When Packers CEO Mark Murphy took the matter of selecting the new head coach of the Packers in his own hands, he got a lot of heat from the local media. Why? He had hired a GM one year ago and now stripped the power of taking this important decision away from Gutekunst.
Now, as the CEO of the Packers he has every right to do so. The problem was: He is, other than 31 other CEO’s of NFL teams, not an owner. He’s “just” hired by the Packers owners to do their job for them.
Besides building Titledown District, Mark Murphy – up to this point – had been a silent voice in the loud circus of the NFL. Now he changed that, knowing what kind of criticism he would put himself up to. Not many voices were as rational as for example an Aaron Nagler who summed up the situation by saying Murphy had a lot of experience in the field of hiring and firing and also a lot of football experience and he had every right to do so, but would have to face the heat when it wouldn’t work out.
Well, I think until now we can all agree it worked out. He took matter into his own hands and hired the best available coach for his team. Matt LaFleur convinced Murphy first, but in the course of the season he convinced the whole team that he had the solutions this team needed in order to win games.
The offense doesn’t play spectacular and Rodgers wasn’t up to his normal game most of the season, but the Packers did enough to win 13 NFL games, which has never been seen before in Green Bay with a new head coach and in two days they’re playing the 49ers with a chance of going to Miami and win the Super Bowl.
Mark Murphy was the first piece of the puzzle that made this radical change possible. He stepped up, took responsibility and got a lot of heat for it.
Now, no one writes about Murphy (writing that you were wrong isn’t that much fun) so I want to be the one doing it – back then, I was cautiously optimistic and I was also of the opinion that Murphy had a lot more experience than Brian Gutekunst. I also think they both agreed on LaFleur, so the decision wasn’t a hard one. Still, a great job by Mark Murphy hiring the right guy – thanks for that! Now, let’s look forward to Sunday and cheer for the Packers winning the NFC Championship Game and the George Halas Trophy!
Max Sachs is an international Packers fan from Germany. As a part of the Packers Germany, he tries to convince everyone around him to cheer for the greatest franchise on earth - or to start with, for American football in general. You can find him on Twitter @KaesekopfDE (the german translation for cheesehead).