Packers' President Murphy puts TT and MM on notice in interview

[TomHQ]

The following article was taken from PackerNews.com.

Packers President Mark Murphy isn't ready to write off this season yet, but in a phone interview today, he expressed his disappointment in the Packers' 4-4 start and perhaps put General Manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy on notice.

Here are the highlights from that interview:

Question: The season hasn't gone as way you hoped, do you think this can be saved this year?

Murphy: "Yeah, I do. I've seen enough football and been involved in the NFL long enough that I can see it happening, sure. But obviously I'm disappointed about where we are. The number one goal as an organization every year is to win, but obviously we've got half the season left, and it's really premature to do an evaluation. At the end the season, I'll sit down and see how we performed."

Q: At this point, can you judge Ted and Mike based on where you’re at?

Murphy: "You really need to wait until the whole season is completed. I've seen it both ways. Teams get off to great starts and collapse, or struggle early and play well at the end. But obviously I'm disappointed in where we are now, especially the loss to Tampa, very disappointing to everybody, but we'll see how we respond."

Q: Do you still have faith in Ted and Mike’s program?

Murphy: "Yeah, I do. I still have confidence in Ted. Obviously for me, I work through Ted, and he and I are always in touch with each other, and I have a lot of confidence in Ted."

Q: Do you sense that Ted has that same confidence in Mike?

Murphy: "You'll have to talk to Ted, but my sense is that he does have confidence but (is) disappointed in where we are right now. We're all hoping that we can make the changes that are needed to get us to where we want to be at the end of the season."

Q: What are those changes?

Murphy: "That's what Ted and Mike (do); that's what we're looking for from (the) football (operation). I know it's not easy, winning in the NFL is very challenging from week to week, but I'm confident that we can do it."

Q: Why hasn't this season gone as well as many expected?

Murphy: "Well I guess the main thing I'd say is you can't too much weight on the preseason. I think we've known that all along, but yeah to me it's still a work in progress. Again, I think we've had some disappointing losses, but we're 4-4 halfway through the season, and I think we can still have a successful year, just making sure that we make the changes that are necessary to get us to that point."

Q: Is the Board of Directors or the Executive Committee pressuring you to make changes?

Murphy: "No, no. They're involved, and they provide all kinds of advice, but at the end of the day, it's going to be my decision."

Is Mark hinting to a new head coach if the season doesn't end well? He didn't directly say he had confidence in MM. Your thoughts?

 

[PackersRS]

Well, I didn't see any indication of that... He's obviously upset, and I think as I had thought, after 5 years of rebuild, this is the year where it should pan out, and the year where TT and MM will really be evaluated on.

I didn't see any indication that he'll take any actions now... I did see, however, that he would likely can MM and keep TT if things don't go well...

But maybe I'm being naive and not reading enough into it...

 

[bad93ex]

I didn't see any real indication either but rayer:

 

[News Bot]

Packers president says he's "disappointed"

Coaches and General Managers routinely are judged based on the extent to which their teams meet the expectations for a given season. And for each team, the expectations are different.For the 2009 Packers, the expectations were as big as they...

Source: ProFootballTalk.com

 

[FanOfTheGame]

I do find it interesting that Murphy expressed his confidence in Ted without addressing McCarthy even though the question directly asked about his confidence in both TT and MM.

 

[Ace731]

well hes not going to come right out and say we need a new head coach. but it didnt really seem like he was behind it 100% and if we dont improve I sense change is coming for 2010. whether it be Ted or Mike, we don't know but it will be fun to find out who the new coach is, or very sad when nothing changes. it will be like mccarthy saying "we need to be better, fundamentals, its got to stop, blah blah blah same old same old"

 

[A12ROD903]

well hes not going to come right out and say we need a new head coach. but it didnt really seem like he was behind it 100% and if we dont improve I sense change is coming for 2010. whether it be Ted or Mike, we don't know but it will be fun to find out who the new coach is, or very sad when nothing changes. it will be like mccarthy saying "we need to be better, fundamentals, its got to stop, blah blah blah same old same old"

Youre right. It would not be good for Murph to come right out and say "i am not confident in MM or TT". That would not be good for anyones confidence at this point of the season (being so early). There was a hint though.....