New York Jets: Mike McCarthy should be on shortlist for head coach candidates
If fans of the New York Jets want an experienced NFL head coach to lead this team, Mike McCarthy should undoubtedly be on that list.
The Green Bay Packers have parted ways with Mike McCarthy after a rough season in 2018. It’s time for the New York Jets to consider him to be a suitable replacement for their potential head coaching vacancy in the offseason.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, there is another job open that might be more attractive than the Jets.
According to Fansided’s Matt Verderame, the Browns are already looking at McCarthy as a replacement for Gregg Williams.
"Sources have told FanSided that the Browns are already working on exploring whether they will hire McCarthy. McCarthy has obvious ties to the Cleveland front office, most-notably general manager John Dorsey, vice president of player personnel Alonzo Highsmith and assistant general manager Eliot Wolf."
Would the Jets be a good fit for McCarthy, and should they pursue him anyway? The answer to the second part of the question is yes. There’s no harm in going after McCarthy. The first part of the question, though, requires some deep diving.
His time in Green Bay didn’t exactly end as smoothly as one would hope. There were reported rifts between him and Aaron Rodgers, and it’s not just recent. According to Jeff Saturday (via Mike Freeman), Rodgers questioning McCarthy goes back to 2012.
Jeff Saturday, on ESPN, on his last year in GB with Aaron Rodgers: "...when you'd be in the huddle, and Mike McCarthy would make the play call, you could see Aaron's frustration. Whether it be the eye roll..."
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) December 3, 2018
Said a lot of the players questioned the play calls.
That being said, the Packers are hardly the typical franchise. They’re a community owned franchise, and they’re also one that doesn’t typically spend in free agency.
He also has the pedigree of building Rodgers from the ground up. Under his watch, Rodgers developed into a total different quarterback from his time at the University of California.
The Packers were 4-12 the season before McCarthy got there. After developing Rodgers, they made the playoffs in nine out of the next ten seasons and won a Super Bowl. We only have one team with which to work off of, but it seems like McCarthy is more of a builder that can mold a team and turn it into a champion rather than a sustainer like Belichick.
Since the Jets are a rebuilding team, McCarthy might just be the guy to right the ship in New York. Things may have soured at the end, but that might be a case of staying in one place for too long and having your words wear thin.
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There have been 494 coaches in the NFL, and only 35 have a winning percentage of at least .600. McCarthy is one. Bill Parcells once famously said that you are what your record says you are, and even though there are mitigating circumstances in some instances, you can’t argue with 125-77-2.