Last Sunday, the Green Bay Packers didn’t even wait until the postgame meal was served to unceremoniously dump head coach Mike McCarthy onto the ice-covered sidewalk. McCarthy’s tenure with the Packers ends with a record of 125-77-2 with a Super Bowl Championship tossed in there. With that kind of record and resume, it’s likely McCarthy will get another shot at coaching in the NFL.
Needless to say, the odds are out on who might hire the newly unemployed McCarthy. Take a look.
Mike McCarthy next head coaching position (before 9/1/19)
Atlanta Falcons +200
Tampa Bay Buccaneers +300
Cleveland Browns +350
New York Jets +500
Jacksonville Jaguars +750
New York Giants +1000
Cincinnati Bengals +1000
Arizona Cardinals +1500
Carolina Panthers +2000
Miami Dolphins +2500
Baltimore Ravens +3500
Dallas Cowboys +5000
Related: NFL Betting Guide | Week 14 Odds
First off, and I can’t be clearer on this, Mike McCarthy should never hold a job in the NFL again. He is and always has been a terrible coach and when you look back on Aaron Rodgers’ NFL career and ask yourself why he doesn’t have a fist-full of rings like Tom Brady, the blame falls solely on McCarthy’s swollen hump. Every single time Rodgers went down with an injury, McCarthy was exposed as a fraud. Without Tom Brady, Bill Belichick went 11-5 in 2008. When Brady was suspended in 2017 for four games, the Patriots were 3-1.
Without Rodgers, McCarthy was 5-10-1.
Mike McCarthy: “We’ll get ‘em next year!”
Aaron Rodgers and Packers: pic.twitter.com/fjXvjAvKFl
— Mostly Football (@MostlyFBShow) December 3, 2018
It’s a mystery to me how McCarthy even got the job in Green Bay in the first place. He was one of the worst offensive coordinators in the league before the Packers hired him in 2006. In one season in San Francisco (2005) he had Alex Smith labeled a bust and finished with the No. 30 ranked offense in all the NFL. There are only 32 teams. From 2000 to 2004, he was the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints. And these weren’t the Sean Payton/Drew Brees Saints. They were the garbage Jim Haslett/Aaron Brooks Saints that everyone in Louisiana has expunged from history. In 2003, they were ranked No. 17 in points. In 2004 they were No. 24. This is the guy the Packers hired.
Rodgers had never played for another coach, but I’m still surprised it took him this long to turn on McCarthy. I can only assume McCarthy was doomed by Rodgers’ injury last season, which allowed the future Hall of Fame quarterback to watch other teams and how their offenses seem to actually work with professional level route trees and play designs. It’s not something Rodgers has ever had in Green Bay.
Aaron Rodgers was “regularly” changing Mike McCarthy’s plays, nearly became a competition to see whose call was better, per @AlbertBreerhttps://t.co/iKcrqE9nWh pic.twitter.com/mBfBJQdhF0
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) December 4, 2018
The freelance work that Rodgers does? The magic? That all comes from horrible play design. Ideally, if a play is put together by a professional, a quarterback has made his reads by the time his back foot has planted and the ball comes out. Rodgers rarely gets the chance to do that simply because his receivers are never open when his plant foot hits. And it’s not because he’s had bad receivers. He’s had a bad offensive coach, play designer and play caller. I’m excited about what the Packers and Rodgers will be able to accomplish next season. I’m significantly less excited about what’s in store for whichever team saddles itself with McCarthy.
Who’s that going to be?
Well, Arthur Blank seems content to let the Falcons sink another year with Dan Quinn, so they don’t excite me as a prospective bet. The Browns have a real shot, but with Bruce Arians openly campaigning for the job, I don’t see how you don’t make that happen. Still, they have the second worst owner in the league in Jimmy Haslam so it’s definitely on the table. Plus, general manager John Dorsey worked with McCarthy in Green Bay.
Browns working on hiring Mike McCarthy as next head coach, per @FanSided https://t.co/hAQP6mKChI pic.twitter.com/PJdGTjuVhh
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 3, 2018
I don’t think the Jaguars, Giants, Panthers, Dolphins or even Cowboys will make coaching changes.
That leaves the Buccaneers, Bengals, Cardinals and Ravens. I’m not sure the Cardinals will dump Steve Wilks after a single season, even though they should. If the Ravens want to get anything out of Lamar Jackson’s talents, they need to get a restraining order against McCarthy and keep him out of the state of Maryland. That leaves the Buccaneers and the Bengals and a team that’s not even on the list, the Washington Redskins.
Entering this week, Mike McCarthy was 21-21-1 since the start of the 2016 season. (He just got fired for falling to 21-22-1.) In the same span, Jay Gruden's record is … 21-21-1.
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) December 3, 2018
The Bengals could always bring in McCarthy. But I suspect they won’t make a change either, unless Marvin Lewis decides to step down. If that happens, and this isn’t a joke, I think they’ll hire Hue Jackson or a recently fired Jay Gruden.
Even with Arians campaigning for the gig, the Browns are probably still your best bet here, followed by the Bucs.
