Childress doesn't deserve criticism

For those who were yelling "Fire Childress" at the Arizona-Vikings game Sunday, and for those in the media who want to get him fired, you might want to know that over the past three seasons Brad Childress has the fourth-best coaching mark in the NFC and is tied for ninth overall in the NFL.

Childress record is 25-15 over the past three seasons, including this year, trailing only the coaches at New Orleans (27-14), Atlanta (26-14) and the New York Giants (26-14) in the NFC.

The Colts have the best record (31-9) followed by the Patriots (27-13), Steelers (27-13) and Saints. The Falcons, Ravens, Giants and Titans are tied for fifth at 26-14.

I discount Childress' poor record (6-10) in his rookie year because I don't believe in most cases a first-year coach has much of a chance. Even though the Vikings were 9-7 the year before Childress took over, he inherited a franchise with a lot of problems.

He has improved every full season, going from 6-10 to 8-8 to 10-6 to 12-4, winning two division championships and going to the NFC title game his fourth year.

No help in 2010 There are good reasons why the team is 3-5 this year.

In each of the first three years, the Vikings did a good job of adding players to the team, and they didn't lose any key players.

One reason 2008 isn't ranked with the other good Childress drafts is that safety Tyrell Johnson hasn't even been activated the past few weeks. The Vikings moved up to pick Johnson in the second round, and he was expected to help in a real area of need.

Unlike the 2006, 2007 and 2009 drafts, the 2010 crop hasn't produced any standouts yet. The Vikings had two second-round draft choices after trading their first-rounder to Detroit. Cornerback Chris Cook has been hurt most of the time and has seen limited service. Running back Toby Gerhart also was injured early on and has just started to contribute. However, the fourth-round draft choice, defensive end Everson Griffen, was activated for one of the few times against the Cardinals, while fifth-rounder Chris DeGeare, a guard, hasn't played, and neither has sixth-round quarterback Joe Webb. Fifth-round pick Nate Triplett and seventh-rounders Mickey Schuler and Ryan D'Imperio are no longer with the club.

You can't compare this draft in any way with the 2009 class that produced Percy Harvin, Phil Loadholt, Asher Allen, Jasper Brinkley and Jamarca Sanford, all of whom saw action and made the Vikings a better team.

It hasn't helped that receiver Sidney Rice, who caught 83 balls last year, hasn't played, center John Sullivan has missed two games and that one of the best cornerbacks and tacklers in the league, Cedric Griffin, is out for the year. And remember the Vikings haven't found anybody to replace Chester Taylor, who signed with the Bears after performing great service from 2006 to 2009. And the loss of versatile offensive lineman Artis Hicks, who signed with Washington, left the Vikings with one experienced offensive line sub in Ryan Cook.

So that's why there shouldn't be any talk of replacing Childress. With a break here or there he could have the best record of any NFC coach from 2008 to 2010.

There are three Minnesota natives on the Terriers roster. Noah Dahlman, a Braham High standout, was the Southern Conference player of the year last season and was Wofford's leading scorer with 16.6 points per game. He was second on the team in rebounds at 6.3 per game. Cameron Rundles and Jamar Diggs are both seniors who played at DeLaSalle. Rundles is a guard who averaged 6.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game last season. Diggs is a forward who was second on the team in scoring last season with 9.5 points per game and 2.9 rebounds per game.

Jottings The Gophers football team took only 58 players to Michigan State rather than the usual 70 last week because players have left the squad or are being disciplined for various reasons. The Gophers have 10 fewer scholarship players on the squad than the 85 allowed by the NCAA.

Al Jefferson, whom the Timberwolves traded to Utah in the offseason for two future first-round picks and Kosta Koufos, had one of his best games of the season Wednesday night. The Jazz was tied with Orlando 85-85 in the fourth quarter when Jefferson scored 10 of Utah's next 12 points, leading his team to a 104-94 victory. Jefferson is averaging 16.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game this year.

Three other former Timberwolves are playing this season with the Los Angeles Clippers: Ryan Gomes is averaging the third-most minutes of any Clipper at 34.4 per game and is averaging 8.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Craig Smith is averaging 7.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and Randy Foye is averaging six points and three assists per game.

Former Gophers tight end Nick Tow-Arnett was released by Seattle after getting a tryout with Dallas and recently had a tryout with the Colts but wasn't signed. ... John David Booty, the former Southern California quarterback who was drafted fifth by the Vikings in 2008, was with Houston for a period and after being released had a tryout with the Steelers but wasn't signed. ....Former Gophers Nate Triplett and Traye Simmons are still on the Chargers' practice squad.

Former Gophers cross-country standouts Antonio Vega and Andrew Carlson were the second and third finishers for Team USA at the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Nanning China last week.