The good news for Brad Childress? His approval rating (unscientific, of course, and perhaps even less so with ESPN's KNOWN EAST COAST BIAS ... kidding) according to fans is 58 percent after one week -- and that's higher than at any point last season except week 15, when he was a big, beautiful 66 percent. He dipped into single digits on three separate occasions last year, so getting more than half the voting fans aboard the Beard Train is a step in the right direction.
But the bad news? Even 58 percent approval means he is fourth-lowest among coaches whose teams are 1-0 (if math serves us correctly, there are 16 such coaches and he is 13th). The winning coaches below him: Wade Phillips in Dallas, who has steadily taken a Super Bowl contender and worked them toward mediocrity; Josh McDaniels in Denver, who jettisoned his young franchise QB during a urinating match in the offsesaon and won week 1 on a bizarre play against one of the league's worst teams; and Norv Turner in San Diego (see Phillips, Wade).
While Childress has no doubt made some progress with fans -- checking in on message boards Sunday made us realize people actually liked his two challenges! Whoa! (and they were good challenges -- he still has a long way to go.
So the question: What will it take to get Childress consistently into the 70s and 80s in terms of approval rating? Simply winning? A few one-liners? Not trying an on-side kick to start the season against an inferior opponent? Not cutting a popular WR who took a pay cut?
Your opinion in the comments, please.
(Note: Screen grab was taken when Childress was at 57 percent ... he's now at 58.)
