Vikings Success Must Start with the Coach

When it comes to the NFL, success is key and idolized by any NFL owner, coach or fan and is a way of the game. Achieving success is never easy, nor should it be easy. It's something that takes years of practice and mastering before it can be really understood.

For a coach, it is something they strive for and put at the top of the list among other things. For those passionate Vikings fans, success is a custom and way life in the state of Minnesota. We strive every day to do the best job we can in every aspect of our lives.

Same goes for our beloved Minnesota Vikings. We hope and pray every day for the team's success on and off the field. Whether it be the NFL Draft, the Free Agency, a trade made, or winning or losing.

The Minnesota hopeful always put their faith in their home town team to be successful.

However, as Vikings fans and followers of the purple, we know that to have a successful football team, you must have a successful head coach leading the way.

The Vikings franchise, since it's creation in 1961, has seen many successful head coaches walk through its doors.

The first head coach to take charge of the purple was former NFL player, Norm Van Brocklin. A championship quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles, Van Brocklin was known for his tough guy attitude.

Once asked at an introductory news conference what worried him the most about going from the playing field directly to coaching, he simply answered with a casual tone, "I don't worry about anything."

To the contrary, Van Brocklin never became a succesful head coach for the Vikings.

Norm Van Brocklin went a measly 29-51-4 as the head coach for Minnesota, and his days, like his record were numbered as the leader of the Purple.

Unlike his predecessor, Bud Grant finally brought the success the team was looking for, as well as the play style to fit its players. Grant helped create one of the most fearsome, defensive forces of his era, simply known as the "Purple People Eaters".

A stout defense that was lead by Hall of Fame defensive tackle Alan Page, Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller, defensive end Jim Marshall, and defensive tackle Gary Larsen.

Together these men brought with them a hard-knocks, "black and blue" defense which their NFC North division is so rightfully nick-named.

Bud Grant didn't just help organize a franchise and a team, he brought with him new ways of looking at the game.

His knowledge of the game supreme to his adversaries, and single-handedly became the most successful head coach in Minnesota Vikings history. He led the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowls, only to return to Minneapolis each time empty handed.

In his two stints coaching the Vikings, Bud Grant has a commanding 168-108-5 record.

The only other head coach for the Minnesota Vikings to be as prolific as Grant was Dennis Green who coached from 1992 to 2001 with an overall record of 101-70.

Dennis Green has and will always be remembered for his success during the Vikings 15-1 season in 1998, when they were a field goal short of making it to their fifth Super Bowl appearance.

It was a heart breaking game that generations of Vikings fans remember to this day as one of the most painful games in franchise history.

The Vikings are in the current era of coach Brad Childress, a former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator.

Childress is known for his remarkable work with Andy Reid and the shaping of current Eagles Quarterback Donavan McNabb.

Named the seventh head coach in Vikings franchise history in 2006, his road to success has been a bumpy one, often resembling the likes of Van Brocklin's coaching company.

In his first season as head coach , he set a standard for the team, however these standards were not much help in a 6-10 finish.

But the coach still pushed for the best players on his team, leading the Vikings in 2007 to an honorable (8-8) record for a coach in only his second year. The coach, though, did see the creation a of dominant defense that resembled the "Purple People Eaters".

This was also the year coach Brad Childress saw his first look at running back Adrian Peterson, a young kid from Oklahoma University. At the time, Childress was unaware that this young kid would soon be the focal point of his offense.

It was this last year 2008, that we saw a glimpse of success under the leadership of Childress.

Knowing that he had a star running back in Adrian Peterson, and one of the NFL's best defenses, he continued his trust in the young Tavaris Jackson as the team went (10-6) and surprised many doubters in winning the NFC North division.

The head coach brought playoff football back to the state of Minnesota, which it hadn't seen since 1998, having to play on the road in the 2004 playoffs against their division rival, the Green Bay Packers.

Luckily their divison foe was beaten, and though their playoff hopes were high, they moved on only to get knocked out by the Phildelphia Eagles in the divisional round.

Unfortunately, for the loyal Vikings fans hoping for a first Super Bowl, the Vikings season ended at home with a brutal playoff loss to none other then the Philadelphia Eagles once again, losing 26-14

The only touchdowns being scored by Minnesota's star Adrian Peterson.

Going into the 2009 season, Minnesota Vikings fans are hoping for more success from the coach whose overall record of 24-24 seems to get in the way of the fact that with each season, the team gets better.

The win column increases, the losses go down, and now the Vikings are once again contenders in the NFC North.

Many have criticized Brad Childress though, for his lack of variety when it comes to his play calling, exclaiming that he calls the same plays with no mix up or use of the talent on the roster.

That's one of the key factors for the Vikings' success in 2009.

If head coach Brad Childress utilizes the talented roster he has in front of him, now adding the explosive Florida Wide receiver Percy Harvin, and can use his talent and craft, there will be no doubt in anyone's mind that the Vikings can be successful.

Childress has had three years of experience and talent to surround himself and his staff with. 

Now is the opportunity for Brad Childress and the Minnesota Vikings to make a path to success and a respectable record worthy of a Super Bowl championship.