From the moment in midseason last year when Browns president Mike Holmgren said an offensive coordinator would be added to Pat Shurmur's coaching staff so Shurmur could concentrate on delegating duties as head coach, Brad Childress became a leading candidate for the job.

It took nearly four weeks after the final game to put everything in place, but in the end the job did go to Childress, who began his coaching career as the running backs coach at the University of Illinois in 1978.