Reports are starting to leak the names of the first couple head coaching candidates interviewed by team president Mark Murphy and general manager Brian Gutekunst. Former NFL head coaches Jim Caldwell and Chuck Pagano have reportedly visited the Packers recently inquiring about the job. Both have been out of the league for the 2018 season waiting for an opportunity like the one to be had in Green Bay. However, while the front office was expected to explore possibilities outside the current staff, current players are hoping that interim head coach Joe Philbin will be the front-runner once the season ends.
“I have zero clue (who the next coach will be), but I’d love for him to be. I’d love if the search stopped there, just because he’s aware of how I feel about him,” said receiver Davante Adams.
Keeping Philbin on would be a rocky move considering Mike McCarthy, the guy who brought him back to Green Bay, was fired only a month ago. The Packers appear to want to change the course of the franchise and it may not happen by sticking with a guy who has an extensive history with the team.
Green Bay’s offense has sputtered too often in 2018 with Philbin as the coordinator. By keeping Philbin on they risk having more of the same vanilla concepts that have led to their current problems.
Aaron Rodgers has had a down year per his standards but even he has been outspoken about Philbin possibly maintaining his current position.
“We want to play for Joe and give him the best opportunity possible,” Rodgers said after last Sunday’s overtime win against the New York Jets.
Players are obviously not going to come out and snub their coach, but they have responded well to Philbin. Following their abysmal loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the game after which McCarthy was fired, the Packers answered with a 34-20 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Then, they hung tight with the NFC North Champion Chicago Bears in week 15 and had an exciting come from behind win on the road this past Sunday. The only thing the players can do for Philbin is play well and finish strong against the Detroit Lions to conclude the season.
Say what you want about Philbin’s chances but he’s actually exceeding expectations considering where this team was headed. It will come down to his interview and how he envisions this team’s rebound from missing the playoffs two years in a row and getting Rodgers back to playing at an MVP level.
For now, he has Murphy and Gutekunst’s full attention.
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Brandon Carwile was a Cheesehead at birth. His dad grew up attending games at Lambeau and passed on the legacy. He has covered the Packers for over five years and currently works with packerstalk.com. Find him on twitter at @PackerScribe.
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9 responses to “Players Plan to Fight For Joe Philbin”
Locked on Packers brought up an interesting idea. While I’m not entirely excited about the idea, it is an intriguing one nonetheless…
You keep Philbin- but only under the condition that he can bring in Zac Taylor as the OC. Taylor and Philbin have ties for when they were on the same staff in Miami.
This idea can keep Pettine in as DC (which seems to be a preference based on their early interview candidates), and give the offense both some old and new elements. They can keep the familiar offensive foundation, but Taylor could bring in concepts from the Rams offense (misdirection, unpredictability, etc).
Should be an exciting offseason. Lots of change, and hopefully a strong turnaround for next season!
The offense must change schemes. Without a new voice I’m afraid they will stay the same. Predictable, route schemes, and Rodgers heavy on the pass only. No change, the same ole.
I’ve thought from the start that Philbin would be the guy. But I don’t like this idea that the players are running the show. I’ve been a player, a coach, and an official and the game works best when the players play, the coaches coach, and the officials officiate.
That said, Philbin is a fine choice. A former HC with long and deep ties to the org. And apparently a popular choice of the players,
This is a pretty strong signal that the focus is on winning with Rodgers for the next few years rather than a transition to a post-Rodgers future. Personally, I’d try to build a team that could win without him because right now we can’t, and I don’t like so many eggs in one basket.
I’m not surprised that some of the current players would be in favor of Philbin as HC, employees are always nervous about new management, change is hard. I don’t know anything about Philbin other than what I’ve seen & read, but I just suspect he’d keep everything pretty much the same without many changes.
And frankly, I think this organization will be much better off in the long run if it goes in a new direction in the future.
Need to fire Murphy but they won’t because it’s all about money. Murphy had the luxury of Rodgers youth and Rodgers being able to carry this team. Now that Rodgers can’t do it all anymore, we Are seeing what GB would have been under Murohy had Rodgers not been in GB. Murphy has made his career off taking the credit for Rodgers success. He has made a ton of money but hasn’t done a damn thing. McCarthy took over this team and took them to the Super Bowl for the win. Funny how Murphy has done absolutely nothing to improve this org and takes no responsibility. McCarthy took all the blame along with Capers. Whitt and Murphy should be fired. A better CEO would be able to get more out of a premiere QB like Rodgers.
I’m not sure how many times I can hear the word Geez over the next two years before he’s fired. That may be something that pushes me to another team for a couple years until he is no doubt fired. After living in Green Bay for three decades of my life I’ve since moved to the beautiful state of Florida and that doesn’t give me much hope so I might just be stuck with some leave it to beaver Silliness.
The Pack are more in need of a new starting right side of the O-line and overall O-line depth than a complete overhaul of the offensive philosophy. It’s hard for AR to work his magic if he has to spin out of the pocket after a two-count every play. Better line play might give Packer coaches a little more faith in the run game as well.
The OL better look different!!! Healthy players who are playing their natural positions.
What a joke. Philbin will take this team nowhere. Amazing how far this team is from where they were in 2010. Murphy is clueless bd doesn’t know how to hire any decent coaches. Except for Pettine. The defensive players on this team are garbage. Kenny Clark has 10.5 sacks after 3 years of play. That’s 3.5 sacks a year average. Garbage. First round production? Not even close. Kevin king is a bust and can’t stay healthy. Packers should of fired Joe Whitt when Capers was fired. He has ruined many good players. Damarious Randall had 84 tackles and 4 ints this year. Career highs. Why couldn’t Joe Whitt get that kind of production out of him or any of our other players? When our defensive players leave for.nee teams, they play twn times better than they did for the Packers. No accountability as usual. Murohy sucks and has driven this org into the dumps. Two losing seasons in a row now.