We read some interesting comments from Brad Childress in Sid Hartman's column this morning. The first -- which is not surprising, but still interesting to hear from the man himself -- is that he would like to coach next year if the right situation presented itself. "When you've always been working for 33 years in the fall, you know, you miss it," he said.

We're not convinced Childress would be in line for another NFL (or college) head coaching gig right away. Maybe he would have to drop down to the coordinator level and have success there before getting another shot in a big chair. But he did take a team within a whisper of the Super Bowl just two calendar years ago, and there do figure to be a good number of job openings. The biggest reason a potential Childress hire is interesting is that the Vikings would be off the hook -- at least to a degree -- when it came to paying off the final year of his contract in 2012. If you recall, Flip Saunders was fired by the Wolves in the middle of the 2004-05 season with $5.5 million owed for 05-06. But when Detroit hired him in the offseason for about a million per year less than that, the Wolves only owed him the difference in salary.

One of the arguments we constantly hear for why Leslie Frazier will certainly be back in 2012 is that the Wilfs would not pay three head coaches -- Childress, Frazier and a new guy -- in one season. If most of the Childress money was off the books, the monetary part of the decision might be easier. That said, most people would agree Frazier deserves another year to turn this thing around even though 2011 was a disaster in many ways. And it doesn't sound like doubts about his status go beyond questions from the pesky media.

The second interesting Childress quote was possibly just a generic throw-away from the ex-coach, but it still struck us. In talking about Minnesota's struggles this year, he said: "That's football. It can change so fast in this business." Maybe there is a tinge of reflection and regret in that statement -- a part of him wondering how things went downhill so fast here, and maybe even a part of him wondering if he got a fair shake in 2010 when he was fired so soon after the NFC title game appearance.

And the third thing was about Joe Webb: "I don't think he's a receiver, I think he's a quarterback," Childress said. "And you know, just like they put together a package for [Broncos quarterback] Tim Tebow, I think [Webb] is way more gifted throwing the football than Tim Tebow is. He can do some things athletically and as a quarterback in the NFL."

Childress also said good things about Christian Ponder. But if we can concede that Webb is just as athletic as Tebow, and in Childress' eyes a much better thrower, it does make you wonder how the 2011 draft and season might have been approached differently from a QB standpoint if Childress had still been here.

Please note that points 2 and 3 should not be construed as us wishing Childress was still the head coach. He made plenty of mistakes in 2010, and he paid the price. Hindsight, if not 20-20, is at least interesting.

Your thoughts, please, in the comments.