Packers have many options on replacing McCarthy
There was a head coach fired before him, and there will be head coaches fired after him, but no firing this year can truly compare to the Green Bay Packers cutting ties with Mike McCarthy.
It may sound like a take on the old breakup line, but the significance of the firing has little to do with McCarthy — it’s all about the team that fired him.
In 98 seasons, the Packers have had just 15 head coaches. One has his name on the team’s stadium (Curly Lambeau), one has his name on the Super Bowl trophy (Vince Lombardi), and another won five championships as a player (Bart Starr). None of the 14 coaches before McCarthy were fired midseason.
Considering how rarely this position opens up, the Packers’ coaching vacancy might be one of the most coveted jobs in recent sports history.
Josh McDaniels, the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, is the most obvious head coaching candidate. He has a more impressive résumé than several current head coaches do, he is considered a master of the modern NFL offense, and he has shown an ability to work well with superstars.
The wrinkle is that McDaniels shocked the NFL world shortly after last season when he agreed to become the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, only to withdraw his name on the day the team announced the hiring. Indianapolis instead hired Frank Reich away from the Philadelphia Eagles, but the memory of McDaniels publicly embarrassing a franchise is surely seared into the minds of general managers throughout the league.
Other NFL coaches who might be considered include Vic Fangio, the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears; John DeFilippo, the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings; Kris Richard, a defensive backs coach who has revamped the Dallas Cowboys this season after having helped build the Legion of Boom secondary in Seattle; Eric Bieniemy, the offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs; and, in what would take a rather enormous leap of faith in terms of age and experience, Zac Taylor, the 35-year-old quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams.
There are a few top candidates from the college ranks as well. Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, who is preparing for the College Football Playoff, is a top candidate, but teams looking to make a splash on the level of the Los Angeles Rams, who hired Sean McVay when he was 31, will take a hard look at Kliff Kingsbury, who was recently fired as the head coach at Texas Tech. The 39-year-old Kingsbury has a career coaching record of just 35-40, but it was in his offense that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes developed. Rumors have already swirled that several top college programs are interested in Kingsbury, and Fox Sports reported that McVay had approached him about finishing this season on the Rams coaching staff.