McCarthy Critics Have All But Been Silenced
Finally, the calls for Mike McCarthy's firing have stopped... at least temporarily.
Following the back-to-back losses to the Detroit Lions and New England Patriots, I felt like a lightening rod for Mike McCarthy criticism.
He's should be fired after the season, they'd say. Or he'll never guide the Packers to the Super Bowl.
After two straight wins in pseudo-playoff games, must-win games against the New York Giants and Chicago Bears, I think the McCarthy doubters have gone into hibernation. A few will probably come out if and when the Packers lose in the playoffs, but I think most will sleep away the offseason.
McCarthy dropped this bomb during today's press conference, which is Exhibit A on why he deserves to stick around as head coach of the Green Bay Packers for at least another season:
The injuries came on us so fast. Just meeting with the medical staff before you walk in here, it’s depressing, frankly. Just going back through all of the numbers, 193 starts missed to injuries. I didn’t realize it was that high.
The number is staggering, 193 starts lost due to injury. If the Packers don't win next year, with most of the important pieces under contract and set to come back, then I could possibly understand McCarthy's job being on the line.
But what he's done in the face of adversity of this season, to take the group of players he's been given and mold them into a playoff squad, that's nothing short of remarkable.
McCarthy has now qualified for the playoffs in three out of his five seasons including an appearance in the NFC Championship game. He has a five-year record of 48-32, 16 more wins than losses.
He's taken the NFL's most heavily penalized teams in 2009 and made it one of the least penalized in 2010. And he's right up there in turnover ratio as well.
Is Mike McCarthy infallible? Hardly. His playcalling is under scrutinty, and he'll be held accountable for his assistant coaching staff. But I believe he, like his players, will learn from his mistakes and be even better for it next year and years to come.
I've been critical of McCarthy in the past but have come around ten-fold. And to anyone who hasn't come around yet, at least silence your calls until next year.
Comments (66)
Jayme Snowden
January 03, 2011 at 04:18 pm
+1. I've always been on board with you with this one Brian. What McCarthy has done this year has been good coaching, specifically in the past two games.
January 03, 2011 at 04:21 pm
FIRE MCCARTHY!!!
January 03, 2011 at 08:45 pm
I knew I'd see this the moment I saw the headline.
January 04, 2011 at 12:09 pm
I say we fire McCarthy, Ted Thompson, and Aaron Rodgers!! and then see if we can convince Brett Favre to come back!!!
j/k btw
January 03, 2011 at 04:30 pm
I don't know. I still hear my share of grumbling. Even more incomprehensible, some even still complain about Thompson!
Some fans just like to complain, I guess.
January 03, 2011 at 08:38 pm
Darrell Thompson hasn't beem around since the early 90's. These people you speak of need to get a life. I can't believe they are still complaining.
January 03, 2011 at 04:34 pm
If you take the cotton out of your ears, Brian, you just might hear the critics. ;)
McCarthy is not a great head coach.
Brian Carriveau
January 03, 2011 at 04:36 pm
Never said he was. All I'm saying is he doesn't deserve to be fired this year. Any calls for him to be fired are getting beyond ridiculous.
January 03, 2011 at 04:45 pm
Honestly, I think our ability to judge a great coach is fairly limited. He's shown himself adept developing quarterbacks, and he's created a pretty powerful offense, even if it has been inconsistent this year (though it was amazing at the end of last year). For some reason, people seem to complain that, when we win, we win big, and when we lose, we barely lose.
Usually, complaints by fans about coaching boil down to "In this situation, he called X, but I would have called Y," which is really pretty silly if you think about it. Can he make a bad play call? Yes. But I'm going to trust the people who have spent hundreds of hours studying tape of their opponents over people who are half-drunk on their couches watching the game.
I know you all disagree, so go ahead and yell at me...
January 03, 2011 at 04:35 pm
Glad someone had the stones to say what needed to be said. Props, B.
January 03, 2011 at 04:37 pm
As always nice work Brian. The losses on both sides of the ball have been catastrophic; MM, Capers and TT have done a great job of keeping this team together.
I can't help but wonder if the defense is better with Bishop, Pep, Walden, and Zombo over Burnett, Barnett, and Jones. Love Barnett but Bishop is playing out of his mind.
January 03, 2011 at 04:42 pm
I never said he should be fired, but I did make a point mid-year that I didn't think he had gotten much better since he was hired. Looking back now, I'm inclined to think he did an overall good job this year, especially in spite of the injuries. He took a team to the playoffs twice in the three-year "Post-Diva" era.
And this 2010 team that takes the field next week has, I believe, only two holdovers from the Sherman era not on IR (Driver and Clifton). That is no small feat.
January 03, 2011 at 05:39 pm
Jenkins and Wells also.
January 03, 2011 at 04:47 pm
I don't know too many other teams that could have finished with a 10-6 record after putting 15 guys on IR.
January 03, 2011 at 05:07 pm
And those 15 guys on IR tell only part of the injury story. We lost Rodgers for a game and a half (both losses), Jenkins for several games (and played hurt with the cast), Harris never played, Bigby barely played, no Starks for most of the year, Pickett was limited, Matthews missed a game and change. Zombo missed some time.
Just a trainwreck of injuries and we're still standing.
January 03, 2011 at 05:14 pm
I really wish that this was a stat that was calculated and kept for each team. 193 starts missed to injury has to be among the worst, if not the worst, in the league.
January 03, 2011 at 11:02 pm
Adding to this point, if you divide 193 by 16, it comes out to around 12 players missing PER game due to injury. That is HUGE. 22.6% of your 53-man roster missing PER game. Staggering.
Great post by the way Brian.
January 03, 2011 at 05:34 pm
Death to the BCS!
Brian Carriveau
January 03, 2011 at 05:50 pm
I'm with you five zillion % there.
January 03, 2011 at 05:41 pm
No - there's no way the guy should be canned right now.
BUT>>>
I'm still not sure this dude can win us a SB.
If you think he can - then you keep him.
If you don't think he can - then you dump him.
Simple.
I can't answer that question right now because he got dealt a bad hand this season (injuries).
Next year will do a lot for me. If there's a season and if the team stays healthy (knock on wood) then he really has no excuses.
I think the guy's a good coach... just not sure (yet) if he's a SB coach.
January 03, 2011 at 06:05 pm
Too simplistic of a thought process, but I agree with it to some extent.
January 03, 2011 at 06:23 pm
Besides Finely and Grant, it Capers that handled the injuries and was able to put together a defense that not only won games for the Pack, but always put the Packers in a position to win.
MM's offense IMO did not meet expectations a number of times during the season, yet Capers always met expectations and usually exceeded them.
I am saying expectations factoring in the injuried players.
January 03, 2011 at 06:54 pm
Finishing in the top ten in points, yards, 3rd down perentage and TOP despite missing Grant and Finley for almost the entire season is still pretty damn good.
January 03, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Finishing in the top ten of a 32 team league is not that admirable. That is above average territory. Now finishing in the top 5 or 6,, that is pretty good.
January 03, 2011 at 11:57 pm
Although Capers is in charge of the defense, I give McCarthy credit as the head coach for putting Capers in his staff in the first place. I've been critical of McCarthy for continuing to employ Slocum and Campen as assistants b/c they have not shown an ability to develop the players they work with, but Capers has.
I do think it's fair to question who should be calling the plays, but I don't *know* that Philbin or anyone else calling the plays would improve results. I am more inclined to believe a properly coached offensive line (Mr. Campen - that's you!) would give us better results than a switch in play callers.
January 04, 2011 at 12:04 am
I completely agree with that.
The deepest issue in this team is OL. With good (not even great) OL play, MM's playcalling is great, and the inconsistency is gone.
But will MM get rid of Campen? He should've been gone after the 08 season.
There's also the horrenduous ST play to worry about...
I believe we can win a SB, even with MM's shortcomings, if we have solid OL play (which leads to good running game, specially in short yardage).
January 03, 2011 at 06:04 pm
Injuries BS.
There are more injuries on D, and the D plays great every game.
The critics are still here, and their point hasn't been silenced. There are still BIG questions to MM's playcalling when things don't go perfect (a.k.a. running game doesn't work). There are still concerns about preparation. There are still concerns about clock and game management skills.
And there's still big worries about Slocum and Campen, coaches who innexplicably have kept their jobs last season, and whose units performances have been problematic, to say the least, and have cost us games.
McCarthy isn't just responsible for playcalling. He's the head coach, and his duties include coaching hiring and firing. Ultimately, everything but player personel falls on his shoulders.
January 03, 2011 at 06:18 pm
I think we're lucky to have MM, but he's taken WAAAYYYY too long to realize that James Campen isn't teaching our offensive linemen anything.
January 03, 2011 at 07:01 pm
Agreed. I think MM is the offense's biggest obstacle at times. It seems like those guys just aren't ready to play at times. Rarely do they play a full 60.
January 03, 2011 at 09:35 pm
Well said RS. You completely nailed it. Too bad Brian can't hear ya. He just hears crickets.
Brian, if you read this...quick, go to an audiologist! :P
Seriously, MM should be on a short leash after this season. Capers and his staff have shown a lot, MM...not so much.
January 04, 2011 at 12:08 am
Just to make absolutely clear my point, I don't want MM fired after this season. As long as Campen and Slocum are fired, which will mean he has recognized their flaws and has moved on.
But there could always be hope that the OL and ST play will magically improve with such innept coaches. That the ST malaise is actually caused by injuries, and that the talent on the OL is just subpar, and that with better personel it will improve.
Believe me, I really hope we can win a SB with what we are currently employing. But I get frustrated to see such talent go to waste because MM is too slow to make necessary changes.
January 03, 2011 at 06:16 pm
Bottom line, MM's offense did not show up for that game at home with the whole season on the line, yet Smith with nothing to gain, but respect, was able to get his team to play all out.
MM clearly does not have the ability to motivate a team like Smith can. I am not talking about Xs and Os and game plan, but a leader that motivates men.
January 03, 2011 at 06:25 pm
Yep, Smith motivated them all the way to three points and a loss, which is way better than ten points and a win.
If you would rather have Smith (who most Chicago people thought would be fired after this year) than MM, then, wow, I couldn't agree less.
January 03, 2011 at 09:06 pm
I like McCarthy more than Smith but I do think that Smith gets more out of less. Always has.
Even with the injuries the Packers have more impact players...
Rodgers
Jennings
Mathews
Woodson
Raji
Collins
Williams
Hester
Urlacher
Briggs
Peppers
... yet those turds won 11 games and are sitting and resting at home next week.
January 03, 2011 at 06:29 pm
Other teams spent one or two weeks game-planning against the Packers. Lovie has devoted his life to beating us. It's just going to be that way while he's down there. There's nobody he knows better or wants to beat more. And he's a defensive guy, so no surprise he gave our offense trouble.
Furthermore, if 80, 85, 89, and 32 make those catches you're not saying that. And those drops are not on MM.
January 03, 2011 at 09:13 pm
"Other teams spent one or two weeks game-planning against the Packers. Lovie has devoted his life to beating us."
exactly why I'm glad the Packers don't have to play these guys in the playoffs right away.
That cover 2 crap has given the Packers fits since Smith got there.
The way I see it (and I'm no Paul Ott Caruth) to beat that defense you have to be disciplined and patient (both things that the Pack struggles with at times) and/or you need to have an effective running game so those ILB's can't just drop back 15 yards and take away the middle of the field... again something the Packers lack.
January 03, 2011 at 06:21 pm
I can think of 5 current head coaches who have won Super Bowls. Belichick is the only one I would take over MM and I don't see NE letting him go (and despite the loss MM completely out-coached him in the NE game). Of the two retired SB-winning coaches who might want back in (Cowher and Gruden), MM wins that interview too. MM has a better offensive mind than Cowher and Capers is better defensively. Gruden put together the worst SB-winning offense of my lifetime. Defensively, the nod obviously goes to Capers again here too.
So, all of you FIRE MM!!! guys need to tell us who you want to replace him and why or shut the hell up. Either that or convince us why TT should gamble away a really good thing on the unlikely possibility that the Packers could maybe get 3% better, why it's worth another losing season or two while a new coaching staff and system in installed, and how that's good team management.
At somewhere around .595, MM has one of the highest winning percentages among current head coaches. And one thing no one ever talks about is his ability to develop talent. TT has drafted amazingly well, but that's not all there is to establishing depth on a roster. You have to develop your talent. Who in your lifetime has done that better then MM? We're heading into the playoffs with the most depleted roster I've ever seen and I'm not afraid of anybody. I'm not guaranteeing a SB, but this bunch of no-names looks as good as anyone in the league right now.
Who the hell is Erik Walden?
January 03, 2011 at 09:01 pm
If McCarthy wins a SB then you're right.
If he doesn't then you're wrong.
Who would I want instead of McCarthy?
Anyone who can win a SB.
How the hell am I supposed to know who that is?
January 04, 2011 at 12:48 am
Then why don't you leave the decisions on who should get fired to the people who are supposed to know who that is?
Seriously, I don't understand people that cry out for coaching changes and then throw up their hands when you ask, "Change to whom?" Every single SB winning coach was at one time a non-SB winning coach. Cowher took how long, 15 years?
C'mon, people. Lombardi trophies don't grown on trees waiting for your GM to make one right move.
January 04, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Two Jet Winston. You win. Hell of a comment right there.
January 04, 2011 at 01:24 pm
Right On, TJW!
January 03, 2011 at 06:30 pm
MM keeps his job because he is not a total douche bag, yet he at times has some glaring faults.
That said, I absolutely loved the way he called his last playoff game, he went all out. He does that again along with Caper's Defense this year, the Pack is Super Bowl bound.
Go Pack Go
January 03, 2011 at 06:30 pm
There are a lot of coaches out there that would have had the same success, or more, with the depth that Ted Thompson has provided. I'm NOT on the "Fire MM" bandwagon, but I think Ted Thompson deserves most of the credit for the success of this team.
January 03, 2011 at 07:32 pm
Really? Because the way I see it the coaches have nobodies like Erik Walden, Howard Green and Frank Zombo playing like borderline pro bowlers but you only want to give TT credit?
January 03, 2011 at 09:24 pm
I like those pickups, but Walden had one good game, and Zombo was a decent backup linebacker forced into a starting role. "Borderline probowlers" is borderline ridiculous.
January 04, 2011 at 01:32 am
lmaoo borderline pro bowlers... you sound like a giant packer fan boy... i know your a packer fan but do u watch other football teams? no one in the world would say greene walden or zombo were anything close to "pro bowl" caliber i put that in " " because sometimes players that deserve it dont go but really man... the offensive line focuses on raji and matthews... zombo and walden and greene are going to get openings... they are nfl caliber players.. theyll make some plays every once in a while lmao
January 04, 2011 at 12:49 pm
You people are all reading too much into what I said as "borderline pro bowlers" What I am trying to say is they have all had great game when the time came for them to do so.
I guess I should have said if their performance was carried out for the whole season....
So you are telling me that Waldens 11 tackle 2 sack performance wasnt borderline pro bowl material? If carried out for a whole season? That is the same type of play that we have gotten from Zombo to a lesser extent and Green.
January 04, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Oh and btw I played college football and semi-pro. I also grew up in Green Bay which leads me to believe that I know a thing or two about football. So maybe you should read what I said next time. I said those players where playing like something, not that they are something.
January 03, 2011 at 07:27 pm
Brian, my take for several years now is the McCarthy does not do enough during game time to give the Packers an edge. He repeats mistakes to a fault, is slow to make adjustments when things aren't working and worst of all, he has cost the Packers games with his awful clock management. There are at least 2, arguably 3 losses this year we can attribute to screwing up the clock management in crunch time.
Despite all that, I've never really asked for him to be fired, but just for him to have a true OC to delegate some of his game-time responsibilities to. He's trying to do too much. Greg Bedard, now that he can talk freely, has made this point as well. McCarthy simply needs some help - but he's too stubborn to see that.
I believe MM has improved tremendously in the leadership/motivation department. The difference in his attitude is very evident this season. I'm elated about that. That was always another complaint, and now I can scratch that one off my list.
Now if we can get the clock managed properly during games, we wouldn't have to be sweating out the last game of the season for a chance to make the playoffs. We would have clinched a few weeks ago.
January 03, 2011 at 10:03 pm
which losses are you thinking of?
January 03, 2011 at 07:49 pm
Totally agree JerseyAl. I don't see anyone out there I would like to see running the Pack. But, McCarthy sure seems to commit the same mistakes and try the same things in certain situations over and over again. I really do think he needs to give control of the offense to someone else and manage the gave from the sideline. He has a headset and can still call for a play if he wants.
January 03, 2011 at 08:43 pm
Hypothetical ..... GB has a lackluster performance in Philly & loses 7-3 ..... Is everything still hunky-dory ???
Kudos to MM for leading the Pack into the playoffs under adverse conditions but the identity of this team is its defense & I have a feeling that Dom Capers is pretty much calling the shots in that area .....
MM has to be around as HC in 2011 if just to find out if all the injuries really played as big a part of season 2010 as everyone likes to think .... Losing 6 games by 4 points or less still bothers me even with the injuries ......
However, at this point, if AR plays lights-out & the defense remains as it has, avenging an earlier loss to NE would be sweet.
January 03, 2011 at 08:44 pm
Very nice. Good article Brian.
January 04, 2011 at 12:11 am
Whoever has put on the edit button, THANK YOU! I'm gonna guess Corey, but if I'm wrong excuse me.
But THANK YOU. I can now correct my dumbness.
January 04, 2011 at 12:47 am
MM fired a groundskeeper. Fire MM.
January 04, 2011 at 12:56 am
McCarthy is a better than average coach with conservative play calling tendencies who has occasional bouts of brilliance (Patriot on-side kick). His ability to take an injury ravaged team to the playoffs has been truly impressive. This team was a few bad ball bounces away from being 12-4 or better. He deserves being mentioned in the coach of the year conversations.
Anybody who has any sense about anything Green Bay Packer should be in front of their Ted Thompson shrine right now. MM coached a beaten and injured team this year, but TT put together a Packer roster with more depth than anyone could have imagined. Not to mention the Packers have one of the top young talented rosters in the league.
Oh yeah, and he ditched Princess Favre for that one guy with the third highest QB rating in the league and drafted that freak of human nature we call Clay Mathews.
January 04, 2011 at 01:01 am
The word hibernation implies a sense of animal unconsciousness that I don't much appreciate, Brian. I promise you that I am not sleeping. :)
Weber tells us that the charismatic leader lives from miracle to miracle. Whatever we want to say about Brent, he was very, very good at stringing together regular little miracles. If anyone misses the son of a bitch at all, it's because we miss Packers Sunday having regular miracles. Sports fans live for miracles and we've been spoiled over the past while.
The trick to being a charismatic leader is that you have to make it appear that you have something to do with the miracle by having the miracles happen in regular proximity to your presence. Not quite so sure that McCarthy will ever have that. The annual "cold start" of the offense doesn't do a lot to inspire confidence, and the glaring "Whoops! We lost to the Lions!" gaffes make for doubters. This cannot be otherwise. No appeal to reason and empirical evidence will ever belay this effect. A miracle doesn't require pundit interpretation. Indeed, interpreting miracles is sacrilege. This is why divorcing Brent hurt so badly. The miracles suddenly required interpretation.
A victory against the Eagles would sure help negate a lot of criticism. They've forced us out of the playoffs a few times now. Payback would sure mean a lot at this point.
January 04, 2011 at 01:57 am
This is a joke right?
January 04, 2011 at 01:19 am
"If and when they lose in the playoffs"????????? What the hell???
January 04, 2011 at 01:47 am
i am still a MM doubter... i dont know who i would rather have coaching tho.. i think he is a good OC.. just not a HC
he does not manage the game clock or his timeouts.. the team comes out flat regularly
i can promise he has no say in what the defense does capers would not be coaching here if he had someone telling him what to do capers has been around teh game far to long to have someone giving him orders.. and the defense is the only reason why we are in the playoffs right now
MMs offense comes out flat and sometimes just straight up doesnt show in games.. losing to the bucs last year losing to the lions this year.. superbowl bound teams dont lose those kind of games..
you can say the dropped passes arent his fault.. sure fine.. but 3 drops shouldnt keep us from putting up points ALL game..
people say he "develops talent so well" (TT is actually just great at drafting players and MM only works with quarterbacks so he doenst really do any developing)
MM has failed to make coaching changes.. slocum and the OL coach the OL has shown little to no development at all we could hire tausch as our line coach at this point..
MM calls a good game some games.. when he calls a balanced game and forces himself to run the ball 25-30 times a game the offense can have moments where it looks amazing.. but id rather it be above average and show up every game.. than look amazing 1 week and terrible the next..
people say the injuries kept us from being so good.. but capers has had most of the injuries.. our defense is one of the best defenses in the league this year... man.. those injuries really hurt us!
on offense we lost grant.. which is a loss yes.. and we lost finley.. which seems like a loss.. but really we have so many weapons at WR that we dont really need finley.. and finley being gone helped rodgers develop and helped him form bonds with nelson and jennings that he did not have previously.. 2 players that you say killed our offense by themselves.. that impossible.. every team usually has a few guys get hurt on one side of the ball.. and even with finley and grant hurt we had more playmakers than most teams we played.. you say OH RODGERS GOT HURT FOR 1 and a 1/2 games.. yeah.. flynn also played lights out against the patriots.. (yes i do give credit to MM for developing him) but i blame MM for not preparing flynn for the 2 minute drill..
should he be fired.. no.. there is a scramble for coaches this season eveyr team seems to be axing their coaches so we will have an advantage sticking with the same guy.. but there arent excuses to not produce... i dont want to wait 15 years to win a superbowl. season isnt over miracles can happen.. but im not convinced he will win a ring for us
January 04, 2011 at 03:39 am
It's pretty tough to judge a head coach objectively relying only on outsider information. Too much of the HCs daily work will not be noticed on the outside looking in.
What can be judged is stuff like playcalling, game planning, time management during the game, player preperation, etc., which usually is the coordinator's job. And in that area McCarthy shows glitches and hickups. I dont know if that is happinening because McC has too many responsibilities or is just a lousy game time manager from time to time, but I think it would be worth a try to let someone else call the plays. You can always revert back to McC if that does not work out.
In the current situation with the unresolved league issues it's probably a bad idea to switch head coaches anyway, as the new coach won't see his players until August or so, if at all.
January 04, 2011 at 07:32 am
Perspective:
1st year (8-8): W/ never being a HC before, the youngest team in the league, and a 4-8 record, Mike McCarthy the rookie coach rallied the team to win their last 4 games to end 8-8.
2nd year (13-3): Takes the youngest team in the league to a home field NFC championship game lost in OT.
3rd year (6-10): Manages the youngest team in the league through one of the most difficult periods in memory---the Jet-tisoning of a living legend and fan favorite. While developing his replacement to set a NFL record of starting his first two years w/ 4,000+ yards passing.
4th year (11-5). Hires a top notch DC and as important let's him coach. Takes the youngest team in the league to the playoffs.
5th year (10-6): Takes one of the youngest teams in the league who has been decimated by injuries to the playoffs.
Overall record:
Reg. season 48-32 .667% playoffs 1-2 33%
Remember the mid 90's and what it took for those veteran teams to get over the hump, to win the big game, (usually against the Cowboys) and make it to the SB.
What we're seeing is the maturation of a coach and also the team. Both are learning what it takes to win.
There's a lot of responsibilities in being a HC:
-Hires a competent staff: for every Slocum, Campen there's Capers, Greene, Trgovac, and Clements (Dud Bears wanted to interview him for OC).
-Helps TT manage the roster and evaluate the talent.
-Sets the tone "We'll play anyone, anytime, anywhere". "We're underdogs to nobody".
-Manages the training schedule, locker room, game planning, and game management, etc.
Focusing on his less than good game management skills is like your child bringing home a report card w/ a "C-" in math and having A's & B's in all the other subjects. Yes you want them to do better in math but give them credit for what they do right and what their overall grade is.
BTW---The great Bill Cowher having a good roster year in and year out took 14 years to make the SB and w/ the three playoff victories that year ended up w/ a 12-9 playoff record.
January 04, 2011 at 10:07 am
Agreed. MM are very at a lot of things.
42-38 isn't a .667% winning record, though. But I sure wish is was ;)
January 04, 2011 at 10:09 am
And that just went all wrong. First of all I believe MM IS very good at a lot things. And I sure wish IT was.
Should teach me not to write anything but my own articles while at work...
January 04, 2011 at 01:59 pm
All valid points, BubbaOne, that bloggers tend to forget.
My thoughts have long been that this team has to undergo a maturation process.
Looks like the O is on a slower track, maybe a result of the QB change and recent drama.
January 04, 2011 at 12:18 pm
id give slocum so more time based on last weeks performance, but yea the offensive lines coach should go while Bulaga is still young and can handle the coaching transisition