You knew that somebody, somewhere was going to cast a line for the Big Tuna as soon as he escaped Miami.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune speculates that the Vikings may be interested in Bill Parcells as soon as they fire Brad Childress if they decide to part ways with Brad Childress at the end of the year.

A reporter from the Palm Beach Post saw an advance copy of the NFL Network film about Bill Parcells that will debut tonight. In it Parcells makes it clear that at the age of 69 he isn’t ready to ride off into the sunset.

“Get me back out there,” Parcells says. “I can do this one more time. That’s how I feel.”

Well, isn’t that interesting. Parcells most recently worked as a consultant for the Miami Dolphins and last coached in 2006 with the Dallas Cowboys. He is best remembered, however, for winning two Super Bowls as coach of the New York Giants.

That is the same organization that Zygi Wilf has a huge fan of before he bought the Vikings in 2005. Already many have connected the dots that Wilf might be interested in bringing Parcells to Minnesota.

Zulgad goes on to note that Wilf has been more than satisfied with the job president of player personnel Rick Spielman and vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski have done. Thus, it’s not even certain that Wilf would want to bring in Parcells. But there’s no doubt it’s an interesting thought.

True-blue Giants fans love themselves some Parcells. The man can do no wrong and if Wilf still bleeds “Big Blue,” then he’s going to have at least a faint interest in hiring Parcells (especially after Childress gets done making a mess of everything this season).

Will everything come together? Who knows – again, this is just speculation on Zulgad’s part. There needs to be more to this than, “Wilf was a Giants fan so surely he’ll be interested in Parcells.” But it’s not difficult to connect the dots here.

Zygi Wilf still isn’t considering a coaching change in Minnesota, but he can’t be too pleased with the effort his team gave in Chicago on Sunday.

With their 27-13 loss to the Bears, the Vikings are now 3-6 on the year but Wilf is still reluctant to make a coaching change at the moment. That’s not to say that he won’t change his mind, but Childress’ job seems safe at the moment.

Wilf endured another turnoverfest in Chicago, as the Vikings committed four turnovers in the loss. The Bears let them hang around for a while, but Brett Favre wanted nothing to with the opportunities he was given and Minnesota eventually succumbed to defeat.

Devin Hester had himself a game, as he scored on a 19-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter, returned a punt 42 yards later in the quarter and also returned a 68-yard kickoff in the third. He wanted to be more of a factor in the return game this season and he has been.

Somehow Jay Cutler wasn’t sacked the entire game, which is an embarrassment for the Vikings. The Bears’ offensive line has been horrendous all season, but they came up big against a Minnesota pass rush that has suddenly disappeared. Granted, Cutler moved around the pocket well and kept plays alive with his feet, but Chicago’s O-line deserves credit for coming to play.

With the win, the Bears are tied for first place in the division with the Packers, who were idle this week. The two teams will square off in Green Bay on the final week of the season, so things are shaping up for a great finish in the NFC North.

It might take a Super Bowl win this season for Brad Childress to save his job in Minnesota. And even then…

A couple of anonymous players expressed their dislike for Childress to former Vikings beat writer Sean Jensen (who now covers the Bears for the Chicago Sun-Times). One player even stated that he hates his head coach.

”We know that Childress doesn’t have our backs, so why should we have his?” one player said. ”We’re playing for us, and we’re winning despite him.”

”As much as I hate Childress,” another player said, ”I will keep playing.”

Obviously I’m not inside the Vikings’ locker room day in and day out, so I’m only observer of the situation. But it appears to me that Childress’ biggest problem is that he doesn’t know how to mange people.

When he gets frustrated or he doesn’t have control of a situation, he thinks that he’s motivating a player by calling them out. But he hasn’t earned their respect so when he does that, he only winds up pissing them off. He doesn’t have the faintest idea on how to mange personalities like Favre or Moss, so he winds up alienating them (or flat out getting rid of them, as was the case with Moss) and they turn their backs on him.

The other problem is that Childress doesn’t think things through. He acts on impulse and says whatever is on his mind, which winds up biting him in the ass. He also thinks he’s smarter than everyone and that he can do whatever he wants (i.e. waive Moss, go down to Mississippi to pull Favre off a tractor, etc.) because the Vikings are his team. But all he’s doing is rubbing people the wrong way.

The only reason this man still has a job is because owner Zygi Wilf hasn’t given up on the season yet and doesn’t want to make a big change. Once he does, Childress will be in the unemployment line faster than Randy Moss was run out of town.

Do you know that guy that can’t help but to say stupid things at the most inopportune times? The guy that’s trying to be funny but everything comes out wrong and he only winds up looking like an idiot?

I think Brad Childress is that guy.

Following the Vikings’ dramatic come-from-behind win over the Cardinals on Sunday (a game in which Brett Favre threw for a career-high in yardage and rallied Minnesota from two touchdowns down in the fourth quarter), Childress took the opportunity to poke fun at his aging quarterback.

Asked if he wanted any assurances from owner Zygi Wilf that he would be retained as the Vikings’ head coach for the remainder of the season, Childress said, “No, I’m not going to stand her like Brett Favre and tell you, compassionate, I need a hug. I’m all right.”

Childress’ comment was referring to Favre’s answer to a question on Wednesday in which the quarterback joking said, “Is [Childress] compassionate as in give us a hug or something? Boy, I sure could use one, too.”

Granted, Childress was only taking a stab at some lighthearted humor but a) it wasn’t funny and b) it didn’t make sense to anyone who didn’t hear Favre’s original comment. So Childress came off sounding like a jerk just moments after Favre essentially saved his job with that thrilling victory.

At the end of the day, what Childress said wasn’t a big deal. But this is a man who waived Randy Moss without anyone (most notably Wilf) knowing, was booed by his home crowd when he stepped on the field for pre-game warm ups, then needed Favre to orchestrate a come-from-behind win against a lousy Arizona team and yet he found it appropriate to make a joke at his quarterback’s expense following the game. Just shut up already and be thankful you still have a job.

Leave it to Brett Favre to swoop in and play hero when everything around him is falling apart.

Lord Favre has stolen most of the headlines this season in Minnesota, from his Jenn Sterger junk mail scandal to his eroding play. But thanks to Brad Childress’ decision to waive Randy Moss before running the idea past his owner, as well as almost coming to blows with Percy Harvin on Friday, Favre had an opportunity to put the spotlight back on him (uh, in a positive way) and he ran with it.

In his 293rd career start, Favre threw for 446 yards (a career high) and completed 77% of his passes in the Vikings’ 27-24 come-from-behind win over the Cardinals on Sunday. Trailing 24-10 with roughly three and a half minutes in the game, Favre engineered two touchdown drives to tie the score at 24-24 and then helped the Vikings win in overtime on a 35-yard Ryan Longwell field goal.

In typical Favre fashion, there were plenty of fist pumps, hugs and “He sure does have fun out there, doesn’t he!” moments. I’m not the biggest Favre fan, but it’s hard not to be impressed when he puts together one of these performances. Given his age (82) and the amount of issues he’s had this season with injuries and poor play, it’s still amazing when he does what he did on Sunday.

Of course, not even a little Favre magic will save Childress’ job. He’s fortunate his team rallied for victory against a bad Arizona team, but he’s not out of the woods yet. Zygi Wilf isn’t pleased with Childress in wake of the Moss fiasco and once the euphoria from the come-from-behind win wears off, he’ll remember that he still has a clown for a head.

It’s only one player – a receiver, mind you. And even though this particular receiver caught 83 passes for 1,312 yards and eight touchdowns last season, he’s still only a receiver.

The Vikings can get by without Sidney Rice, who has elected to undergo hip surgery and is expected to miss half of the regular season. They still have Adrian Peterson, a solid offensive line, an excellent defense and an above average linebacker corps. And even though Rice was a huge part of their offense last season, Brett Favre has a habit of turning previously no-named receivers into Pro Bowlers.

Just look at Rice himself.

But even though the Vikings made it to the NFC Championship Game last season with practically the same roster, does anyone else get the sense that this team is in store for a freefall this year?

Favre is another year older and is coming off ankle surgery. Rice is out until midseason. Percy Harvin’s migraines are already holding him back. Peterson presumably still has fumbling issues. Versatile backup Chester Taylor is in Chicago. The secondary still has question marks. Etc.

Oh yeah, and Brad Childress is still in charge.

Even before Rice was hurt, I liked the Packers’ chances more than I did the Vikings. Assuming their offensive line holds up, they seem to be a more complete football team right now than the Vikings, whom everyone will be gunning for this season after they ripped apart the competition last year. That’s not to say that Minnesota isn’t a playoff contender because it is. I just don’t get the sense that this team is built to hold up for an entire 16-game season.

Again, Rice is only one player and I’m certainly not suggesting that because he’s out that the Vikings will crumble. But does anyone have more confidence in them right now than the Saints, Cowboys or Packers? I could see the Vikes racing out to a decent start but fading down the stretch. And I have zero faith in Childress to keep everything together.

According to a report by Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, one of the reasons Brett Favre contemplated not returning this season was because of Vikings’ head coach Brad Childress.

Multiple sources told Cole that Childress doesn’t have much respect from his players, particularly from Favre. “Brett thinks Childress has no clue about offense,” a Vikings player told Cole.

The sources told Cole that the mere existence of Childress was one of the reasons Favre might not have returned this season. Favre told some of his teammates in early July that he was probably going to return, Cole reports, but then his interest went down after Childress visited him July 19.

“Brett just doesn’t trust him,” a player told Cole.

It’s been a widespread rumor that Childress doesn’t have respect from his players and this report strengthens that case. While it’s important to remember that this was an anonymous source within Minnesota’s locker room and therefore it should probably be taken with a grain of salt, this news runs parallel to other reports that have stated that players aren’t fans of Childress.

Here are a couple of nuggets to chew on:

– Favre and Childress went toe-to-toe on the sidelines last year in a very public shouting match, so it’s not surprising to read that Brett doesn’t trust his head coach.

– It’s been widely speculated that the reason long-time center Matt Birk left Minnesota last year to sign with Baltimore was because of his disdain for Childress, who put together a tacky press release upon Birk’s departure.

– Childress has taken flack for the way he has handled the Favre situation as it pertains to Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels.

Yesterday I wrote an article titled, “Two reasons why Brett Favre and the Vikings won’t win a Super Bowl.” One of the two reasons I listed was Brad Childress, who I feel as though will never be a Super Bowl-winning head coach and who will always hold the Vikings back.

Apparently I’m not alone in that sentiment.