After the Green Bay Packers lost to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, it was clear the team was going to make a head coaching change. And while it was a surprise that Mike McCarthy was fired after the loss, Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy knew it was was the right thing to do.
Murphy was recently on WTMJ radio and he explained why he thought it was time for the Packers to hire a new head coach.
"The way the season had played out, I just felt that we needed a change,” Murphy said. “It wasn’t anything particularly that [McCarthy] did wrong. I just felt that the message had become stale and we needed a new voice."
When McCarthy was fired, the Packers made offensive coordinator Joe Philbin the interim head coach. McCarthy did not have a chance to inform the players he was gone as soon as the news came down. However, Murphy said McCarthy got a chance to say goodbye to the players and coaches on Wednesday.
The Packers will face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday with Joe Philbin as the interim head coach. Make sure you’re in the loop – take five seconds to Sign up for our FREE Packers newsletter now!
“Mike came in and spoke to the team yesterday. I thought that was good. I think Mike wanted some closure with the players and some of the other coaches to thank them and say goodbye to them as well.”
Another reason Murphy decided to let McCarthy go now instead of waiting until the end of the month when the season came to an end is they wanted to get a head start on the coaching search. Murphy said Philbin is a candidate to be the Packers head coach in 2019 and he already made a big move as he fired Winston Moss who was the associate head coach and he also coached linebackers.
“I think it’s important obviously that everybody’s on the same page, that we’re all moving forward in the same direction,” Philbin said during his press conference on Wednesday. “As you know, Winston’s an excellent football coach, I’ve known him a long time. Respect him, outstanding family man. So, it wasn’t an easy decision, but I just didn’t feel like the fit right now was where it needs to be.”
Before Moss was fired, he shared a Tweet that criticized the team for firing McCarthy. Philbin said that wasn't the reason Moss was let go.
“It’s never about one thing,” Philbin said. “I think it’s important, as I said to the team, we’ve got to be professional, accountable, respectful and punctual. Those are the four things that we’ve got to do the next four weeks. And if we do all those things, we’ll be in good shape. You’re talking to a guy who’s never tweeted in his life, doesn’t even know what Twitter is, so it’s not about a tweet or anything like that. I just think the fit right now isn’t where it needs to be.”
No matter who the Packers hire as the next head coach, the pressure will be on them to win and be a Super Bowl contender which was something McCarty did during his 13-year tenure in Green Bay.