McCarthy's Messaging Needs to Translate to Gridiron
By jasonperone
Green Bay Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy hasn't been short on one-liners during his decade-plus with the team. With training camp starting this week, he'll now have regular opportunities to come up with a few more to his team and coaching staff.
Back in 2010, he declared that his team was "no one's underdog" as they traveled to New England to face the Patriots without quarterback Aaron Rodgers. In 2013 when Rodgers was lost to a collarbone injury, McCarthy reminded his team that "it's lonely being a warrior sometimes" when they were getting booed at home. Last season he reminded everyone that he's ". . a highly successful NFL head coach".
There have been others during McCarthy's time and while he's not the most exciting guy behind a microphone, he does carefully craft the messaging he delivers to his team. Whether it's focusing on the fundamentals of the game or the mentality of the team, he does it with a purpose in mind.
That begs the question, then, as to why his Packers teams seem to fall short in the way they have in recent years. Two seasons ago, a mental lapse allowed the Arizona Cardinals to get into position to eliminate the Packers from the playoffs. The year prior to that was an entire case study on not finishing a job that was all but done.
Injuries are surely a factor many times with these Packers teams, such as last season. But every team deals with them. Why are some better able to overcome obstacles like that and beyond?
It's easy to point to the Patriots, who seem to get all of the spoils the NFL gods can dish out every year. But there's something to be said about teams who emulate the vibe and words that their leaders preach. All head coaches want to win and, in their own way, try to get their teams ready to do just that every week. This season, McCarthy's message needs to translate to the field.
That's not to say that his message hasn't hit home in recent seasons. But as I've said before, this Packers team is going to have to dig a little deeper and do more than they've done if they're to make something magical happen in 2017. The argument about whether the players or coach should garner more blame for failures will always be alive and well.
The answer lies somewhere between the two. McCarthy knows he'll have a young roster once again. He knows his staff is going to have to coach up some second-year players to make a jump. He also knows he has one of the best quarterbacks in the league. The tools are there and while those 53 men all have to do their part, McCarthy is ultimately the one answering to how well they did it.
Clearly, what Mike has been doing in his 11 seasons is working for him. He doesn't need to reinvent his entire program, although he's done that, too. He changed the schedule and nutrition a few years ago to try and thwart injuries. He also moved the weekly walk through to Saturday's instead of Friday's a few seasons ago, to name a few examples.
With a few more veterans on this year's team and some who have been around awhile, McCarthy has some more help in setting the tone for this season. Rodgers, Clay Matthews, Jordy Nelson Morgan Burnett, and Bryan Bulaga were around for the last Super Bowl win. Guys like Mike Daniels and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix are ready to taste their first. That's a solid nucleus of guys who have come to understand what it takes to win big in the NFL.
Regardless of how the mix of players turns out, it's McCarthy's team and with every passing year, he faces more and more pressure to bring another title home. Unfair? Maybe, but he's forged a reputation of being a winner and, frankly, he is a highly successful head coach. It's time for coach Mike to get his team over the hump.
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Jason is a freelance writer on staff since 2012 and also co-hosts Cheesehead TV Live, Pulse of the Pack and Pack A Day podcasts. You can follow him on Twitter here
Comments (9)
Since'61
July 28, 2017 at 08:26 am
MM has been a coach who, by his own admission, tries to maintain an even keel throughout the highs and lows of the NFL season. With few exceptions we do not see much emotion from him or his team after a win or a loss. (Keeping mind that we really don't know what happens in the locker room). To me this has translated onto the field in that we don't often see this team rise up at crucial points in a game. The 2014 collapse in Seattle being the classic example but we can point to other playoff losses as well. Football is an emotional game and sometimes that emotion can make a difference at a critical point in the game. Not every play is just another play. Maybe MM needs to bring some emotion into his pre-game and in game comments. If players indeed take their lead from their coaches maybe lighting a fire under the players butts would make a difference for this group of Packers. Thanks, Since '61
marpag1
July 28, 2017 at 11:29 am
"If players indeed take their lead from their coaches maybe lighting a fire under the players butts would make a difference for this group of Packers."
I would argue that this idea - that coaches bring emotion to the team, that an 'emotional' or at least demonstrative coach is somehow better than a stoic one (Hello, Tom Landry!), or that coaches are primary motivators for their team, or that the team's play is a reflection of the coach's gameday mentality - is hugely overblown, and quite often a complete fallacy.
In my own personal experience (which obviously isn't at an NFL level), I have never once felt that it was the coach's job to fire people up and motivate them. Players did this, on their own, or it didn't happen at all. If anything, the coach was there to keep players under control.
Vince Lombardi and his players would seem to agree:
"Once the game started, the joke on the team was that Lombardi was the most useless guy on the sideline ... “All Lombardi would do,” said Gary Knaflec, “was stand there and holler.” Hornung thought his coach “wasn’t worth a crap during the game. He was an observer. A kibbitzer. All you’d hear is, ‘What the hell’s goin’ on out there?’” He was always on the go, striding up and down the sideline, watching the down markers, yapping away at the officials, correcting every call. The game itself was the superficial part of coaching for Lombardi. He had already done his work getting his team prepared." (David Maraniss, "When Pride Still Mattered.")
"At the end of the day, Vince Lombardi realized that once the players were in a game and on the playing field, there wasn't very much that he, as their coach and leader, could do to affect the outcome." (Donald Phillips, "Run to Win.")
PatrickGB
July 28, 2017 at 10:34 am
MM's style is an understated one. No gum chewing , sideline pacing, hand clapping overt displays of emotion. I like that. Once in a while one sees emotion in his face and for me that's fine. Subtle yet strong. Besides, its up to the assistant coaches to do the fire up rah rah thing. Its what happens during practices that really matter. Sure, I sometimes cringe at some of his playcalling but I could say that about most coaches. It often appears that BB and staff do a better job with playcalling but that's only because those plays are executed very well. So if there is any complaint over MM's coaching its on the execution part and really that's on the assistants. I would like him to hold those coaches to a higher standard but even then I really don't know what is going on behind the scenes anyway.
TXCHEESE
July 28, 2017 at 10:54 am
The Packers have gone to the NFC championship game the last 3 years. That to me is pretty impressive. The only one that truly disappoints is the loss to Seattle. We were the better team that day, even with a one legged Rodgers. The other 2, were minor miracles considering the injuries going into and within those games. I always like their chances in the playoffs, particularly when it's against a foe previously faced in the season. I live in the middle of Cowboy's country, and last year won several six packs and lunches on that playoff game. I kept telling those 'boys fans, the Packers were going to be a completely different team in the playoffs.
Thegreatreynoldo
July 28, 2017 at 02:15 pm
GB got the conference championship game in two of the last three years, not all three years. Arizona loss was a divisional round loss. Still, 2 out of three ain't bad.
BPEARSON21
July 28, 2017 at 01:08 pm
It's not MM fault our defense is absolute trash... except for the fact that he refused to fire Dom, but I'm more on the side of "it's the players not the coaches". Looking at you Ted Thompson... looking at you.
Finwiz
July 28, 2017 at 01:17 pm
I disagree - it's scheme...and that points to Capers. You can't tell me the majority of defensive starters have sub-par talent.
BPEARSON21
July 28, 2017 at 01:51 pm
I would argue that's exactly what I could tell you. Martinez, Ryan, Rollins, Randall, Gunter, Dean Lowry, Kyle Fackrell, Jayrone Elliot, Joe Thomas, Kentrell Brice... these are all replaceable bodies at the NFL level. (granted I hope/have confidence Fackrell and Lowry will improve) but as of now, those are sub-package players elsewhere.
I don't know how else to prove this to anyone other than pointing to our defense statistics. I love these players because I love Green Bay but the numbers just don't lie. Our defensive personnel is unbelievably mediocre. You read those names and unless you're a die hard fan you can't help but to say.... who...?
Barnett, HHCD, Clay Matthews, Daniels Nick Perry are the only defensive players we have that are impact-full.
That's it.
Again if you disagree I'll just point to the statistics. I'm a believer in the numbers.
LayingTheLawe
July 28, 2017 at 11:39 pm
The injury situation at defensive back last season put the Packers defense into situations where they had to play a certain way. They had no depth and poor talent left to cover and tried some vanilla schemes to compensate. I don't think you can judge a coaches plan when he has so little horses around to execute it. Now if this season the d backs are healthy and they still get torched then we can talk about what the coaches are doing. But last season the Packers D was held together by baling wire, duct tape and hope to make a big play before the touchdown arrived for the other team.