If you haven’t read ESPN’s Rob Demovsky’s interview with Mike McCarthy, then you are truly missing out. The former head coach of Packers opens the door on his downfall in Green Bay and how poorly he thought the organization handled his firing.
McCarthy certainly wasn’t negligent to the outside noise that comes with two straight losing seasons. Still, he didn’t expect things to unfold how they did following a December 2nd loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Team president Mark Murphy essentially pulled McCarthy in and told him it was time to make a change after an ugly loss that virtually eliminated the team from playoff contention.
Typically, the Packers are much more cordial in McCarthy’s eyes. It’s one big family even when tough decisions have to be made, however, he didn’t feel that was how the front office approached his departure.
“It couldn’t have been handled any worse,” he said. “There was no emotion to it. That was hard. Every time I released an individual, you get your words right. There’s a personal component to it. You know he has a family. He’s family. There wasn’t any of that. So that was off.”
Support began to pour in for McCarthy following the shocking news. He even said he believes he received more texts than when he won the Super Bowl.
McCarthy still lives in Green Bay and says the support from locals has been great. He and his family are beloved by the community and it will remain that way long after he is gone.
You won’t find McCarthy on the sidelines next year while he takes time off to reevaluate his options and continue to spend time with his family. His coaches study in his home is packed with playbooks dating back to his earliest of coaching days so the game of football will always be close.
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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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5 responses to “Mark Murphy Should Have Handled Things Differently”
Bob Harlan wouldn’t have handled it the way Murphy did. Big difference between those two guys. I would much prefer to have Harlan in the job.
I hope Mr. Murphy gets the same compassion when he is let go for being incompetent.
In contrast, incompetent GM Ted Thompson, who is mainly responsible for the poor roster Coach McCarthy had to work with, was retained as a “Senior Advisor” and will be inducted into the Packer Hall of Fame in May.
We’ve only heard one side of the story, I’m sure the other side would recall things a little differently.
Sorry, but big business isn’t a family. McCarthy got paid millions to win football games and he’s still getting paid $8 million this year for not coaching. I’m sure Murphy and the Packers Board have a much better idea than we do if McCarthy was doing his job or not.