McCarthy Deserves Recognition

At this rate, Green Bay Packers head man Mike McCarthy could be an NFL Coach of the Year candidate by season's end.

In my newest weekly column, I come to the conclusion that Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy could be an NFL Coach of the Year candidate for a couple reasons...

The common denominator in a turnaround that took years (penalties) and a turnaround that spans both sides of the ball (turnover margin) is the head coach.

The column appears in the Bliss Communications platform of publications including the Janesville Gazette, Janesville Messenger, Stateline News, Walworth County Today and Walworth County Sunday.

It also appears in the Reilly family of newspapers including the Dodgeville Chronicle, the Pecatonica Valley Leader and the Democrat Tribune of Mineral Point.

Follow the above link to read the column.

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Comments (15)

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Jayme Snowden's picture

November 24, 2010 at 11:26 am

Whole heartedly agree Brian, and argued the same point on last night's Cheesehead Radio. MM and his staff have done amazing things with this team, and it would be a disservice and near crime to over look that. McCarthy has cut back on the mental errors and tightened the team's play. As well as make starters out of people "who wouldn't stand a chance on any other team". Coach of year doesn't go to the winning-est coach, it goes to the Coach who did the most with what he had at his disposal. And, in my opinion, McCarthy is the front runner for coach of the year.

Great read!

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Charles's picture

November 24, 2010 at 11:56 am

Sounds about right to me. Great job.

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PackersRS's picture

November 24, 2010 at 12:29 pm

I still think that Raheem Moris should win HCOY. Even with all the injuries, we're still a much more talented team than the Bucs, and they have the same record as we do.

Of course, come season's end, we'll probably have a much better record than them.

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jeremy's picture

November 24, 2010 at 12:52 pm

If someone had given me the Week 12 injury report in July I would have said I'd be happy with 5-5, and that 7-3 would be nearly impossible. Well done MM and TT!

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WoodyG's picture

November 24, 2010 at 04:06 pm

Kudos to MM for the 7-3 record to this point ..... But, in my mind, it's early to include MM for any awards ..... The level of comp plays a significant role in any teams record (See Tampa Bay & Chicago) .... The Pack's 4 game winning streak has come against two 3-7 teams & the Jets ...... They didn't even score a TD against the Jets ......

The real test for MM & the Pack are the final 6 games including Atlanta, NE, Giants & finally da Bears ..... 4-2 would be nice ..... I don't like the sound of 3-3 .........

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Bogmon's picture

November 25, 2010 at 11:30 am

I think 3-3 from here out can take the division as long as one of those wins is against the Bears.

I think Chicago has a much tougher road ahead of them than Green Bay...especially considering they might have to face a re-energized Vikings squad at home (don't laugh, the Vikes could win that one)

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WoodyG's picture

November 25, 2010 at 03:54 pm

A nightmare scenario would be both GB & da Bears going 3-3 in the final six games with Chicago winning in week 17 against the Pack ...... I don't see it that way & really believe da Bear/Pack game may be meaningless but I didn't envision the Bears to ever be 7-3 after ten games either ......

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thepretzelhead's picture

November 25, 2010 at 06:15 pm

Bears have played 10 games, but they haven't played 10 teams.

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Cuphound's picture

November 24, 2010 at 08:49 pm

Sorry, Brian. Way too soon in my view for that sort of praise. I jut don't trust the guy. I'd like to see a McCarthy Packers team (1) not choke in the playoffs and (2) start a season effectively. At that point, I'll get on the bandwagon. <I>I really want to be able to</I>. No joke. This isn't intended as an attack.

I'm thrilled about where we are now. The current passage in our season is really exciting. I'd love it for you to be wrong and for us to beat the Falcons on Sunday. Seeing that, would go a long way toward building my confidence in McCarthy, just as the Jets victory has. The past two games have been awfully fun, but these two teams have just fired their coaches. They just weren't that good. They were, however, the Vikings and the Cowboys, so the pleasure was unreal. And I am grateful for that.

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Brian Carriveau's picture

November 25, 2010 at 10:16 am

So you don't think he deserves praise for what he's done so far? Or you don't think he's Coach of the Year. All I said was "could be" in the running for Coach of the Year. I wasn't definitive in the statement.

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Cuphound's picture

November 25, 2010 at 11:15 pm

Praise for cutting down penalties and turnovers for the past few weeks--Absolutely! This has been some of the most fun Packers football I've seen since, well, 2007. I'm really psyched for Atlanta on Sunday. If we beat them, hell, even if we lose, but <I>lose well</I> against them, that would be saying something, Brian.

<I>Could be</I> considered for coach of the year? Sure, why not? The realm of the vaguely possible is wide and undefined, brother. After all, he is an NFL coach. Be definition, he <I>could</I> be. Moreover, he did pretty well for himself in 2007. Second to Belichik ain't bad! Maybe he'll do it again. It's not unthinkable.

The real question is <I>should we believe in him?</I> If I'm to believe in him as a coach, he has to fix the O-line so it <I>stays fixed</I> and doesn't cold start every season. Great that sack rate has dropped! It sure took long enough, but whatever. But I want opened holes for the running game, too. And I want it starting in Week 1 of the season. I want camp to yield meaningful results.

Okay, I'm not going to get smashmouth football out of McCarthy. He's all about finesse. Fabulous. But he has to work the Alex Gibbs magic and make this O-line work. Brian, <I>it's four years in, now!</I>. The guy isn't an offensive genius if the O-line still blows four years after the fact. Our old offense <I>died</I> in 2005 because of the loss of Wahle and Rivera on the O-line. At this point, we've fixed everything but what actually went wrong.

Capers has made a believer of me. I really like this defense. But I don't want to be the Bears. We're the Packers, and that means a killer offense. Not an "occasional sparks of brilliance but struggling" offense. A killer offense--Rodgers dealing death to our opponents every week as I know he can. That rests on a consistent, high-quality O-line. If McCarthy gives me that, I'll become the total McCarthy fanboy. Scout's honor.

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packerwest's picture

November 24, 2010 at 09:59 pm

Took MM a few games to start calling passes to jackson,screens to TE and Jackson and most importantly to be aggressive and keep the foot on the pedal when they have a lead.Cost the pack the Redskin game and almost the first Viking game(3 runs up the middle when first down would have sealed game).Glad to see the killer instict back in his playcalling!

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Mark's picture

November 25, 2010 at 12:12 am

We don't have problems here, we have opportunities...... Lombardiesque!

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c.d. angeli's picture

November 25, 2010 at 11:16 am

I argued against COY on Cheesehead Radio,and have a post up at TundraVision touching on it. MM deserves credit primarily for keeping the team focus together when things looked bleak...its not too hard to follow the pattern of the Cowboys and the Vikes when high expectations come crashing down.

But, the final push will come against playoff-caliber competition, and having all three squads playing well. The Packers won the game against the Jets in spite of their offense,and you can't count on that in the second season.

The good news is that the Pack have a tough schedule coming up,and these are chances to prove yourself. If MM brings it and plays the Falcons, Giants, and Patriots hard, MM can be more than an also-ran in the COY race.

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Ron LC's picture

November 27, 2010 at 09:53 am

MM is on the right path for COY. It doesn't count until all 16 games have been played. I don't talk about it because I don't want to jinx them. I know, but at my age I can't change now.

Go Pack!

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