I think Mike McCarthy is a good coach.
He’s a leader of men who motivated his team and has them ready for big games. He developed Aaron Rodgers, he architected the 2011 offense, and yes, he brought home an improbable Super Bowl win in 2010.
Now, I’m not gonna play the “how many rings would Rodgers have won” because I think they got booted from the playoffs every year since through the players on the field, not the coaching.
I’m also not going to do the play-calling critique because we don’t know what gets called, we don’t know what gets audibled, we don’t know what in-play adjustments were made, and, let’s face it: there’s a whole team trying to stop it.
But when I step back and look at the big picture, things just aren’t clicking.
We blamed it on injuries, we blamed it on Capers and now neither of those are really an issue, but…
3-4-1.
Yeah, they’ve had some good teams to play against, but game to game, this just doesn’t feel like a team that has it.
Do I think it’s McCarthy’s fault?
Heck no.
Look at the fumbles the last two weeks – that’s not on Mike. Neither are the stupid penalties – players make penalties, not coaches.
It’s just an overall feel… and it doesn’t feel good.
Yesterday, I talked about how it may be time for a new coach. I’m ready for what is feeling like an inevitable McCarthy firing this offseason.
But then what?
Here’s Where It Gets Hard
I’m not sold that a new coach will solve everything.
Who will be the next coach?
Remember how reigning Super Bowl champion Doug Pederson coaches like he has something to prove? Throw caution to the wind and go for it on 4th, call a trick play in the Super Bowl, and all that and he wins it all!
But throwing caution to the wind, coaching like you have something to prove, doesn’t automatically guarantee success. After all, Pederson’s predecessor threw caution to the wind and coached like he had something to prove.
How’d that work out for Chip Kelley?
He was fired by two teams in a 12 month span, spent a year in the booth, then went back to college.
It happens all the time. Guys make it to the head coaching ranks and are quickly exposed as guys who should have never made it to the head coaching ranks.
There’s another problem with bringing in a new coach.
If you bring in that new fresh face, the next Sean McVay or Doug Pederson, do you think Aaron Rodgers will listen to him?
Doug Pederson wasn’t half the QB that Rodgers is.
Sean McVay isn’t even as old as Rodgers is!
Rodgers is the man. He freelances, he audibles, he makes up plays. You want to see him rebel? Bring in some first-time head coach and add the slightest hint of imperfection and watch what happens.
Ok, then bring in a veteran coach instead.
Who?
For every Andy Reid veteran coaching switch, there’s a dozen John Foxes and Jon Grudens.
Which one are we gonna get?
Who knows.
Not to mention the fact that veteran coaches that are doing really well probably aren’t going to be available. Do you really want to get a veteran coach that just got fired for not performing?
There’s also the matter of Mike Pettine. He’s proven (and stated) he isn’t a head coach, but he sure is a d#mn fine defensive coordinator.
Is the new head coach gonna want to bring in his own DC?
Let’s say we get an offensive minded coach who agrees to keep Pettine. Let’s take a great offensive coordinator like, oh, I don’t know, Josh McDaniels.
Whoops.
That didn’t work so well last time, did it?
What if the new head coach keeps Pettine, how will Pettine react when he has those “I wouldn’t do that” moments, remembering the mistakes he made as a head coach?
Will that introduce more locker room turmoil? How will the players respond? We live in the era of entitlement, where guys retire at halftime – these millennial players can’t all handle the stress of coaches arguing.
It’s a tough place to be in.
I’m all for a coaching change, but I’m not at all optimistic that it will fix everything.
If it takes a few years to work out the kinks in the head coaching ranks, you’re left with a 38 year old franchise quarterback.
This isn’t a decision to be taken lightly, certainly not with a ridiculous “well literally anybody would be better than McCarthy” attitude.
It takes time and planning and it leads to a lot of uncertainty.