The Green Bay Packers are still reeling from their devastating loss in the NFC Championship game and the ramifications are being felt in the Packers’ front office. Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel points out that the Packers’ 7-man executive committee is not happy and may have influenced head coach Mike McCarthy into giving up play-calling duties. For those of us over the age of 35 that is extremely disturbing.
From 1969 to 1991 the Packers’ executive continually involved itself in football operations and because of that the Packers endured one of the worst stretches of futility ever seen in American sports. If the current regime is again trying to influence football decisions the Packers are again in big trouble. Former Packers’ president Bob Harlan successfully turned over all football decisions to then general manager Ron Wolf and that arrangement resulted in the Packers becoming a model NFL franchise and includes a 23-year run of success matched by few other teams.
If the executive committee starts sticking their nose in football operations again you can bet general manager Ted Thompson won’t be around long and McCarthy probably won’t be either. And good luck trying to get quality people to come to Green Bay when they have to listen to local car salesmen on how to run the team. While the loss to Seattle was definitely a major disappointment, the team can’t change its whole structure because of one game. Current president Mark Murphy needs to come out and nip this in the bud before the executive committee gets any more involved. The problem is Murphy wasn’t with the Packers during those lean years and may not really know how bad it can get.
I agreed with McCarthy’s reasoning for making the play-calling move, Tom Clements knows the offense as well as anybody and has a great relationship with quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But if this was indeed a forced move, it will most definitely end badly. It almost has the feeling of 2005 when Mike Sherman was relieved of his general manager duties but remained head coach. Things were never the same after that move and the Packers slumped to 4-12 after making the playoffs four years in a row.
The Packers will be under a microscope in 2015 to see how McCarthy’s big moves pay off, if they do at all. If the Packers were to miss the playoffs the heat will really be on. Suddenly things do not seem as rosy at 1265 Lombardi Ave.