The Cleveland Browns hired Brad Childress as their new offensive coordinator on Friday, something that doesn't come as a surprise. The only rumored candidates for the position over the past month were Childress and Mike Sherman, the latter of whom was hired by the Miami Dolphins as their offensive coordinator earlier in the day (Brian Daboll is out of a job again).
Childress was previously the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings for five years (from 2006-2010), compiling a 39-35 record. Before that, Childress was the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles for three years. One thing to note is that even though he was the coordinator, Andy Reid still called the plays for the offense. Childress did call plays for his first year in Minnesota, but he handed those duties to a coordinator the following three years. Based on why Pat Shurmur was hired as head coach, this seems like the type of hire that would indicate he will continue calling plays in 2012. Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer is hearing the same thing from a source:
Browns coach Pat Shurmur retains playcalling duties for now, but a lot of conversation will take place regarding that issue, and final plans have yet to be determined, a league source said.
I don't have a strong opinion on the hiring of Childress; I have the opinion that almost any coach deserves to have a "wait-and-see" approach applied to them. I would expect Childress to be introduced in a press conference in the coming days.
Do you approve of the hiring of Childress?