An admission of incompetance by MM.

[pbmax]

He scrapped his defensive staff almost entirely.
He gave up on his special teams coordinator.
He gave up on the guy who headed and designed his strength and conditioning program.

He got rid of 3/4 of the leaders he picked to run HIS program. This is a huge shake-up.

This is a lot more than firing a coordinator, that happens regularly. He gave up on the direction of most of his staff, except for offense.

now he needs to get rid of the guy calling the plays!

His offense has been pretty good two years running, you and McGinn aside. There are many teams who would give up large chunks of money to get this production, including one just to left of us on the map.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I like McCarthy. I thought he had a bad year, but I didn't have a problem with his playcalling in the previous two years. I think he'll rebound. I think he's the right mix of player's coach and hard@ss.

[Fritz]

My sense was that the Bates system seemed to be working okay, and TT had started drafting for it, so MM didn't want to rock that boat.

But something or someone clearly failed this year, so it was time to start again. I tend to agree with Harv on this one, though I agree with Patler that this is MM's first and last chance to fire coordinators and make wholesale changes. He gets his team in a position to need to do this again, he's gone, too.

I am mystified why Gullickson was canned.

[gbgary]

I like McCarthy. I thought he had a bad year... I think he's the right mix of player's coach and hard@ss.

i agree and i like him too...but i've always had issues with his play calling.

[Patler]

I am mystified why Gullickson was canned.

I would really like to know the thinking behind it. When he was brought in it was said to be because of his innovative program and use of free weights. This was not new but certainly not in the mainstream of contemporary thought. It seemed to work very well for two seasons.

I'm guessing that McCarthy must have had input from the medical staff criticizing the heavy emphasis on the use of free weights. One year with injuries and he seems to be scrapping the program. This is from Gullickson's bio on the Packer website:

Gullickson enters 2008 with the task of continuing the success of the team's detailed offseason program, which McCarthy referred to numerous times in his assessment of the Packers' success in 2007. In recognition of his efforts, Gullickson was named the NFL's Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year in 2007 by a vote of his peers in the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society.

[retailguy]

I like McCarthy. I thought he had a bad year, but I didn't have a problem with his playcalling in the previous two years. I think he'll rebound. I think he's the right mix of player's coach and hard@ss.

Jim Bates is probably sitting in his house in Oneida screaming at the TV saying - "See I TOLD you so"....

McCarthy isn't a bad guy by any stretch, but the whole "blue collar, drinking buddy" is getting a little stale though. He needs to deliver on some of the bravado, and so far it has been a mixed bag. Enough to get you questioning if Favre had more to do with it than it seemed, or, if he just merely road an unprecedented streak of luck.

Watching him in games, towards the end, when the "invetiable slide" was occuring, didn't seem to resonate with him very much. And the penalty thing? Two years running, with extreme penalties, you can't lay that anywhere except at the head coach.

After Singletary publicly humiliated Vernon Davis, you haven't heard much about him since... You can question Singletary's delivery, but it seemed to get some results...

We need some of that (without the whole pants dropping episode...)

[Cleft Crusty]

We need some of that (without the whole pants dropping episode...)

Nobody wants to see the Teddy Bear tattoo on McCarthy's huge white, pimply ass.

[Fritz]

One wonders how ol' Cleft knows so much about the state of MM's rear end...

[retailguy]

I am mystified why Gullickson was canned.

I would really like to know the thinking behind it. When he was brought in it was said to be because of his innovative program and use of free weights. This was not new but certainly not in the mainstream of contemporary thought. It seemed to work very well for two seasons.

[/quote]

Maybe they just didn't get along, or, Gullickson did something that McCarthy didn't agree with?

This just doesn't bother me so much. I don't understand it, but, all kidding aside, I think there is some truth to the "three envelopes" thing I posted in jest earlier today.

Sometimes, you just gotta make some bold moves. Perhaps McCarthy is getting a lot of heat privately. Perhaps the Docs were complaining. But, maybe, he's just making some reactive moves. (This would not be a good thing)

While I applaud doing something (when it looked like they weren't going to do anything), this does have a bit of a scattergun approach to the whole deal.

[Cleft Crusty]

One wonders how ol' Cleft knows so much about the state of MM's rear end...

I'm a dispassionate reporter with a tremendous array of sources. For all you know it could be that he once shared a hot tub with Mark Chmura.

[Fritz]

Yes, I would have to say it would take an array of sources to have that kind of inside info...

Cleft, you are a hero to us all.

[Kiwon]

A mistake(s) is not necessarily incompetence. 13-3 is still on his resume for instance.

I'm referring to incompetence in hiring a staff. If it was not, why did he fire so many?

To deflect blame and to buy himself some time (and hopefully improve the team).

He's probably got one season left to stabilize things.

WHAT will be interesting is the insider tales from the coaches who were fired. Sherman's former staff aired some dirty laundry. Let's see what happens here.

Could be that the TT veneer might get lifted a little higher. I wonder if Farve can resist the temptation to "Amen" any TT criticism.

[Fritz]

Who knows, right? If anyone would do so, my money's on Mike Stock.

[pbmax]

A mistake(s) is not necessarily incompetence. 13-3 is still on his resume for instance.

I'm referring to incompetence in hiring a staff. If it was not, why did he fire so many?

To deflect blame and to buy himself some time (and hopefully improve the team).

He's probably got one season left to stabilize things.

WHAT will be interesting is the insider tales from the coaches who were fired. Sherman's former staff aired some dirty laundry. Let's see what happens here.

Could be that the TT veneer might get lifted a little higher. I wonder if Favre can resist the temptation to "Amen" any TT criticism.

None of these guys strikes me as a Jeff Jagodzinski type, and he was the one, plus a single quote from the RB coach that he later backtracked on, that dished on Sherman.

Not saying it can't happen. Just not likely. Its much easier to complain about your treatment when your area of responsibility was playing well. The defensive coaches start any public pissing match in the hole of a 22nd ranked defense. And it wasn't just a single playoff breakdown that cost them their jobs.

[KYPack]

I am mystified why Gullickson was canned.

I would really like to know the thinking behind it. When he was brought in it was said to be because of his innovative program and use of free weights. This was not new but certainly not in the mainstream of contemporary thought. It seemed to work very well for two seasons.

I'm guessing that McCarthy must have had input from the medical staff criticizing the heavy emphasis on the use of free weights. One year with injuries and he seems to be scrapping the program. This is from Gullickson's bio on the Packer website:

Gullickson enters 2008 with the task of continuing the success of the team's detailed offseason program, which McCarthy referred to numerous times in his assessment of the Packers' success in 2007. In recognition of his efforts, Gullickson was named the NFL's Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year in 2007 by a vote of his peers in the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society.

Then in 2008, a former number 1 pick DT blew his back out under Gullickson's watch.

I'm sure it wasn't the only reason, but that did go down.

Colledge looks like he thrived under Rock's work, but there are any number of other young lineman & LB's who don't seem to be making great gains in the weight room.

That is the bottom line, isn't it?