TxnsJuggernaut1
Veteran
Mike McCarthy climbed the ranks in the NFL because of his work with quarterbacks and his playcalling.
He made sure that when he became the head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 2006, he stayed true to that skill. Save for a 12-game stretch in 2015, when McCarthy felt it necessary to pay extra attention to his defense and special teams, he has always been the one to decide which play Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and a handful of other quarterbacks will run.
He would tell any first-time head coach to do the same, with one caveat.
"If he's good at it," McCarthy said during a recent interview about playcalling. "There's so much of our offense that's identified with our quarterbacks, and rightfully so, because we've had two Hall of Fame quarterbacks play here in my tenure, but the system of offense is to make the quarterback successful. It's a philosophy I learned in 1989 from Paul Hackett and through Bill Walsh and the West Coast offense. That's how I learned it, and I believe wholeheartedly in it.
"If you're known for something as a head coach, I feel your team should emulate that. That's why you got the job."
Sure, that makes it more difficult to have input into the other parts of the game, but it's why McCarthy hired veteran coordinators on defense (Dom Capers) and special teams (Ron Zook). Both have been head coaches, Capers at the NFL level and Zook in college.
Here's a look at playcalling through the eyes of several NFL head coaches: https://www.espn.com/blog/green-bay...-coaches-refuse-to-give-up-playcalling-duties
This is a few years old but still relevant and I think it still makes for a good read. It will be interesting to see if and when BO'b takes up play calling the offense again.
He made sure that when he became the head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 2006, he stayed true to that skill. Save for a 12-game stretch in 2015, when McCarthy felt it necessary to pay extra attention to his defense and special teams, he has always been the one to decide which play Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and a handful of other quarterbacks will run.
He would tell any first-time head coach to do the same, with one caveat.
"If he's good at it," McCarthy said during a recent interview about playcalling. "There's so much of our offense that's identified with our quarterbacks, and rightfully so, because we've had two Hall of Fame quarterbacks play here in my tenure, but the system of offense is to make the quarterback successful. It's a philosophy I learned in 1989 from Paul Hackett and through Bill Walsh and the West Coast offense. That's how I learned it, and I believe wholeheartedly in it.
"If you're known for something as a head coach, I feel your team should emulate that. That's why you got the job."
Sure, that makes it more difficult to have input into the other parts of the game, but it's why McCarthy hired veteran coordinators on defense (Dom Capers) and special teams (Ron Zook). Both have been head coaches, Capers at the NFL level and Zook in college.
Here's a look at playcalling through the eyes of several NFL head coaches: https://www.espn.com/blog/green-bay...-coaches-refuse-to-give-up-playcalling-duties
This is a few years old but still relevant and I think it still makes for a good read. It will be interesting to see if and when BO'b takes up play calling the offense again.
Last edited: