Eden Prairie, Minn. ? Surrendering control of the defense worked well for Brad Childress in his first season as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. So he will do that again in 2007.

Leslie Frazier became the first assistant to leave Indianapolis on Thursday when he accepted the job as defensive coordinator of the Vikings.

A special assistant to Colts coach Tony Dungy and also in charge of the team’s defensive backs, Frazier couldn’t interview for the position until after the Super Bowl. But Childress was willing to wait for someone with a diverse background and a strong familiarity with the Tampa Cover 2 scheme run primarily by Minnesota under Mike Tomlin this past season.

A couple of rings, including one won by Frazier as a player in 1986 with Chicago, didn’t hurt, either. Though Tomlin was here for only one year before he became Pittsburgh’s head coach last month, Childress wasn’t concerned that Frazier also aspires to eventually run his own team.

Frazier was Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator in 2003 and 2004, but was fired by coach Marvin Lewis following problems the Bengals had stopping the run and preventing big gains. Lewis presided over some of the league’s best defenses as a coordinator, so it was difficult – according to Frazier – for him to hand over some decision-making go and give Frazier room to make his own impact.