Saints expected to be very interested in former Packers/Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy [McCarthy will interview early next week] (28 Viewers)

[guillermo]

There are pros and cons on this possible signing as with every other candidates.

The most important thing is that with McCarthy you know what you get. A very competitive coach, who has not been able to take the next step after winning one Super Bowl.

To me, his weakest point is to keep calm in high pressure situations. There was terrible management of plays and clock on some of Dallas' playoff games. Makes you wonder about preparation and communication on the last 2 minutes of the game.

One thing I will be very curious about, is McCarthy building a staff. In Dallas, when named coach he inherited Kellen Moore and hired Dan Quinn. It seems that Mike Zimmer was another Jerry Jones' hires.

I think McCarthy will be comfortable inheriting Kubiak and Rizzi, if no better choices are available, but I have no clue how will he build a new defence for the saints.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

My least favorite candidate is Mike McCarthy. He is the high-floor, low ceiling candidate. If you feel we need a real change in direction and culture, he is not the coach. He is the status-quo choice. On the other hand, if you believe that the Saints have been victims of bad luck and bad bounces and are legitimate contender, then he may be your high guy. He would bring some stability. He is not a bad coach. But at this stage of his career, he is a mediocre coach.

Yes, he has great career numbers. But in Green Bay, he had Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers as his quarterbacks, an incredible front office led by Bob Harlan and Mark Murphy, and very talented teams. And he had talent in Dallas. There are reasons other than Katrina that Sean Payton wanted badly the Green Bay job in 2006.

Are there people in Green Bay who think the Packers should have kept McCarthy and would prefer McCarthy over LaFleur? Not many. And I suspect most in Dallas think Jerry kept McCarthy too long as head coach. There are reasons that two different teams parted ways with him.

Regarding the question of whom do I prefer, I am tended to say none of the above. I am not thrilled about Glenn--who seems to be the prohibitive favorite. I would open the field as wide as possible and am willing to throw deep. We are going nowhere in the next two years anywhere. My fear is that two years from now some reporter will be asking Loomis why he is right person to be general manager, and he will still be saying because he had success before. I wonder if Mickey uses that criterion for evaluating his financial advisor. I doubt it.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

Guillermo, he builds a defense by hiring Mike Zimmer.

Were Zimmer six to eight years younger, he would be someone I would be interviewing to be head coach. He may have had an off year in Dallas, but he knows defense.

 

[SWJJ]

People are not considering the circumstances of the Cowboys Playoff losses. None of them were a result of "bad coaching." in 2023 when they lost to the Packers, they had some serious injuries, including Trevon Diggs who did not play and Cooks played gimpy and couldn't run full speed. Then Pollard lost a fumble in the second quarter, and on the next possession (I think) Dak thru a pick 6. McCarthy did not let the team roll over and die. They battled back from a 27-0 deficit to a final score of 48-32.

The 2022 Cowboys playoff loss was a tight well-played game against the 49ers. Pollard broke his Fibula in the first half and because of Jerry Jones, Jerry jonesing, the cowboys were forced to rely on a washed-up Ezekiel Elliot for their run game, handicapping what the offense could do.

The 2021 Cowboys loss to the 49ers was an epic battle. They lost Micah Parson in the first quarter with a concussion. The cowboys got jobbed when the refs took too long to spot the ball and the clock ran out before they could spike it, they were around San Frans 20 and should have had a chance to win the game. Final Score 23-17.


It's not like McCarthy's teams are not showing up in the playoffs. The dude has 11 post season wins. Andy Reid had 16 post season losses, Belichick 13, Mike Tomlin 11, and Sean Payton 10.


McCarthy is a SIGNIFICANT upgrade over what we have had since Payton left. I know he has "Cowboys stink" on him, so it's easy to hate, but the notion that he can't build teams and can't win is nonsensical.

 

[Saint Greg]

Sounds like a good coordinator. What about that will make him a good head coach?

You really don't know if any of these coordinators will be good head coaches.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

SWJJ, this hopefully will be my last post for some time. I will let others weight in. But these are my ultimate questions with McCarthy. Why do those in Green Bay believe the Packers were right in letting him go and are happy with that decision? Why do most in Dallas--I suspect--believe the Cowboys needed to move on from McCarthy? Regarding the first question, I believe the folks in Wisconsin are thrilled that McCarthy left and believe that LaFleur is a better coach. I have a friend in Green Bay who knows more about the history of the team than nearly anyone alive and has contacts in the building, so I can ask and provide a detailed account of why the Packers moved on from McCarthy.

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

You really don't know if any of these coordinators will be good head coaches.

I know. That's why I find these pronouncements of confident assurance so silly.

 

[Saint Greg]

I know. That's why I find these pronouncements of confident assurance so silly.

And you don't know if the retreads are going to be good either. In our last cycle Doug Pederson had the best resume. Fired. Daboll was the hottest coordinator...Hanging by a thread now with the Giants.

 

[St. Geezy]

Yes, he has great career numbers. But in Green Bay, he had Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers as his quarterbacks, an incredible front office led by Bob Harlan and Mark Murphy, and very talented teams. And he had talent in Dallas.

Since when are we discrediting coaches accomplishments because they had talent?

Isn’t the objective of hiring a coach is to get a guy that knows how to win with talent?

I just don’t get this statement. One could say SP had Drew Brees as his quarterbacks, Bill Walsh had Joe Montana, Bill Belichick had Tom Brady, etc.

Guys deemed to be good coaches tend to have good players and also tend to have good quarterbacks.

 

[DavidM]

I always said relative to the Allen hate, that I’d only ever judge him if it seemed he wasn’t attempting to fix the team’s issues.

Allen tried to do what was right. He brought in a veteran QB, the changed the coordinators, he brought in Gruden to consult - he made an effort to adapt and change but at the end of the day, he just wasn’t good enough to lead an entire team. Very good defensive coordinator, but bad head coach. It happens.

That’s why part of me is interested in Glenn, despite my desire for offensive innovation. I want to see what he can do with HC job.

Agree with everything with the exception that Glenn is lower on my list of preferences.

I lean more favorably towards some of the offensive candidates this cycle, and I’ve acknowledged that I’ve been underwhelmed with Glenn going back to his time here. However, I do recognize that he seems highly thought of and might have the skills necessary to be a good head coach, that can’t necessarily be observed in stats and standings.

 

[St. Widge]

Not really. No. He inherited a good team in Dallas and still underachieved. The guy was been fired twice, and one of those times was a player mutiny. Good coaches get extensions, not fired. Especially in Green Bay.

McCarty coached in Green Bay for 12 years. I'm not sure exactly how many extensions he got there, but I'd say the minimum would be two extensions. So you have created a false narrative that he was never extended in Green Bay. And, the reason he was finally let go in Green Bay is because Rodgers is insane and that has been made clear in his time in Green Bay after McCarthy left and now with the Jets. And, neither Rodgers nor Green Bay have won a Super Bowl after they let McCarthy go.

And he was not fired in Dallas. His contract was up. They were negotiating a new contract and they could not agree on the terms. There are some reports that McCarthy walked away because Jones wanted to put limits on the number of coaches on his staff. That's not the same thing as getting fired. And even if he was fired, many great coaches were fired, i.e. Andy Reid and Bellichick. I could go on, but I hope you get the point that coaches, even very good coaches get fired sometimes.

So, these are all made up issues with McCarthy. There are real issues like the number of penalties his teams have, the fact that he is 61 so he is only a stop gap coach, the fact that he's never really had to develop a QB as a head coach, the fact that he doesn't really seem to be a big culture setter, but for some reason many prefer to create false narratives about him instead of talking about the real issues.

In the end regardless of any issues with McCarthy, the fact is the man wins. He has a .608 career winning percentage, more playoff wins than Payton, 4 NFC Championships, and one Super Bowl win. All these things keep getting said about him but all he does is win. I'd prefer a young offensive coach and I might even prefer Glenn because he's everything I want in a HC other than being a defensive coach, but the lengths people are going to arguing that McCarthy would be a terrible hire are ridiculous and the majority of them are just fales. He's boring, he's fat, he doesn't have a great personality, he doesn't have a dynamic offense, but he wins. And in the end isn't that what should matter to us?

 

[Saint Greg]

Yes, he has great career numbers. But in Green Bay, he had Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers as his quarterbacks, an incredible front office led by Bob Harlan and Mark Murphy, and very talented teams. And he had talent in Dallas. There are reasons other than Katrina that Sean Payton wanted badly the Green Bay job in 2006.

What do you think about his 9-5 record with Cooper Rush at starting QB?

 

[St. Widge]

12-5 and top 5 scoring offense in the league 3 of the last 4 years is not good? He led the Packers to 4 straight NFC North titles from 2010 to 2014 and again in 2016. That's less than 15 years ago, yeah?

Won the division twice with the Cowboys and had 3 consecutive 12-5 seasons with a top 5 offense. Dak struggled in the playoffs tho. He's not a Mahomes or Brees or even Rodgers. He's struggled in high pressure moments. That's not a coaching issue.

But i guess you don't care about results.

We have to look beyond the results. It's strange how we blast Loomis for saying that, but when it comes to coaches we might hire, it's somehow the way you should look at things.

 

[sfidc3]

Nope, Haslett was a Defensive coach and was not making that call!

Haslett was the HC.....you don't think he has sway over who starts at QB? Interesting and telling.....do you have a source for this being McCarthy's decision and his alone? Because all I remember was Haslett after the season trying to prove to anyone that listened that Brooks was ok.....he had shoulder surgery shortly after.....stop with the BS.....

I don’t want Sean Payton either, unless you’re talking about getting a Time Machine an hiring 2006 young budding offensive mind Payton.

Sorry, can't take you seriously, the job he has done this year has been remarkable....

 

[St. Widge]

Again, people love to take away the context and point to numbers.

Were you saying this about Dennis Allen?