Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy handed play-calling duties to Tom Clements this offseason and the team’s offense has pretty much been a disaster since.
Despite that, McCarthy has refused to make a change, supposedly staying out of the play-calling realm altogether.
Except that appears not to be the case.
McCarthy admitted that he carries at least some influence when it comes to play calling. We’re sure he’s probably chiming in with an idea here or there.
And now he says he needs to shut up.
“I need to shut up more, frankly,” McCarthy said when asked about his influence on Clements’ offensive play selection. “I think the most important thing is — and I don’t know how other people do it — the communication network when you’re calling plays.
“If you’re calling plays, you need the information before the series and timely information within the series. So that’s something that we’re all conscientious of, and it’s just to make sure we’re trying to give Tom the support that he needs there.”
We’ve advocated for the opposite.
The Packers have a sputtering offense. Part of the problem there — a huge part — is the play calling.
Frankly, the thing McCarthy is the best at is calling plays. Yes, he has some brain farts from time to time, but overall he’s a very good offensive play caller.
If you surveyed coaches around the league, McCarthy would come up in the top three offensive play callers.
We doubt Clements would come up in the top 30.