Mike McCarthy firing signals an organizational wake up call in Green Bay
It happened late Sunday night. Breaking news: Mike McCarthy fired as head coach of the Packers. It was the first time since the 1950’s that Green Bay had fired a head coach before the season was over. It was a much needed albeit tough decision to make. McCarthy was and still is the most successful NFC North head coach in the modern era. 125-76-2 in 13 seasons, 4 NFC championship games, 6 NFC North championships, 8 straight playoff appearances from 2009-’16, and one Super Bowl title (2010).
The biggest reason why he was fired wasn’t because of his resume as a head coach or his overall record in Green Bay. It was because of his inability to adapt to the modern day NFL. He continued to use the same scheme he used in 2010 in today’s NFL. To his detriment, it cost him his job. Over the past two seasons, Green Bay has gone a combined 11-16-1 (.411 win percentage).
Now, to sit here and say that Mike McCarthy wasn’t or isn’t a successful NFL head coach would be blasphemous. He is a very successful head coach but ended up wearing out his welcome in Green Bay. I can say with 100% certainty that he won’t be out of a job for very long. He will end up serving as a great head coach for whichever team decides to pull the trigger and nab him. The biggest candidate for his services seem to be the Cleveland Browns, who have ties with Green Bay’s executive staff. Former execs for Green Bay Eliot Wolf as well as Alonzo Highsmith were hired as the assistant GM and VP of football operations, respectively.
Both CEO Mark Murphy as well as GM Brian Gutekunst know how attractive of a job this is. This change will not happen immediately. It’s going to take some in depth evaluation and interviewing to determine the right head coach for the organization. Both of them want what’s best for the organization and want to start winning super bowls once again and put the title back in “Title Town”. Aaron Rodgers will definitely have input on the decision but won’t be a definitive factor in the decision. They also said they will end up waiting to make the change until after the season ends.
It makes total sense to wait considering that the interim head coach Joe Philbin could potentially be a candidate depending on how well he coaches the team in the remaining four games. The standards this season and within the organization were definitely not met and this is a decision that will affect the organization both now and well into the future. There is a “preliminary list” of potential candidates for the vacancy according to both Murphy and Gutekunst. They both were asked about specific traits they’ll be looking for in the candidates to which they replied that won’t be divulging into that as far as the candidates are concerned. They are only looking for the perfect person to represent the organization both professionally and ethically.
The bottom line here is that the reason why the firing happened now instead of after the season was because of the way Green Bay has been playing as of late and the Cardinal game Sunday was the proverbial nail in the coffin for McCarthy. It was time to move on. The nature of the NFL is to adapt and overcome but with McCarthy as head coach, he hasn’t adapted and in turn, hasn’t overcome the deficiencies of the team as well as the schemes offensively. I’m happy that they did it when they did and am looking forward to seeing how the new head coach works with the team as a whole as well as within the organization. I have 100% confidence that both Gutekunst and Murphy will end up hiring the ideal candidate for the job. This indeed was an organizational wake up call that will hopefully lead to major changes in philosophy and all around team play.
#ParkerMoes @ParkerMoes #DHPF @DieHardPackrFan
