Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

GameBeforeTheMoney wrote:Ah, okay...the salary cap....that's good info....I first thought that if there was going to be a trade to Denver it would happen before the Broncos made their first pick and Green Bay would end up with that pick as part of the deal....

As for McCarthy being fired after two losing seasons -- If I remember right they still could have won out and finished 8-7-1 if they had won out. which oddly would have tied them with Minnesota at 8-7-1 and duplicated the two teams being tied with that exact same record in the late 1970s....although Minnesota won the division that year and it wouldn't have been good enough to make the playoffs in 2018. Just kind of a fun fact. Not debating the point that McCarthy seemed to have lost control of the mindset of the team and underacheived in the last two seasons. I do, however, think that the Sports Illustrated article that came out really created the situation that the new, inexperienced GM felt compelled to make a change immediately, and perhaps based more on public perception of trying to keep Rodgers happy than really having a plan. That's only my own theory however, based on what I've witnessed in watching NFL teams go through cycles of change over the years.

What I meant by it being an irresponsible hire is that you're giving two inexperienced people the keys to a franchise with one of the greatest quarterbacks in history going into a time in his career when a couple of similar standing quarterbacks (Elway, Brady) won Super Bowls. The Packers went with the "trend" or "new line of thinking" and copied the Rams and went that direction. A responsible hire is bringing in a GM and coach with real playoff success, people with significant track records that players are forced to respect, people who know how to handle tricky situations of great players playing out their careers and how to maintain a multi-generational winning franchise as the Packers have done for a long time. Instead, they brought in a couple of young, inexperienced people with literally no NFL playing or coaching experience. Expecting them to properly handle the window closing on one of the best quarterbacks in history is, again in my opinion, highly irresponsible. And really, it's unfair to Rodgers and it's somewhat unfair to the GM and coach who are given a situation that, unless they're both prodigies, they really can't be expected to handle something like that. Rebuilding a team with young talent? Sure, give them a chance. In this situation, bring in someone with longtime NFL experience for both positions.

13-3 is a great regular season record, yes. Getting to the NFC Championship two years in a row -- fantastic. But for those of us who have followed the Packers for a long time, I think it's pretty clear to see the difference between the desire and will of this team compared to those of the teams that won championships for the Packers. Also, the level of the details. Communication is clearly an issue, as is often the case with inexperienced people running the ship. Rodgers is apparently upset because of not being told about the Jordan Love choice and what their plans were. Also, he said that he threw the 3rd down pass at the end of the NFC Championship away because he figured, like a lot of us, that they'd go for it on fourth if they didn't make it.

Expanding this thread a bit, some reporters are speculating that Rodgers might just retire and then later sign with or get a trade to another team later. He wouldn't be the first player to do that. Claude Humphrey did that, I believe. In his "A Football Life" Aikman said he retired in part because he feared his legacy was at stake. He also has said that he almost came back to the Dolphins. Anybody else in that category? I notice someone's already mentioned Rolf Bernischke -- Rodgers could go the game show route as well.

GameBeforeTheMoney wrote:Ah, okay...the salary cap....that's good info....I first thought that if there was going to be a trade to Denver it would happen before the Broncos made their first pick and Green Bay would end up with that pick as part of the deal....

As for McCarthy being fired after two losing seasons -- If I remember right they still could have won out and finished 8-7-1 if they had won out. which oddly would have tied them with Minnesota at 8-7-1 and duplicated the two teams being tied with that exact same record in the late 1970s....although Minnesota won the division that year and it wouldn't have been good enough to make the playoffs in 2018. Just kind of a fun fact. Not debating the point that McCarthy seemed to have lost control of the mindset of the team and underacheived in the last two seasons. I do, however, think that the Sports Illustrated article that came out really created the situation that the new, inexperienced GM felt compelled to make a change immediately, and perhaps based more on public perception of trying to keep Rodgers happy than really having a plan. That's only my own theory however, based on what I've witnessed in watching NFL teams go through cycles of change over the years.

What I meant by it being an irresponsible hire is that you're giving two inexperienced people the keys to a franchise with one of the greatest quarterbacks in history going into a time in his career when a couple of similar standing quarterbacks (Elway, Brady) won Super Bowls. The Packers went with the "trend" or "new line of thinking" and copied the Rams and went that direction. A responsible hire is bringing in a GM and coach with real playoff success, people with significant track records that players are forced to respect, people who know how to handle tricky situations of great players playing out their careers and how to maintain a multi-generational winning franchise as the Packers have done for a long time. Instead, they brought in a couple of young, inexperienced people with literally no NFL playing or coaching experience. Expecting them to properly handle the window closing on one of the best quarterbacks in history is, again in my opinion, highly irresponsible. And really, it's unfair to Rodgers and it's somewhat unfair to the GM and coach who are given a situation that, unless they're both prodigies, they really can't be expected to handle something like that. Rebuilding a team with young talent? Sure, give them a chance. In this situation, bring in someone with longtime NFL experience for both positions.

13-3 is a great regular season record, yes. Getting to the NFC Championship two years in a row -- fantastic. But for those of us who have followed the Packers for a long time, I think it's pretty clear to see the difference between the desire and will of this team compared to those of the teams that won championships for the Packers. Also, the level of the details. Communication is clearly an issue, as is often the case with inexperienced people running the ship. Rodgers is apparently upset because of not being told about the Jordan Love choice and what their plans were. Also, he said that he threw the 3rd down pass at the end of the NFC Championship away because he figured, like a lot of us, that they'd go for it on fourth if they didn't make it.

Expanding this thread a bit, some reporters are speculating that Rodgers might just retire and then later sign with or get a trade to another team later. He wouldn't be the first player to do that. Claude Humphrey did that, I believe. In his "A Football Life" Aikman said he retired in part because he feared his legacy was at stake. He also has said that he almost came back to the Dolphins. Anybody else in that category? I notice someone's already mentioned Rolf Bernischke -- Rodgers could go the game show route as well.

rhickok1109 wrote:To turn the question on its head: How often has a coach with a well-established QB been fired?

Brian wolf wrote:Though he wasnt fired, I still couldnt believe Holmgren would leave Favre. It seemed obvious that Wolf was still upset with the Packers losing to the Broncos but was Holmgren just wanting more power as GM and HC or just wanting to get away from Wolf ?

You would think he would want to keep winning championships in GB but maybe he felt Favre was to the point of being uncoachable or still capable of losing himself in addiction or alcohol, though that never kept him from playing on sundays. Maybe Holmgren was thinking he could lead two QBs to championships with Hasselbeck and he came close but who knows ? Is Holmgren a HOF coach ?
I think so but it takes alot of cojones to leave a great QB ...

They had gone through decades of giving lots of power to Bengtson, Devine, Starr, Gregg and having it not work. They were not going to make Holmgren GM and coach. Holmgren left.

7DnBrnc53 wrote:1979 was the major example, when Starr ignored Red Cochrane. Then, in 81, he took Rich Campbell. Lloyd Eaton, their West Coast scout, came out and said that he couldn't play (this was after they met with Ronnie Lott):