Hooked On A Feeling About McCarthy » Brats & Beer

January 12, 2006
posted under: coaching carousel, Mike McCarthy, Packers

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Mike McCarthy is going to be the 14th head coach of the Green Bay Packers. I mean, how out of the universe of people available did Ted Thompson decide he was the guy? When the search for a new coach began, McCarthy was an afterthought in the minds of most people. The Journal Sentinel said four days ago, “Of all the candidates being considered for the Green Bay Packers’ head-coaching job, San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy has flown lowest beneath the radar,” and the Press-Gazette admitted “Mike McCarthy isn’t one of the hot assistant coaches whose name pops up on all the lists of NFL teams looking for a head coach.” Maybe he has compromising pictures of Dick LeBeau and can snag the Steelers’ defensive coordinator to replace Jim Bates, who I can only imagine will be on his way out.

But then there’s the Ron Wolf factor in all this. After he fired Ray Rhodes following what we thought then was a disastrous 8-8 season, Wolf reportedly tried to keep McCarthy around as QB coach, but Mike Sherman wanted to bring in his own staff. “I was very impressed with how he presented himself, and when he said something, it was well explored and not just off the seat of his pants,” Wolf told the Press-Gazette a few days ago. Wolf insists he didn’t recommend McCarthy to Thompson, but since TT was around as personnel director in 1999, I’m sure Wolf’s opinion about him rubbed off. Asked about his process of selecting a head coach, Wolf has said that the key is to interview enough people and then “a little bell goes off.” I’m just wondering who was ringing that bell for Thompson.