Teams Should Stay Away From Hiring Mike McCarthy
By Bobby Burack
The Packers have finally fired Mike McCarthy, and the early word is he will be desired. If so, somebody is about to make a huge mistake. No team should even consider hiring McCarthy as their head coach, and should be very careful about bringing him in as an offensive coordinator.
The issues with McCarthy are not that he needs a new start and to move on from Aaron Rodgers who no longer trusts his play calling. The reason there was friction with Rodgers is the reason McCarthy should have a massive buyer beware label attached to him. That reason is the fact that the game has passed him by. His style no longer works in today’s NFL as it is all too predictable, conservative, and not innovative.
It has been crystal clear when watching the Packers over the past few years that there was no juice in their offense with it having an ideology the exact opposite of the teams having success. This was the result of McCarthy.
By now we all know how important aggressive play calling was to the Eagles’ Super Bowl a season ago. That would have not happened if their coach acted anything like McCarthy. Taking risks is not his thing. I mean, how many times did he opt to punt the ball in short yardage situations with the best quarterback in the NFL? Imagine what he would do with a regular quarterback!
This conservative mindset was one of the primary reasons the Packers blew the NFC Championship Game against the Seahawks in 2015.
If any team considering him is looking for him to show off their running backs, think again. McCarthy had a stud running back in Aaron Jones this season, yet it took him almost half the season to utilize him. Everyone knew what Jones could be, except for one person.
This is not a message stating McCarthy has a lackluster resume, he doesn’t. But let’s not act like he is some all-time coach. He had two of the greatest quarterbacks ever, and won the bare minimum you could possibly win with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.
Nothing he has done as of late should have anyone believing he is the solution for any team. The often rumored Browns would be a terrible fit for McCarthy. Anyone ever seen Baker Mayfield talk? If so, anything give you the vibe McCarthy’s ultra-safe, poor clocking managing, old-school style would be a good fit?
Stay away, teams.