Green Bay Packers’ president Mark Murphy had some interesting comments yesterday that deserve some reading between the lines. In stark contrast to former president Bob Harlan, Murphy had no problem talking about the current coaching staff. I’m sure you all read the article from the Journal-Sentinel so I won’t waste time quoting full comments, but Mr. President made it clear he was not happy.
When he mentioned how he would evaluate the coaching he mentioned the ability of the coaches to “make the adjustments and changes that are needed.” Since head coach Mike McCarthy has not been able to do that it was clearly a shot across the bow. That hit me like a ton of bricks so I can’t imagine how McCarthy feels. And to be honest I’m not sure how I feel about it. Harlan’s way was pretty damn successful, and he would never have called out his coaching staff like that. Of course, maybe Harlan was a beast behind closed doors, but we certainly never, ever, heard that about him.
I guess you must consider the differences in the job when these guys became president. Harlan took over a downtrodden franchise and turned it into a winner with a few shrewd front office moves and had the huge victory in getting Lambeau Field renovated. Murphy’s job is to maintain the success the Packers’ franchise achieved under Harlan.
I do think Harlan is partly to blame for the on-field mess because he gave both head coach and GM jobs to Mike Sherman when he had to know in his heart it wouldn’t work. He was the one who proved that to be true for heaven’s sakes. He was at the end of his career and that may have played a part in that decision.
Murphy’s statements seem to coincide with mine of the last couple of weeks that this is more of a coaching problem than it is a player acquisition problem.
Thompson and McCarthy certainly have to understand that Murphy played in the NFL and played on a championship team so he knows how it’s done. I guess I like him coming out and calling it as he sees it. Will the message trickle down to the players? I guess we’ll find out Sunday in what surely is a must-win game for the Packers.