The Packers have made a shocking mid-season change, firing head coach Mike McCarthy, the team announced in a statement posted to Twitter.
The team also announced that offensive coordinator Joe Philbin would take over as interim coach. While McCarthy was widely known to be on the hot seat, an in-season change is still a surprise because of his history with the team. The change comes immediately after the Packers’ embarrassing home loss to the Cardinals, where they lost as massive favorites.
A source told Adam Schefter of ESPN that the team brought McCarthy in immediately after the game and let him go, and that McCarthy was “not expecting it” (Twitter link). The “writing was on the wall” already, but today’s loss was the “final straw” for McCarthy, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link), who notes that McCarthy will be “very desirable” as a free agent.
McCarthy has been linked to the Browns’ opening in recent weeks, and he should be considered a strong candidate for that job. This was the 13th season in Green Bay for McCarthy, who won a Super Bowl with the team back in 2010. There have been rumors for a couple years now that McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers haven’t seen eye-to-eye, and things appeared to reach a boiling point in recent weeks with multiple tough losses. First-year Packers GM Brian Gutekunst has already made a ton of changes, and was never as loyal to McCarthy as longtime GM Ted Thompson was. Philbin is in his first year back in Green Bay after coordinating the offense from 2007 to 2011. While he’ll be a stable presence for the time being, he probably isn’t a serious candidate for the full-time job.
It’s not shocking at all
The timing is somewhat shocking. The writing was on the wall that he was on the way out, but it wasn’t expected this soon
Wild. Been 12 years
13
12.12
I don’t think his firing is a shock but I am surprised that it’s in season. Maybe they want to give Philbin an audition
He gone
Hot take!
So long Mike! Bring your stale offense to Cleveland!
He’s a winner who’s done all the Packers asked. Teams will be lining up to hire that guy.
Is Aaron being named offensive coordinator?
Look Aaron Rodgers wouldn’t be interested plus he’s not a coach he’s a player
that would be disastrous,rodgers is not a coach
Maybe McCarthy and Hue Jackson can team up tongorm a Super Team of Suck.
* to form
Almost had it
Disappointing results, discourage firing! That is the way business goes! Winning is everything and when you don’t well things happen…
I’m not one bit surprised they fired McCarthy; I’m just surprised they did it during the season. Today’s loss obviously crystallized that this is a lost season and it’s advantageous for the team to be able to start their search now and make a move quickly during the off season instead of having to wait to start their process.
Nothing shocking at all. He lost his team including its best player because he couldn’t evolve.
Yea it doesn’t help when you have Jones so clearly better than any other RB on team, yet you keep going to Williams and other crappy options
After this loss..finally
really I totally agree they should’ve fired him in preseason in his first year
Right. Playoffs 9 out of 12 years and a SB. What a bum.
Best wishes MM. But it’s been time for you to go awhile ago. No team discipline, horrible play calling, and failure to adapt lost the team and fans/owners. Coaching is more than relying on Rodgers to pull out a miracle.
Now paging Hue Jackson….
Not funny nice try
Lol if they didn’t do this after today they never would have
It’s too bad they have to probably wait until after the Super Bowl to hire McDaniels and bring the offense into this century. MM did some great things but should’ve been gone after Seattle playoff collapse.
A sad day for Boyd Dollar and James Taylor. We are all worried the team will move back to Milwaukee! What can we do?
I find it shocking that they didn’t wait u til the end of the season honestly. You take away a couple bad calls on Clay Matthews and that moron bit kneeling in the end zone when he was told to and the Packers could possibly have 2-3 more wins. I think everyone did see this coming but just not now. I think McCarthy deserved to finish the season out. Especially since he’s not the one putting these talentless teams together.
With that being said I hope he goes to the Browns and has success with Mayfeild, Landry, Chubb and that pretty solid defense they have. Just to rub in their faces. The fact that they never really surrounded Rodgers with talent on offense like other QBs have and their defense has sucked for years really should be noted and all the blame shouldn’t fall on McCarthy. Also if Rodgers was the “GOAT” like people day then he’d find ways to win like Brady and other QB’s do with limited talent around him.
What? They never surrounded him with talent on offense? That’s laughable. He’s had great receivers every year, decent to solid TE play and great o line most years and RB position in that offense was plug and play but that’s the scheme McCarthy had. Compare that to some of Brady’s (only because you mentioned him) #2 weapons some years (reche Caldwell, bethel Johnson, Aaron Dobson) to name a few awful WR groups he’s had. Don’t make excuses Rodgers worse tandems was beginning of Cobb and end of James Jones which was better than half of Brady’s. Not to mention several other top QBs
“He’s had great receivers every year”. Great??? WHAT? Thanks for proving you have absolutely zero knowledge on anything related to pro football.
Rodgers has had average to slightly above average(on few occasions) receivers throughout his career. Saying “great” is just ignorant. Brady had Moss a HALL OF FAMER for 4 years. Please tell us all which receiver ARod has had that will be in the hall of fame?
Donald Driver.
Jimmy Graham.
Haha woops my bad DD is only in the Packers Hall of Fame. I read it too quick to try and catch yah.
The first offer will be to Cower
Come to Sunny South Florida, Mike
Now if only lewis would be canned
Zimmer up in MN should be on the hot seat. Lots of $$ spent and disappointing, under performing results.
Yeah 1 win away from super bowl last year he’s gotta go lol that is just awful
Last year doesn’t matter in pro sports. Jax is likely going to blow up the whole team.
Picking up Kirk Cousins for crazy money is going to close a lot of options to Minnesota. Cousins has decent technical skills but is not a leader of men and seems to lose his composure under heavy pressure. Certainly not $90 million guaranteed worth of quarterback.
Zimmer’s made his bed and now he has to lie in it.
Attack of the quotation marks.
I’m a Vikings fan and I want to give him a juicy kiss.
Zimmer isn’t going anywhere but if he loses out or misses playoffs then his ass will be on the hot seat starting next year
Very good coach for all those years, developing some of the youngest rosters on the league.
Losing that game in Seattle in 2014 was the beginning .of the end. The team was special that year and in spite of the miracles on SEA and some insane penalties, that loss is on McCarthy.
Recent years — culminating in getting lapped by the pathetic Bears — have been worthy of firing.
He’ll be in the Packers HOF and remembered for a spectacular SB Win.
But there’s no question in my mind — he left wins on the field.
Tip my hat. But it’s time.
We’ll see how pathetic the Bears are in a couple of weeks.
Pathetic Bears are going to the playoffs while your Packers aren’t. Also don’t Blame McCarthy for the roster that falls on the GM’s. Also Rogers is so busy trying to pretend that Dana Patrick is really his significant other that his mind isn’t in the right place.
If we exclude this year’s Raiders, we see that 12 teams in the past have hired SB winning coaches hoping they could duplicate the magic. None were successful. Here is a breakdown of the coaches records after they left their SB winning team.
Lombardi Redskins 7-5-2 .583
Stram Saints 7-21-0 .250
McCafferty Lions 6-7-1 .462
Flores Seahawks 14-34-0 .292
Ditka Saints 15-33-0 .313
Parcells Jets/Pats 95-91-0 .511
Seifert Panthers 16-32-0 .333
Johnson Dolphins 36-28-0 .563
Holmgren Seahwawks 86-74-0 .538
Shanahan Redskins 24-40-0 .375
Vermeil Chiefs 44-36-0 .550
350-401-3 .466
And Marvin Lewis still has a job.
you didn’t add Parcells cowboys record not that it changes anything this is very interesting indeed so you are almost better off NOT hiring a coach who has won a SB before.
Good catch. Parcells total should be 95-81 which includes the Cowboys in addition to the Jets and Pats. Maybe McCarthy will join Gruden in the quest to win a ring with a different team but history shows the odds are firmly stacked against them.