Vikings: Childress is more at ease as the boss

MANKATO - On the eve of summer's first practice, owner Zygi Wilf predicted the Vikings would be a better team in 2007 -- one that is "much closer" to winning the Super Bowl than a year ago. At about the same time Thursday, coach Brad Childress was detailing how the Vikings would get there.

Childress told the team, and reiterated for reporters, that enhanced interaction and communication between players, coaches and each other is his top priority this season. "It's really important that that thing elevates," he said.

Childress acknowledged for the first time that he intentionally took on a militaristic and detached persona last season -- an approach that turned off many players -- but said it was necessary to build a foundation for winning.

"I just think that when you are charged with changing a culture," Childress said, "you have to set your fence posts deep with things you believe in.

"It's always easier to back away a little bit, but in the situation that I came into, I did it exactly the way that I felt like it needed to be done. Change is uncomfortable for everybody involved.

"It might be short-term discomfort. Hopefully, we are building the foundation as we move ahead."

Childress' mission since the end of last season? "Back away" by building individual relationships with players, an exercise he spent months on with cornerback Antoine Winfield during the offseason. Childress hopes to establish a more open environment where both coaches and players feel more comfortable speaking and spending time with one another.

"I feel great about things," Winfield said. "That is old news [now]. It's time to get to work, and I'm looking forward to it."

Childress also has grown close with defensive tackle Pat Williams, openly lobbying for him to receive a contract extension and taking time away from Winter Park to develop a relationship during the offseason.

After a youth football camp last week, in fact, Childress grabbed Williams and playfully pushed him in front of a group of reporters. Childress complimented Williams on his slimmed-down body and carried on a mock conversation about Williams' car-refurbishing business.

"It's just a sense of when you step away and look at how you do business," Childress said. "It's just something that I feel like has gotten better and needed to improve."

The situation had nowhere to go but up after Childress' frosty debut season, when he routinely referred to players as "them."

His Christmas Eve release of receiver Marcus Robinson stunned the locker room. And, in frustration after a loss, former quarterback Brad Johnson said he and Childress "never talk."I'm probably better for the journey myself just having been through it," Childress said. "They don't get you a manual when they say, 'You're the head coach.' You get good at what you do, X's- and O's-wise, but some of the things that come down the pipe, down the road, there is no manual for.

"There will still be some surprises this year, I'm sure. But I just feel better equipped to handle that."

Childress' attempts to address that somewhat awkward and sensitive issue had Wilf in a joyous mood as he arrived at Minnesota State Mankato.

"Every day we grow and every day we get better," Wilf said. "That's why I am so excited. I can see how it is growing and how successful we can be. We have the makings of a team that can not only win but win consistently. We look forward to many years of that success, as do our fans."

Kevin Seifert • kseifert@startribune.com