Thursday, January 04, 2018

Mike McCarthy's New Year's Resolution Is To Fire All His Assistant Coaches

The Green Bay Packers formally announced yesterday what was reported everywhere on Sunday and Monday - DC Dom Capers has been fired, along with DL coach Mike Trogvac and ILB coach Scott McCurley.
Then it was reported from multiple sources that QB coach Alex Van Pelt would not return and OC Edgar Bennett would no longer be the offensive coordinator, though Bennett remains under contract.
For a conservative organization that usually makes few changes in the offseason, this is an amazing turn of events. It's also odd considering the player contract extensions handed out the week before. Right before the front office and coaching staff is undergoing a complete overall, they took steps to bring back the same players for next season.
Adams was their best receiver last season and it makes a lot of sense to bring him back despite already having two other high priced receivers on the roster (Cobb, Nelson). The Packers have the cap room. Linsley probably had his worst season as a pro in 2017 which probably not coincidentally was his first season not playing alongside either Sitton or Lang at guard. He did get better throughout the season though.

As for Van Pelt, he was originally hired in 2012, seemingly at the request of Aaron Rodgers, as a coach with prior NFL QB experience though he wasn't officially his QB coach until a couple years later. Unlike most NFL OC, the job requirements in Green Bay aren't exactly clear, because on game day it's Mike McCarthy calling the plays. I've always thought the OC got the offense ready to play their next opponent during the week leading up to the game with few duties during the game itself. Van Pelt was usually seen on camera during games sitting next to Hundley with a tablet showing him what he just missed on his previous 3rd down incompletion.
No matter what QB statistical list you pull up for 2017, it's likely you'll find Hundley at the bottom of it. I think his worst stat of the season was being the starting QB for two home shutouts. It looks terrible in hindsight that in response to a question about Colin Kaepernick, Mike McCarthy went off on a rant about the three years he spent developing Brett Hundley. That's not to digress about whether the Packers should have signed Kaepernick, it's a look back at how very wrong him and his coaches were about Hundley and why two of them probably lost their jobs because of it.

These should not be difficult jobs to fill. Any ambitious coach looking to rise the coaching ladder would love to have "worked with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay" on his resume. The offense with Rodgers has been mostly great over the past two seasons, but it's also lacked any of the new innovations that other offenses have been trying in recent years. Bringing in a new coach or two from the outside with a new perspective could be a big help.

Also, improving the backup QB position is probably high up on the to-do list this offseason. There's little financial cost to bring Hundley back for the final season under his rookie contract, while also drafting/signing an undrafted rookie free agent to develop behind him. Based on the results from last season, it would be a good idea to let an unbiased eye spend a year with Hundley in 2018 to see what can be done with him.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment