Former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy isn’t a fan of how the team handled his firing.
The Super-Bowl-winning coach was canned this past season after it appeared the team was on a decline for a couple seasons. He was sent packing after a loss to the Cardinals, and he was not pleased by how it went down.
McCarthy told ESPN the following in a piece published Wednesday on team president Mark Murphy firing him:
It couldn’t have been handled any worse. Anytime you lose a close game, it’s a difficult time emotionally afterward, but when you lose a home game at Lambeau Field in December, it’s really hard. And that hasn’t happened very often. I walked out of my press conference, and I’m thinking about the game, thinking about how our playoff shot was now minimal. That’s where my head was at. And when I was told Mark Murphy wanted to see me — and the messenger was cold and the energy was bad. Mark said it was an ugly loss, and it was time to make change. He said something about the offense and the special teams, and he didn’t think it was going to get any better. There was no emotion to it. That was hard.
I can’t fault him for saying it couldn’t have gone worse. He was shown the door essentially right after a brutal loss. That can’t possibly be easy to stomach. It just can’t be.
Imagine losing in front of the entire country, and then getting fired minutes later. The fact he says there was “no emotion” makes it sound like it was a damn execution. (RELATED: Green Bay Packers Set To Hire Titans OC Matt LaFleur As Their New Head Coach)
Let’s also not forget that this man brought a Super Bowl to Green Bay. Then, he was fired in a way that I think would anger most people.
McCarthy is sitting this season out, but I have no doubt that he’ll be back to coaching sooner than later. Guys like him just can’t separate themselves from the game.
Plus, there are a lot of teams out there that would take him in a heartbeat. You can bet on that.
This firing will only look way worse in hindsight if the team goes out and doesn’t meet expectations. They might start wishing they had a coach with Super Bowl experience on the sideline.
As a Lions fan, nothing would make me happier than watching the Packers just continue to fall.