HarveyWallbangers
10-23-2007, 11:47 PM
Speaking of great names... Mike Hunt. That's an all-time favorite. I think that's straight of Porky's.
McCarthy, GM deserve kudos
By Michael Hunt, JSO
Green Bay - It was on Dec. 3 last season when you got the general impression that maybe Ted Thompson had blown it. By all the measurables, notably the score (38-10) and the venue (Lambeau Field) in which the atrocity had occurred, it certainly looked as if the Green Bay rookie coach had just been thoroughly schooled by the New York Jets' rookie coach.
The Packers were 4-8, having been outscored, 107-34, in three consecutive losses. Why had Thompson chosen such a relatively unknown and seemingly lost young coach to oversee one of the NFL's premier franchises? And how soon could Bob Harlan buy out both the general manager who had apparently misjudged coaching ability and the coach with the tenuous three-year contract?
The lesson to alarmists everywhere is that Mike McCarthy is 9-1 since. There is also a cautionary tale, in that the Jets' Eric Mangini, the 35-year-old NFL golden boy of 2006, is 1-6 this year and threatening to run off everyone from Chad Pennington to Fireman Ed, the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets guy.
That's the ephemeral nature of the league, but isn't it time that McCarthy started getting a little bit of credit for this apparent renaissance on Lombardi Ave.?
And, for that matter, the GM, for picking what is looking more and more like the right guy?
Now, two words - Charlie and Weis - come to mind whenever early contract extensions are mentioned. But in McCarthy's case, it's getting very close to that time. Let's see how the Packers cope with a Monday night game at Denver coming off a bye week and then a trip to Kansas City, but by all other standards, McCarthy's high risk in accepting a short-term deal should pay off in high reward.
All of the McCarthy qualities that Thompson originally sold to the shareholders - toughness, smarts, an ability to relate with the players - that were obscured by the 4-8 start punctuated by the New York experience are coming through at 5-1.
The player who matters most recognizes them.
"To be a good head coach is somewhat similar to being a good quarterback," Brett Favre said Tuesday. "Your general leadership qualities have to show up. You have to be believable in times where the odds are against you. To me, that's probably the most important quality."
The odds that the Packers would have one loss since the Jets debacle were microscopic, but somehow McCarthy has convinced a locker room to grasp the alternative.
"I remember Mike Holmgren, the first day he was talking to us, saying we were going to the Super Bowl," Favre said. "Of course, I thought we would that year. Guys actually believed it, but it took us several years.
"I've been around a long time and I've seen things done the right way and the wrong way. I tell Mike all the time, 'What you said to the team today was right on.' His philosophy and the toughness he brings to the table carries over. You sort of carry the identity of the head coach over time. I'm a firm believer in that. I think he's on the right track that way."
Favre also mentioned another one of McCarthy's undeniable qualities, that he is likeable, not that NFL players necessarily win for decent people. And a players' coach? What does that really mean?
"But he's fair, he's tough and you know where he stands," Favre said. "And you get a pat on the back after you do something well."
And that means something, even to a 38-year-old Canton-bound quarterback.
McCarthy, GM deserve kudos
By Michael Hunt, JSO
Green Bay - It was on Dec. 3 last season when you got the general impression that maybe Ted Thompson had blown it. By all the measurables, notably the score (38-10) and the venue (Lambeau Field) in which the atrocity had occurred, it certainly looked as if the Green Bay rookie coach had just been thoroughly schooled by the New York Jets' rookie coach.
The Packers were 4-8, having been outscored, 107-34, in three consecutive losses. Why had Thompson chosen such a relatively unknown and seemingly lost young coach to oversee one of the NFL's premier franchises? And how soon could Bob Harlan buy out both the general manager who had apparently misjudged coaching ability and the coach with the tenuous three-year contract?
The lesson to alarmists everywhere is that Mike McCarthy is 9-1 since. There is also a cautionary tale, in that the Jets' Eric Mangini, the 35-year-old NFL golden boy of 2006, is 1-6 this year and threatening to run off everyone from Chad Pennington to Fireman Ed, the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets guy.
That's the ephemeral nature of the league, but isn't it time that McCarthy started getting a little bit of credit for this apparent renaissance on Lombardi Ave.?
And, for that matter, the GM, for picking what is looking more and more like the right guy?
Now, two words - Charlie and Weis - come to mind whenever early contract extensions are mentioned. But in McCarthy's case, it's getting very close to that time. Let's see how the Packers cope with a Monday night game at Denver coming off a bye week and then a trip to Kansas City, but by all other standards, McCarthy's high risk in accepting a short-term deal should pay off in high reward.
All of the McCarthy qualities that Thompson originally sold to the shareholders - toughness, smarts, an ability to relate with the players - that were obscured by the 4-8 start punctuated by the New York experience are coming through at 5-1.
The player who matters most recognizes them.
"To be a good head coach is somewhat similar to being a good quarterback," Brett Favre said Tuesday. "Your general leadership qualities have to show up. You have to be believable in times where the odds are against you. To me, that's probably the most important quality."
The odds that the Packers would have one loss since the Jets debacle were microscopic, but somehow McCarthy has convinced a locker room to grasp the alternative.
"I remember Mike Holmgren, the first day he was talking to us, saying we were going to the Super Bowl," Favre said. "Of course, I thought we would that year. Guys actually believed it, but it took us several years.
"I've been around a long time and I've seen things done the right way and the wrong way. I tell Mike all the time, 'What you said to the team today was right on.' His philosophy and the toughness he brings to the table carries over. You sort of carry the identity of the head coach over time. I'm a firm believer in that. I think he's on the right track that way."
Favre also mentioned another one of McCarthy's undeniable qualities, that he is likeable, not that NFL players necessarily win for decent people. And a players' coach? What does that really mean?
"But he's fair, he's tough and you know where he stands," Favre said. "And you get a pat on the back after you do something well."
And that means something, even to a 38-year-old Canton-bound quarterback.