McCarthy Said What?!?
Watching a Mike McCarthy press conference always brings out my emotional side. The chuckles, the sneers, the jaw-drops, the yelling, the abusing of my computer monitor. Good thing I don't work in an office full of people.
By JerseyAl
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Watching a Mike McCarthy press conference always brings out my emotional side. The chuckles, the sneers, the jaw-drops, the yelling, the abusing of my computer monitor. Good thing I don't work in an office full of people.
I am often left wondering, does McCarthy really believe the s**t he drops on us every week? Does he get a kick out of insulting beat reporters and fans with the same empty promises and catch-phrases? After this Tampa debacle, a real coach would have just come out and said: We stunk today - players, coaches, collectively we were horses**t. I promise you it will NOT happen again as long as I am coach of this team.
Instead, what was heard was the Mike Milquetoast show. A few examples:
QUOTE
"We have four individuals on our offensive staff that I'd be very confident in coaching the offensive line... I think Shawn Slocum has done a good job in putting his print on what we're trying to do... But our problems to me aren't teaching and scheme, they do not fall in that area."
MY COMMENT
Yet every week, the Packers are hurt by self-inflicted wounds. Missed assignments, mis-communications, bad decisions, penalties, etc. And he thinks the coaches have all done a good job. So is coach McCarthy saying the players are too dumb to execute what they are taught? Or is he saying he's coached them perfectly and they're just not good enough?
QUOTE
"We don't need wholesale change. We may need to adjust some things and that will be our focus. ...I'm very confident in the issues that we've had in pass protection, that they are correctable."
MY COMMENT
Half the season is gone. NOW the coach thinks he MAY need to adjust some things? There goes another clump of my hair... It's also heartening to hear that the pass protection issues are correctable. Whew! That's a relief. I'll just wait here patiently...
QUOTE
"If there was an error that was made leading up to this game it was probably too much work this week."
MY COMMENT
Earlier in the season, Coach McCarthy was called out for possibly not keeping the players focused in practice. Now he thinks he may be working them too hard? So basically, he doesn't know how to run a practice correctly and efficiently.
Here's what Packers great Leroy Butler had to say about this: "The guys weren’t in full pads all week, so it’s hard to overwork a group that’s not in pads. If they were in pads Wednesday and Thursday, I could see him overworking them where they’re tired... But if you have the youngest team in the league, they need to be overworked every day because you’re seeing the same mistakes. If he did overwork them, then they’re not working on the stuff that needs to be worked on." How great is that?
QUOTE
"There is structure. To have a new message or a new messenger, I'm confident that's not what our football team needs right now. They have a very loud, direct, clear message in the team meetings day in and day out. So there is no question or uncertainty of what we are asking everybody to do, coaches and players, and the accountability of what needs to be done."
MY COMMENT
I think coach McCarthy is not being honest with himself. What is the message? That if we make mistakes, we'll "fix'em" next practice? Where is the accountability? One more quote from Leroy Butler: "But he needs to be more of a dad than a friend to these guys. Your dad disciplines you, but also loves you. Your friend tells you what you want to hear even when you’re playing bad."
SUMMARY
Mike McCarthy is failing in many aspects of his job. Mostly, he seems to accept mediocrity while regurgitating the same old excuses and empty promises. He has proven to be a poor leader of men and his game-day decision making incites more questions than answers. His post-game press conferences ostensibly do the same.
Mike McCarthy has 3 1/2 years left on his contract that pays him approximately $4,000,000 per year. Despite the widespread clamoring, McCarthy is not likely to be fired during the season. It would also take a monumental failure during the second half of this year for the Packers to eat the final three years of that contract. It's not something the Packers will want to do, and I'm sure Mike will tell his bosses the same s**t we are hearing: It's correctable...
By the way, if you haven't read it, the full Leroy Butler interview can be found here:
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You can find more of Jersey Al Bracco’s articles on several sports websites: Jersey Al’s Blog, Packers Lounge, NFL Touchdown and Bleacher Report.
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"Jersey Al" Bracco is the Editor-In-Chief, part owner and wearer of many hats for CheeseheadTV.com and PackersTalk.com. He is also a recovering Mason Crosby truther. Follow Al on twitter at @JerseyalGBP.
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Comments (21)
November 10, 2009 at 10:05 am
Reading McCarthy's interview transcripts is a sure fire way to increase my blood pressure. I loved reading LeRoys comments though, the guy tells it like it is... which is very refreshing.
November 10, 2009 at 10:13 am
Leroy is great, isn't he? Would love to see him on the Packers coaching staff...
November 10, 2009 at 10:36 am
Add to that his quote on air saying the plan for TB was to attack the secondary, if he played them again today he would do the same thing.
DELUSIONAL!
November 10, 2009 at 10:46 am
Yes, that one also sent me through the roof!
November 10, 2009 at 12:33 pm
HE'S A DUMB SHIT! HE ACTUALLY THINKS HE HAS A SUPERPOTENT PASSING ATTACK, AND THAT WHENEVER HE FEELS LIKE IT, HE CAN KEEP THROWING LONG BOMBS!
He lost it. Fire his fat ass now, and save the little dignity you still have, Murphy!
November 10, 2009 at 12:52 pm
There goes my blood pressure again....
November 10, 2009 at 01:00 pm
I'm too riled up, I know, but I got tired of seeing the same problems over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again (8 games, I'm not counting last season. I SHOULD). And then he comes up and says that he would do them AGAIN????
God I need to start taking a hearth medicine. Or laying off the acid and the candy cane ;)
November 10, 2009 at 11:32 am
He's already passing the blame over to Thompson. Basically telling everyone he's a good coach and these players are getting the best coaching they can get, he's saying "I don't have the right players." It's a subtle way of doing it, but he's getting ready to toss Thompson under the bus.
November 10, 2009 at 11:40 am
Yeah I noticed that... what's that old saying, "a bad workmen always blames his tools".
November 10, 2009 at 11:52 am
Or how about. "The incompetent and clueless always blame someone else."
November 10, 2009 at 01:52 pm
If he is not fired it's going to get ugly in packer nation. He may have three years on his contract, but how much of that amount is guaranteed?
If we're going to sell out for a bad coach, I would love to see some sort of boycott started.
November 10, 2009 at 02:12 pm
I assumed coaches salaries are guaranteed.
November 10, 2009 at 05:50 pm
I would too, but is the entire sum of the contract guaranteed? If they're structured anything like player's contracts, part is going to be guaranteed while another part is contingent. In which case, can't you argue past payments for the contigent amount of the salary can add up towards the cumulative total of a guaranteed amount. Appologies for nerding out here, but consider an example:
McCarthy's contract is 4 mil the next three years-- 50% of which is guaranteed, meaning McCarthy is guaranteed 10 million of a 20 million dollar contract. Say to date he'll have been paid $12 million by the end of this year. Green Bay owes him nothing? 2 mill per year for the next 3 years?
All contracts vary. I just find it hard to believe the entire amount is guaranteed in such a performance-driven profession. Damnit, the Lounge needs to hire an accountant, a lawyer, or Carriveau.
November 12, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I just checked with a Packers beat reporter and he says that the coaches' contracts are guaranteed and there are no buyout clauses. Therefore, once this season is over, they will in fact owe McCarthy the full 12 million left on his contract. if he gets another job as a coordinator, for example at 1 million per, the Packers would just owe him the 2 milllion per difference.
November 10, 2009 at 04:40 pm
With both the GM and Coach requiring replacement and both having 3 1/2 years remaining on those contracts the BOD will only go for one firing. The dilema is who goes?
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I vote for TT for this reason, he has been rebuilding this team for 5 1/2 years. Just what has he accomplished? Not anywhere near enough to keep this team afloat by using only the draft to build, with few expections. His first year draftees have reached the bottom of the funel and how many are good enough to try and keep? Rodgers for sure, Collins ok, and ........ errrr? It is likely he wouldn't do anything to keep Pickett and the rest, are they worth keeping?
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This off-season needs someone in charge of drafting and FA acquisition that knows what he is doing. Like it or not, this team is now officially in rebuild mode with a whole lot of holes to fill. And as far as I'm concerned, I want a competent GM making those decisions. TT aint't it. Maybe the new GM can kick MM's ass and get him to admitt his failings. If not, fire him next year.
November 10, 2009 at 05:55 pm
But will the potential destruction of the salary cap save thompson's job? IMO, he's efficient at keeping a low salary number, but not so effective at building a competitive team that he is irreplaceable. Either way, I think he has more leverage than McCarthy.
I'm a little worried Thompson needs sort of a push-over as head coach. In which case, nothing would really be solved if Thompson picked the new head coach
November 10, 2009 at 05:59 pm
Well, if I would have to choose only one to go, it would be Mike. It would be easier to change how Ted does his job - Murphy could instruct him to use free agency for more than just filler material. But what can they tell Mike? He is a failure at leading these men. You can’t make him something he’s not.
November 11, 2009 at 02:11 am
RonLC,
I think you're fooling yourself, NOBODY's going anywhere. And the coach ALWAYS goes before the GM. Murphy said that no changes would be made midseason, and with the large $$$ # they would have to eat, I don't see any changes after the season. If things keep going on the current track I truly hope that I am wrong, and something is changed, just don't see it from a financial standpoint.
GBP 4 LIFE
November 11, 2009 at 10:10 am
If no one goes anywhere, we are entering the neo-seventies era. Anyone know where Infante, Devine, Rhodes, and Gregg are?
November 11, 2009 at 03:16 am
Ted's in a good position right now, he can always use the old, "I give him the players, it's his job to do anything with them." Yes, Mike's headed under the bus for sure.
November 11, 2009 at 11:11 am
I've never paid much attention to what McCarthy says in press conferences. Like most NFL coaches, he goes into politician mode when he has a microphone in front of his mouth. By far the most important words he says are off-mic, in team meetings and practices. However, I agree that he is now at the point where he should be showing some sort of urgency. He is not talking like a guy who's job is on the line.
We'll see how the team finishes. The odds are now against them getting into the playoffs, and if they don't make it, there will be justification to can McCarthy and perhaps Thompson as well.
I used to think that their fates were joined, but I'm now starting to think that McCarthy could go while Thompson stays. Canning Thompson and keeping McCarthy would be the very worst thing to do. If we get a new GM, he needs to pick his own coach. When Thompson arrived, Harlan kept Mike Sherman in place as coach, and the result was a wasted season.