EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — One of the few knocks on new Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress is that he rarely called plays as Philadelphia's offensive coordinator.

Childress expects to put those concerns to rest now that he's a head coach.

After being hired to replace the fired Mike Tice on Friday, Childress said he will call his own plays with the Vikings and bring the West Coast offense he helped implement in Philadelphia to Minnesota.

"I'll have a coordinator, but I'll call the plays," the 49-year-old Childress said Friday after signing a five-year guaranteed contract.

Eagles head coach Andy Reid did the vast majority of the playcalling in Philadelphia, though he occasionally handed the duties over to Childress, who did most of the work installing the offense and working up the game plans.

With quarterback Donovan McNabb and versatile running back Brian Westbrook, the Eagles spread the field and, when receiver Terrell Owens was in uniform, became a big-play offense. Childress sees some similar tools available with the Vikings.

"I think what West Coast allows you to do is be able to use your talent," Childress said. "Whether it is two tight ends and one back, two wide receivers, or if you feel like you want to stick four wide receivers out on the field, I think we have the flexibility to do that."

Of course, it starts with the quarterback.

Daunte Culpepper missed most of last season because of a knee injury and Brad Johnson filled in for the rest of the year, leading the Vikings to a 7-2 finish.

Having advanced to the NFC title game four straight seasons, Childress coached both Johnson and Culpepper in the Pro Bowl, so there is some familiarity.

Childress said he remembers working out McNabb and Culpepper before the 1999 NFL draft and thought Culpepper was "a very, very close second in our minds."

"He fits right in with all the things we're doing," he said.

The biggest question is whether Culpepper will be fully recovered next season after tearing all three major ligaments in his knee.

"He's made significant, significant progress here in just six weeks," Childress said.

Johnson has been fairly vocal in saying he wants to start and would have difficulty taking a backup role again.

"I always believed a guy doesn't lose his job to injury," the coach said. "Daunte, right now, is the franchise quarterback. He's the guy."

Having seen how successful the Eagles have been in recent seasons, 2005 not included, the Vikings are excited to see what Childress has in store for them.

Running back Mewelde Moore said he can't help but be enthusiastic after seeing how Childress used Westbrook.

"I'm trying to be calm," Moore said. "I am excited, very excited."

Moore ran the West Coast offense in college at Tulane and said he's comfortable carrying the ball or catching it out of the backfield.

Childress will also have to help decide the fate of running back Onterrio Smith, who was suspended last season for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

"He's got a clean slate with me," Childress said. "I don't have any preconceived notions. We'll sit down and find out where he's at."

A lifelong assistant, Childress started at Illinois in 1978. He was the quarterbacks coach for Indianapolis in 1985 before holding assistant positions with Northern Arizona, Utah and Wisconsin. Childress joined the Eagles as quarterbacks coach in 1999, and became the offensive coordinator in 2002.

"Coach Childress was the elite NFL head coaching candidate," Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said. "He embodies class, character and discipline and is a great family man. Bottom line, Brad Childress is a winner."

Minnesota also interviewed defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell, Kansas City assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Al Saunders and Indianapolis assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell.

Childress inherits a team that had plenty of off-the-field distractions for most of Tice's four full seasons as coach.

In 2005 alone, the Vikings had to deal with Tice being fined $100,000 for scalping Super Bowl tickets; running back Onterrio Smith being suspended for the season for substance abuse and being caught at the airport with "The Original Whizzinator," a device used to beat drug tests; and the now-infamous boat party on Lake Minnetonka that brought misdemeanor charges against four players.

"The most important thing to me is that people do the right thing," Childress said. "If it's good for you and right — do it and do it with great vigor and enthusiasm. If it's bad for you — jump away from it like it's hot lava."