Posted on 12/03/2018 11:46:19 AM PST by Red Badger
(Reuters) – The Green Bay Packers fired head coach Mike McCarthy on Sunday, ending his 13-season tenure in charge of the storied National Football League (NFL) team.
McCarthy guided the Packers to a fourth Super Bowl triumph in the 2010 season and the franchise won their division six times and made the playoffs nine times under his command.
However, a 20-17 home loss to the lowly Arizona Cardinals on Sunday proved to be the final straw in a disappointing season for the Packers, who look set to miss the playoffs.
McCarthy’s axing also comes amid reports of tension between the 55-year-old and quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
McCarthy was Green Bay’s play caller and his approach has been criticized as overly conservative, failing to get the best out of Rodgers, a two-times NFL most valuable player.
The quarterback hinted at discord in October after a 22-0 win over Buffalo when he said the Packers had been “terrible on offense”.
Team president Mark Murphy said it was time for a change.
“The 2018 season has not lived up to the expectations and standards of the Green Bay Packers,” Murphy said in a statement after Sunday’s defeat, their fifth in six games, saw them fall to 4-7-1.
“As a result, I made the difficult decision to relieve Mike McCarthy of his role as head coach, effective immediately.”
Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin was named interim head coach.
McCarthy departs with a record of 125 wins, 77 losses and two ties.
“Mike has been a terrific head coach and leader of the Packers for 13 seasons, during which time we experienced a great deal of success on and off the field,” Murphy added.
“We will immediately begin the process of selecting the next head coach of the Green Bay Packers.”
McCarthy has been coaching in the NFL for 25 years, starting as an assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs before moving to the Packers as quarterbacks coach in 1999.
He later had stints as offensive co-ordinator with the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers before taking the head coach job at the Packers in 2006.
green bay had become peyton place. the next coach has got his work cut our for him; kiss aaron rodgers’ butt, or have him sabotage you, and get you fired.
Sounds like aaron is a cry baby.
GB Management is unlike any other team in the NFL.
Owned by the Town.
Politics is involved, bigly...............
and an A$$hole to boot............
125-77-2...........he won’t have a hard time getting another gig.
He’s got a head start on all the others that will be gone at the end of December.
This is the time of year the NFL plays ‘Musical Coaches’...................
And that putz Marvin Lewis continues to thrive in Cincinnati. Lewis and Bengal management have made so easy for me to swear off the NFL.
True, they are owned by stockholders, which is unique in the NFL.
I think they have a board of directors, as any publicly traded company has.
I think I heard the NFL no longer permits such an ownership structure, that they grandfathered in the Packers.
dunno. he had existential problems with his last all-word qb, too. sounds like he has god issues.
*all-world.
goddam ios autocorrect.
I’m not a Packers fan, but one bad year and you’re toast?
Didn’t even let him finish out the season.
I’m betting he’s wearing NY Giants blue next year..................
The GB Packers are unique only because they are one of the originals. IIRC, they were a ‘company team’ in the beginning.
If GB had never had a team, they would never qualify for one today, being too small. I think the limit is 1 Million population minimum....................
Yes, the Football Gods of Green Bay demanded a sacrifice....................and he's it.................
Yep they are a unique situation, a throwback to when other smaller cities had NFL teams. Cities such as Canton and Portsmouth in Ohio, and Decatur, Illinois, once had NFL teams.
Same in the NBA, where the Rochester Royals and Syracuse Nats and Ft. Wayne Pistons were NBA teams.
I don’t see the Giants pulling the plug on Shurmur after one season. Better chance McCarthy trades in the green & gold of the Pack for the kelly green of the Jets. Bowles is a dead man walking.
Sounds like a similar situation to the one the NY Giants faced a couple of years ago when they fired Tom Coughlin. He seemed to be coaching for a different era, and had no credibility as a coach anymore.
Yeah, that is more likely. I’d forgot about them...........................
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