Good post from Rob Demovsky on Mike McCarthy's less-than-thrilled take on what is sure to be a truncated offseason once the NFL and the Players Association agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.

From Demovsky:

McCarthy installs his entire system – offense, defense and special teams – during the offseason program, OTAs and minicamp so that by the time the players report to training camp after a month-long break, everything has already been presented to them and has already been repped in an 11-on-11 setting.

Training camp is merely a review, and more time can be spent on evaluating players rather than teaching them.

“I don’t know what goes on at the other 31 teams; all I know is those practices are important,” McCarthy said. “That time in the classroom is very important because when you have the opportunity to have everything in when you leave at the end of June, when those players go to that rookie symposium (before training camp), those rookies, that football team has seen everything. This is it guys, we’re not adding anything. They’ve had everything.

“Now my deal is you’ve got the four weeks off or whatever, and then you come back and it’s time to compete for a job and compete for a roster spot. I’ve always thought that way as a coordinator and as a quarterback coach because at the end of the day, that man’s competing for a job on your football team. So I’d want to know what the deal is. I don’t want to be learning new plays in training camp. Some people do it that way already, so that’s fine. I don’t agree with that. I’ve done it this way. I think it works. I think there’s a vulnerability particularly to the younger player, when you don’t have the time in May and June to get them ready for training camp because training camp is different. Let’s not lose that. I think the younger player is going to be limited with less opportunity to get trained.”

I think McCarthy is being a typical coach here. He's done it this way, has been successful this way and is loathe to mess up what is working. That's just how coaches are, especially in today's NFL.

McCarthy knows he's fighting a losing battle here. One of the concessions the owners are sure to make is giving back offseason time to the players (indeed a shortened offseason period was part of the proposal that was on the table when talks ended)

I'm here to tell Mike that its going to be ok.

I've long maintained that the NFL offseason is a glorified babysitting service. Clubs like to keep guys where they can control their workouts and schedules  - and of course get the type of work done McCarthy is talking about above.

But the fact is that teams don't need so many offseason sessions to accomplish what they need to accomplish. I know a lot of people like to say "Lombardi never saw his guys in the offseason" but there's a much more recent example to draw from, namely the previous Super Bowl champions.

Here's a telling quote from Sean Payton from the recently completed owners meetings, courtesy of Jeff Duncan who covers the Saints for the Times-Picayune:

We’ve never been one, if you look at our history, we’ve never utilized all of our OTAs. In other words, we’ve never used 14 since I’ve been here. We’ve always hovered around 11 or 12 with one of them might being a team-building activity. We’ve never reported to camp technically (on the earliest report date). I’ve always looked at training camp as two weeks, play a preseason game. Three weeks…There’s just a process. Certainly that could be shorter and you’d function and you’d go. What’s most important is, I believe, the strength and the stamina that lead up to. In other words, two weeks we could start off and play a game and yet what are the ramifications from an injury standpoint in regards to the health of. Those are the challenges and concerns. I thint that’s the biggest thing. When I was a younger coach, the offseason you wanted to do more than just weights and running. You wanted to do pass routes and all these other things with the OTAs. I valued the running and lifting more and more as I got older than maybe I did when I was younger for the team, separate from the coaches. That time of the year when they’re getting their bodies ready for a long season.

Now I'm not saying "McCarthy has to copy Payton". Far from it. What I am saying is that losing some of the offseason sessions won't be the detriment McCarthy makes it out to be, especially in relation to what he cites with younger players. The core of his roster is maturing and needs less time for install than they may have the last two or three years. Younger players will need to be brought along by veterans a bit more but overall a truncated offseason shouldn't be any real hindrance to McCarthy's plans.