Wow.
GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers relieved coach Mike McCarthy of his duties after a 20-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals at Lambeau Field dropped the club to 4-7-1 on the season.
McCarthy is the first coach in the history of the franchise to be fired before the end of a full season.
“The 2018 season has not lived up to the expectations and standards of the Green Bay Packers. As a result, I made the difficult decision to relieve Mike McCarthy of his role as head coach, effective immediately,” Packers president and chief executive officer Mark Murphy said in a statement released by the team.
“Mike has been a terrific head coach and leader of the Packers for 13 seasons, during which time we experienced a great deal of success on and off the field. We want to thank Mike, his wife, Jessica, and the rest of the McCarthy family for all that they have done for the Packers and the Green Bay and Wisconsin communities. We will immediately begin the process of selecting the next head coach of the Green Bay Packers.”
Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin was named the interim head coach.
I think everyone assumed that McCarthy would not be the head coach of the Packers next year. It is time for a change. But to fire him in the middle of the season was a classless move by the Packers. I have no doubt that he will land a new head coaching job very shortly, and I have equally little doubt that the Packers made this move without having a real replacement in mind. Great… you fired the coach, Murphy… now what?
And frankly, looking at the game today, McCarthy didn’t lose the game. The players did. They played like crap. Specifically, Aaron Rodgers played like crap. And when it was the 4th quarter and the Packers were a touchdown behind, Rodgers was sitting on the bench in his big coat shooting the breeze with another player. He wasn’t engaged. He wasn’t fired up. He wasn’t leading. He was pouting.
It’s a bad day for the Packers organization, and it has nothing to do with the outcome of the game.
This game was on the players, WRs dropping balls, Rodgers missing passes, Def missing tackles. But Rodgers has seemingly been checked out for a few weeks, and that is on McCarthy.
I didn’t expect the midseason firing, but you have to show the players that it won’t be tolerated. I think this was a move to appease them. He lost the locker room and paid the price. He will be a good coach for a younger QB next year.
I’m surprised as well to see MM gone before the season was over, but the locker room had soured on him, he and 12 were feuding, and injuries were mounting on both sides of the ball. But a lot of the blame falls on Ted Thompson as well. Look at the miserable drafts in the last 6-8 years. It’s hard to win with second and third tier talent.
When your front office cuts your most viable and experienced receiver to save a few bucks and gain cap space to sign two mediocre veterans, gives you barely second-tier running backs, 3rd-string recievers, and an absolutely absent defense, the blame does belong to the coach. I get Rodgers’ apathy. The office rats have been wasting him just like they wasted Favre.
While McCarthy’s play calling has been suspect, and his time management has always sucked, a coach with his record deserved to finish out the season.
I agree with Owen. This was a shit move.
Agreed that Murphy’s move was class-less. But it was telegraphed a few weeks ago when they dumped the other two.
However, the management can’t fire the team and someone has to take the hit; it’s always the coach.
McC is a classy guy, a solid citizen, and a success. He’ll be fine. Rodgers is acting like a spoiled brat. That may make it very difficult to get a Class A coach next year.
McCarthy was garbage all season. First drive today was 3rd and ten and he takes the ball out of Rodgers hands and calls a run up the middle. The punt on 4th and short didn’t help. He has had Aaron Rodgers for his entire career and made it to one Super Bowl. Yes, they could have waited a few weeks, but McCarthy seemed like he had already given up. There is probably more to this than we are seeing. I would suggest letting Aaron pick the next coach.
Meh. McCarthy rode his pound-a-square-peg-in-a-round-hole coaching philosophy quite awhile and probably should have been canned in last season’s house cleaning.
Correction: “the blame does belong to the coach.”. s/b “…does NOT belong to the coach.”
[damn iPad]
The team quit on him . The Packers were 13 point favorites against the worst NFL offense in the league and the defense let the Cardinals convert on a 3rd and 23 when they had to make a stop against a rookie QB and a line that didn’t have 200 NFL snaps among the 5 prior to the game ..
As for Rogers , there are 29 teams who would take him in a heartbeat . Yeah , he missed sone throws this year but he’s throwing to rookie receivers , a way past his prime TE and playing behind an offensive line that is an injury turnstile .
As for the firing , why subject a good man to 4 games of fan’s screaming for his head . He was gone at he end of the year anyway and He gets paid $9 million if he stays home next year .
When the team quits listening , you move on . The NFL is a business ( as cut throat as any ) .
As some one said , you can’t fire the team .