Mike McCarthy: A Green Bay Packers legend?
By Josh McPeak
Mike McCarthy is entering the final year of his current contract as head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
If you participate in social media at all, the vibe from the fans is one that McCarthy has not yet reached a status of a “Packers Legend.”
Vince Lombardi will always be remembered as the greatest coach to possibly ever coach the game of football – and rightfully so. Mike Holmgren only coached 126 total games in Green Bay and is considered a legend by the majority, if not all of the fan base. Heck, he’s even in the Packers Hall of Fame.
Mike McCarthy has coached the Packers for a total of 140 games thus far and accumulated a winning percentage of .637. That is fourth best in Packers history behind only Vince Lombardi, Mike Holmgren and Curly Lambeau.
So the question at hand is to why do so many not consider McCarthy a legend in Packers News even though he brought just that back to Green Bay – a title.
Packers President Mark Murphy and Ted Thompson have helped guide the Packers to one Super Bowl and domination of the NFC North Division. Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE
One of the key factors is that Ted Thompson has been given the majority of the credit for building a Super Bowl roster. Thompson is a great scout when it comes to talent and has struck gold in the draft several times, especially in the later rounds.
Ron Wolf was also able to build a Super Bowl roster during the Holmgren era not only through the draft but also through free agency. Wolf brought in the greatest free agent signing of all-time in Reggie White. However, it seems as though Coach Holmgren is given a great portion of the credit for the Super Bowl 31 title.
McCarthy entered Green Bay as a back of the pack candidate. He was the offensive coordinator of the 32nd-ranked offense in the NFL with the 49ers the year before he was hired by the Packers. McCarthy did have ties to Green Bay dating back to 1999 when he was the QB coach. Favre threw for more than 4,000 yards before the entire staff was relieved of their duties.
If you dive into McCarthy’s time in Green Bay you will see why he has had both success and some disappointing seasons along the way.
During his tenure with the Packers the offense has finished in the top five for points scored five out of eight seasons. While doing this the Packers have also accomplished it with six different leading rushers for the season.
The main contributor to the unsuccessful seasons for McCarthy was on the defensive side of the ball. Green Bay has finished in double digits for points given up five out of eight seasons.
One of McCarthy’s strong attributes is accomplishing goal number one of winning the NFC North every year. The McCarthy-led Packers have won the North fourt times under his helm while accumulating records of 9-5 against the Bears, 13-2 versus the Lions and 10-4 over the Vikings.
Mike McCarthy is a Super Bowl-winning coach, making nearly half of what an experimental coach in Philadelphia is making by the way of Chip Kelly.
McCarthy has been quoted as saying he would like to remain in Green Bay for a long time and he hopes this is just the halftime of his career.
I believe McCarthy is already a legend in Green Bay and if he does remain for another eight seasons I have no doubt he will only further add to that status and bring another title or two back to Packers News.