The Carolina Panthers have begun their coaching search by interviewing former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy for their vacant head coach position, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter.
Panthers interviewed former Packers’ HC Mike McCarthy for their head-coaching job after their game against the Colts on Sunday, per league sources. Panthers declined comment on the coaching search.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 23, 2019
McCarthy was the head coach of the Packers from 2006-2018 and has a career record of 125-77-2 in the regular season and 10-8 in the playoffs. He was the head coach of the Packers when they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.
McCarthy fits the mold of what David Tepper has claimed to want in a new head coach. He is an offensive minded coach with an ‘old school football’ mentality. It has also been reported that he has completely re-vamped his playbook to align with a more analytical approach, which is the current trend among innovative NFL offenses.
For the record, I’m not sure that I want Tepper to give McCarthy the job. Sure, he’s done something that Ron Rivera never did by winning a Super Bowl, but he also had one of the best franchise quarterbacks in the history of the league in Aaron Rodgers for the entirety of his tenure — aside from a few seasons when Rodgers was hurt — and only managed to win one Super Bowl.
He also allegedly clashed with Rodgers about how the offense should run and was accused of mentally checking out, causing a rift between the coach and his players as the years went on until the Packers finally relieved him of his duties after the 2018 season ended. I’m not saying that McCarthy is 100 percent to blame for the failure to win more than one Super Bowl with the talented roster that Green Bay had during his time there, but I’m not sure I want to risk the future of the Panthers on the chance that he truly has changed his old-school mindset and learned from his mistakes.
I’m sure the Panthers aren’t going to hire him as soon as the season is over, or at least I think I’m sure... but the fact that he’s been interviewed so early in the process leads me to believe that he is indeed a prime candidate for the job. Tepper has said he wants someone with an offensive background and and old school mentality, and McCarthy checks both of those boxes. He also checks another important box for Tepper by being from Pittsburgh, so while fans may not love the decision there’s a very good chance that McCarthy is brought in to be the fifth full-time head coach in franchise history.
We’ll have more on this story as it develops, so stay tuned.