Last week the Associated Press ran a story on NFL coaches who are on the hot seat. It deserves further thought and discussion.
Of the eight coaches that were named, four are from the NFC: Detroit’s Jim Caldwell, Chicago’s John Fox, Los Angeles’ Jeff Fisher, and Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy. The four from the AFC are: Jacksonville’s Gus Bradley, New York Jets coach Todd Bowles, Buffalo’s Rex Ryan, and San Diego’s Mike McCoy.
For what it’s worth, the NFL division that appears to have the weakest coaching is the NFC North, with Caldwell, McCarthy, and Fox all on the list.
You might also have noticed that of McCarthy’s four wins, three have come against other low-ranked head coaches: Lions, Bears, and Jags.
McCarthy, in his 11th year at the helm in Green Bay, is far and away the coach on the list who has been with his present team the longest.
But what strikes me most is that McCarthy’s sinking reputation has finally reached across Wisconsin’s borders and gone national. Yes, whether McCarthy’s should keep his job is now a topic of debate across the country, not just on Total Packers. The gospel has spread.
Green Bay fans — and the team’s corporate leadership — might want to consider the case of John Fox. He’s been a head coach for three NFL teams in the past 15 years. He’s a good coach, but two of his ex-bosses didn’t believe his teams were realizing their full potential.
Fox left Carolina after nine years as head coach, from 2002 through 2010. Carolina replaced him with Ron Rivera, who took the Panthers to the Super Bowl last year.
Fox moved on to Denver, where he left after the 2014 season. In four seasons with the Broncos, he led them to a terrific 46-18 record. But his postseason record consisted of: a loss to the Patriots in the AFC divisional round, a loss to the Ravens in the same round, a loss to the Seahawks in the Super Bowl, and finally, a loss to the Colts in the 2014 divisional game. His postseason record with Denver was 3-4. Sound familiar?
The Broncos’ leadership believed the team was not playing up to expectations. They made a gutsy move, replacing Fox with Gary Kubiak. Kubiak won the Super Bowl in his first year as Denver’s head coach.
The calls for replacing McCarthy gathered momentum when the Packers threw away the 2014 conference championship game against the Seahawks, turning a seemingly insurmountable lead into a 28-22 overtime loss.
Criticism of McCarthy burst wide open following the Packers’ 2015 playoff loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Reporters, pundits, blogs – local, state, and national – pointed out the Packers’ 2015 team had grossly underachieved. The final regular season game, in which Green Bay turned over the division title with a loss to Minnesota at Lambeau Field, was a stunning letdown. Most of the blame fell squarely on McCarthy’s sloping shoulders.
More than halfway through the 2016 season, as the team labors through with a 4-5 record and continues to lose home games to inferior opponents, McCarthy is under more scrutiny than ever before. Calls for a coaching change are getting more strident with each defeat.
General manager Ted Thompson, president Mark Murphy, and the team’s board of directors have heard the chorus of complaints and the boos at the stadium. They are not immune to pressure and in theory they would like to give the team its best chance of winning. Though both Thompson and McCarthy are believed to be under contract through 2018, this should be of little consequence.
A Realistic Forecast
This team’s leadership is not going to make a midseason coaching change. Nor will they publicly utter a word of criticism of McCarthy until such time as they decide to remove him.
McCarthy’s coaching performance over the next seven games should dictate whether he stays on for another year, but it probably won’t.
If the Packers turn things around and make the playoffs – and even if it is with an 8-8 record – I have no doubt that McCarthy will get another year. If not, I regret to say the result will still be the same.
McCarthy is still being viewed by those who count as the coach he once was, not the coach he has become.
Some of the points you made are listed in my post on how the process goes down to initiate changes. This team is now getting National media attention, but it’s all negative. They are shining a light on Green Bay Nationally and that indeed effects Packer upper management. The Packers are highly sensitive to their reputation and how the World views them. The fans at Lambeau booing is a very small component in the stress and pressure the team now feels.
I don’t think the Packers will lose to the Redskins, but if they do, watch the fuck out. Because with the next 3 games being the Eagles, Texans and Seahawks. This tropical storm could become a full blown Tsunami.
With every loss comes more and more National media attention, pressure, and drama. Which was exactly my point in my post.
My other thought is….at what points do the President and GM show their faces, or do they just continue to stay in the safe combines of their office and private suite.
6) Coaches and executives continue to be stressed out, depressed and angry as the season continues. From losing, to losing the locker room, to negative information being floated around and constant bad media press.
Yup. I don’t see them beating the eagles. Or the texans. Hopkins, and Fuller if he is healthy are going to prison tape them.
I agree with Rob, even if they don’t make the playoffs or win another game, McCarthy might get a 1 year reprieve based off his past. Miracles do happen and we could all be proven wrong, but I feel like that guy is still firmly embedded for some reason.
I’m sticking with optimism over pessimism until i’m proven wrong.
Of course they will lose to Washington. The Vikings just did, and they
are clearly a better team than the Packers. At least Zimmer has them
ready to play. The Packers are slouching around, moping, uninterested,
fighting in the locker room, hiding in the locker room, “injured,” refusing
to play. It’s totally pathetic. Can you image Lombardi putting up with this
shit. “Mr. Ringo, you are talking to the wrong coach. You are now the
property of the Philadelphia Eagles.”
Was there a trade deadline back then?
I tend to be a realist and in my opinion, there are not more than 2 wins on the remaining schedule, and Sunday night is not one of them. I will still watch the game, cheer for the Packers when they do good, and yell at them when they do stupid shit. The run they are on now “feels” like a long losing streak, especially when considering the demeanor on the sidelines.
With contracts for TT and MM expiring after 2018, nothing changes soon.
The Packer organization is to much into continuity to make a change. Even though other teams have fired Super Bowl winning head coaches, those teams are few and usually are after multiple losing seasons. I think the Packers would be the least likely to fire a Super Bowl winning coach along with the Steelers.
I believe the only ways MM leaves after this season is:
1. MM steps down due to health reasons or retires.
2. TT steps down from GM. Then anything goes with a new GM.
3. The players literally lay down on the field during all of the remaining games.
Or could it be possible that TT steps down and turns GM duties over to MM? Nothing would surprise me except for MM getting fired after this season.
I stand by my stance that the only way for change is losing (which i have no control over). Although the call for change is the strongest right now, i was ready for change back in 2011-2012.
I will continue to watch every game, as i have for years. I will be happy and cheer when good things happen. But i WILL NOT, and i REFUSE to be emotionally distraught over this team’s futility. This has been the case since the Fitzgerald wide open 75 yard OT catch and run. Fitz was wide open, no one was within 10 yards of him. So what’s the consequence? The Packers fire the RB and TE coach. That’s the moment i was like, fuck it, i’m done.
So here’s the deal with me. If they don’t make changes, or they just fire Capers, under the guise that, that’s the only problem. Then in the future, the Green Bay Packers deserve everything they get.
This Corporate Ownership thing SUCKS ASS, always has. The packers always take forever to do what needs to be done. You win 1 Title and they want to drop their pants and take it up backside for 30 years, and give them Carte Blanche anywhere in City. They never excite the fan base with a splash hire like Jon Gruden or Bill Cowher?? Give the Fans something to get excited about, especially this year. WHO THE F%$K will give a rats ass ’bout this team next year with Walking Dead Ted & Filth Unwashed McSlob.