.  From: The BDC)

Cody - While many doubted him in the wake of his fathers termination, Cody Hawkins went out there and had one of his best games in a CU uniform.  His second quarter TD toss to Toney Clemons may have been the single best throw of his career; rolling to his right he launched a strong, tight spiral to the back of the end zone to find a falling Clemons.  It was a thing of beauty.  Overall, he finished with a very strong line of 16-24 for 266 and 3 TD's.  Just a great performance from the much maligned Buff QB.

Rodney Stewart - There was some rumblings in the press that the reason Speedy wasn't pounding the rock in the 4th quarter of the KU game was that the coaches were worried about his durability.  Really?  I know he's had a little injury issue here and there, but the guy is a horse.  He certainly erased any doubts by putting the team on his back Saturday.  Speedy has 39 total touches for 148 yards.  While he didn't find the endzone, he was consistently running between the tackles and wearing the defense down.  Yeah, he did have a few problems holding onto the ball, which I'm sure Coach Hagan will be all over for, but give credit where credit's due; he was a workhorse out there.

Coach Cabral - I don't want to hyperventilate and start demanding his inclusion as a serious candidate for the head coaching job, but doesn't he deserve consideration to be the next defensive coordinator?  I understand that, more than likely, the next guy will bring his own DC, but damn does Cabral get his guys going.  He brought back some of the passion and tradition (we're banning red again!) that had been missing the last 5 years.  He didn't hold his guys back from "getting too pumped up," and he allowed the players to play by not over-analyzing key situations.  Hey, look, a kick on a 4th and short!  A 12-2 run-pass ratio in the 4th Quarter when up by 20+ points!  Hawk sometimes tried to re-invent the wheel when it came to game management; Cabral kept to what works.  It's a well deserved 1st win for the man who best exemplifies what it means to be a Buff.

(The man cares about what it means to be Buff, and I love him for it.  From: The BDC)

Basketball season of to a so-so start -  It was an up-and-down affair Friday evening.  While the Buffs came away with an 88-80 win, they allowed a team returning only 4 players from their roster to hang around all evening.  They even allowed speedy Idaho State point guard Broderick Gilchrist to damn near steal the game with his 39 points; if not for his stellar performance, it would've been a blowout.  It was worrying that, while we tried 7 different guys guarding him, we just couldn't stop Gilchrist.  At least this gives Boyle something to focus on heading into the Georgia game tomorrow night.  On the plus side, CU spread the ball around (4 players ended up in double figures), the new video boards looked awesome, and the hot dogs were as good as ever; I guess you take the good with the bad.  Burks also had the slam of the year in the first game.

( "This is Air Buffalo, Flight #10, requesting clearance to land."  From: The BDC)

Andre Roberson - He looked ready to contribute.  The rangy 6-7 freshman guard from Texas provided 11 big rebounds and 6 points in only 21 minutes.  Yes it came against a team picked to finish next to last in the Big Sky conference, but he looks ready to contribute.  He even had a spectacular pass inside the paint, and he looks solid at both ends of the court.  He may not set the world on fire as a freshman, but, if he keeps this up, could prove to be an important cog in the Buffs wheel.

Bears game, Devin Hester, and Brad Childress - There were a couple of interesting story lines that emerged from the Bears 27-13 win on Sunday over the Vikings.  First and foremost, it was an important home win over a divisional foe for a team looking to cling the division lead.  While I still think the Packers will eventually come out on top, the Bears somehow keep winning games while their offense keeps stubbing its collective toe, and, with a win in hand over the Pack, control their own destiny. 

Devin Hester even made a return to the special teams highlight reel with his 147 return yards.  Hester hasn't returned kicks in 22 of the Bears last 24 games.  Why?  He's clearly the best option on the team.  Why can't he both return kicks and run routes with the offense?  I've always thought the object of offensive football is to get the ball into the hands of your best offensive player as many times as possible.  Getting the ball into Hester's hands just makes winning easier, and having him return kicks is a great way to get him an extra 5 or 6 touches a game.

 

(Hester needs the ball in his hands, and kick returns are a great way to get him the ball.  From: The Trib)

Poor, poor Brad Childress.  His team hates him, his owner is looking to fire him, and he had to stand on the sidelines and watch his team throw away it's dying playoff hopes.  He's certainly not going to keep his job past the end of the season (you just don't get away with going over you boss' head like he did while releasing Randy Moss), but the question remains weather he'll stay employed through season end.  Sure, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf says he won't fire him during the season, but isn't that exactly what Jerry Jones said about Wade Phillips?  Put me down for Childress being fired in a few weeks.

Happy Monday!