Fansided
Fansided

Green Bay Packers: Possible Mike McCarthy replacements

By Erik Lambert

FORT WORTH, TX - OCTOBER 20: Head coach Lincoln Riley of the Oklahoma Sooners leads his team against the TCU Horned Frogs in the fourth quarter at Amon G. Carter Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX - OCTOBER 20: Head coach Lincoln Riley of the Oklahoma Sooners leads his team against the TCU Horned Frogs in the fourth quarter at Amon G. Carter Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Green Bay Packers are fast approaching a possible divorce with head coach Mike McCarthy, the second-longest tenured in franchise history.

It certainly feels like the glory days of that Super Bowl win in 2010 are long gone. Even though he still has Aaron Rodgers, the Packers aren’t the imposing team everybody once feared. They’re in 3rd place in the division and fresh off a gutwrenching loss in Seattle. One where McCarthy made a series of key mistakes that led to the defeat. Now they get to sit at home and watch their hated rival Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings battle for NFC North lead.

It would seem according to Ian Rapoport that the problems don’t just stop with the losing. There’s also an apparent disconnect between McCarthy and Rodgers. Something that has been building for a while over the direction of the offense. A general lack of creativity and such.

"“And there’s a couple reasons why. One of them does involve the disconnect with Aaron Rodgers — the tension there regarding the direction of the offense. Rodgers has been pretty vocal about his frustration with play-calling and the lack of creativity was there on Thursday night. That, of course, is something [Packers] CEO Mark Murphy will have to make a big decision on at the end of the year.”"

If this holds true to the end of the year and McCarthy is indeed out, then that likely means the entire focus of the coaching search will be finding somebody who can correct that issue and maximize the years Rodgers has left. So who could it be?

Josh McDaniels (OC, New England Patriots)

The buzz around McDaniels reached new levels of weird this past offseason. Everything looked like he was ready to become the head coach in Indianapolis, then at the last second, he begged off to remain offensive coordinator for the Patriots. The general belief is he’s being groomed as the eventual successor to Bill Belichick. However, with Tom Brady seeming like he’s finally starting to fade and no heir to the throne in place, a chance to pair with Rodgers may be what gets him to commit.

Lincoln Riley (HC, Oklahoma)

This is the hot name people have talked about for some time. Riley turned Baker Mayfield into the #1 overall pick at Oklahoma and now he’s working magic with Kyler Murray. The guy is a creative offensive mind who is clearly beneficial to quarterbacks though his management of defenses can be called into question. There’s no doubt that he can bring a breath of fresh air that Rodgers seems to be looking for. Whether Green Bay can pry him from a sweet gig at OU? Hard to say.

Todd Monken (OC, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

The offensive explosion the Buccaneers experienced to start the season was thanks to the play calling prowess of offensive coordinator Todd Monken. He got the job this year and has done great work with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Players were upset when head coach Dirk Koetter took play calling duties away from him. Monken is a former wide receivers coach and actually has head coaching experience too. He ran the show at Southern Mississippi for three seasons from 2013 to 2015.

Home/NFL Hot Takes