Heatherthepackgirl
Cheesehead
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
[email protected]
Posted: Jan. 16, 2007
Unless a newly named head coach entices one of his assistants to leave, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy plans to go into the 2007 season with the staff he has on board right now.
Secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer has been the subject of media criticism, but Mike McCarthy is not making any changes on defense.
After a series of moves made both to account for the loss of offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski and to create the position of assistant head coach, McCarthy said he had no other coaching changes in mind. He met with all 18 assistants Monday to discuss their roles and then put them to work evaluating the season past.
"Obviously there are still a couple of changes (in play) in the NFL, but I hope it doesn't affect our staff," McCarthy said. "But I had a chance to meet with everybody yesterday and talk through their contracts and so forth."
Two of his assistants were named in media reports as possible candidates for college coaching positions, but nothing materialized with either.
Running backs coach Edgar Bennett told McCarthy that he was contacted by Florida State coach Bobby Bowden about the possibility of serving as running backs coach at his alma mater. The Seminoles named a different former running back, Dexter Carter, to fill the opening Tuesday.
In addition, quarterbacks coach Tom Clements told McCarthy that he had no idea how his name came up as a candidate for offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama and wasn't looking to leave.
Both Bennett and Clements are on board for next season, McCarthy said.
Another assistant, secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer, has been the subject of media criticism, but McCarthy is not making any changes on defense.
On Monday, McCarthy made three changes on offense. He promoted offensive line coach Joe Philbin to offensive coordinator, bumped up assistant line coach James Campen to Philbin's old position and moved offensive line assistant Jerry Fontenot into Campen's old position.
In addition, he added to linebackers coach Winston Moss' duties those of assistant head coach. Moss will assist McCarthy with team affairs but will still work under defensive coordinator Bob Sanders.
McCarthy said having continuity from last year to this was important, which is part of the reason he went with Philbin as Jagodzinski's replacement. He said he explored the possibility of hiring someone with a passing background for offensive coordinator - Tampa Bay quarterbacks coach Paul Hackett was a strong possibility - but ultimately he decided he liked the way things ran with the staff he had in place.
"To go that way, I had to change the whole structure," McCarthy said of hiring a passing-type coordinator. "To me that was a big change and it had to be someone who you were comfortable with. It would have changed my role. It would have changed a number of different roles as far as the way we are structured.
"The structure we had last year is something I felt very good about when I put it together during the hiring process this time last year, but even felt better about it as I watched it through the season."
When McCarthy was deciding whether to add an assistant head coach position to his staff, several of the coaches around the league with whom he consulted asked him if the candidate he was considering had head coach potential.
The answer was clear to McCarthy.
"I had two people say the same thing, 'Do you think this guy could be a head coach in the National Football League?' he said. "And I said, 'Yes I do.' They said, 'Then that's who you're looking for because God forbid you're sick and you can't go to work, do you feel comfortable putting the team in that individual's hands?'
"That's a question I continued to ask myself during the process and I definitely feel that way about Winston."
Though Moss undoubtedly received a significant raise and a multi-year contract that will lock him up for a while, McCarthy said he was most interested in tapping Moss' coaching potential.
Roster move
Marcus Randall, who started 14 games as a quarterback at Louisiana State from 2002-'04, signed a free-agent contract as a linebacker.
Randall, 6 feet 1½ inches and 228 pounds, was signed by Tennessee as an undrafted rookie in '05 and converted to safety, where he played three games. The Titans moved him to linebacker in the '06 off-season before cutting him Sept. 2.
Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report from Green Bay.
[email protected]
Posted: Jan. 16, 2007
Unless a newly named head coach entices one of his assistants to leave, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy plans to go into the 2007 season with the staff he has on board right now.
Secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer has been the subject of media criticism, but Mike McCarthy is not making any changes on defense.
After a series of moves made both to account for the loss of offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski and to create the position of assistant head coach, McCarthy said he had no other coaching changes in mind. He met with all 18 assistants Monday to discuss their roles and then put them to work evaluating the season past.
"Obviously there are still a couple of changes (in play) in the NFL, but I hope it doesn't affect our staff," McCarthy said. "But I had a chance to meet with everybody yesterday and talk through their contracts and so forth."
Two of his assistants were named in media reports as possible candidates for college coaching positions, but nothing materialized with either.
Running backs coach Edgar Bennett told McCarthy that he was contacted by Florida State coach Bobby Bowden about the possibility of serving as running backs coach at his alma mater. The Seminoles named a different former running back, Dexter Carter, to fill the opening Tuesday.
In addition, quarterbacks coach Tom Clements told McCarthy that he had no idea how his name came up as a candidate for offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama and wasn't looking to leave.
Both Bennett and Clements are on board for next season, McCarthy said.
Another assistant, secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer, has been the subject of media criticism, but McCarthy is not making any changes on defense.
On Monday, McCarthy made three changes on offense. He promoted offensive line coach Joe Philbin to offensive coordinator, bumped up assistant line coach James Campen to Philbin's old position and moved offensive line assistant Jerry Fontenot into Campen's old position.
In addition, he added to linebackers coach Winston Moss' duties those of assistant head coach. Moss will assist McCarthy with team affairs but will still work under defensive coordinator Bob Sanders.
McCarthy said having continuity from last year to this was important, which is part of the reason he went with Philbin as Jagodzinski's replacement. He said he explored the possibility of hiring someone with a passing background for offensive coordinator - Tampa Bay quarterbacks coach Paul Hackett was a strong possibility - but ultimately he decided he liked the way things ran with the staff he had in place.
"To go that way, I had to change the whole structure," McCarthy said of hiring a passing-type coordinator. "To me that was a big change and it had to be someone who you were comfortable with. It would have changed my role. It would have changed a number of different roles as far as the way we are structured.
"The structure we had last year is something I felt very good about when I put it together during the hiring process this time last year, but even felt better about it as I watched it through the season."
When McCarthy was deciding whether to add an assistant head coach position to his staff, several of the coaches around the league with whom he consulted asked him if the candidate he was considering had head coach potential.
The answer was clear to McCarthy.
"I had two people say the same thing, 'Do you think this guy could be a head coach in the National Football League?' he said. "And I said, 'Yes I do.' They said, 'Then that's who you're looking for because God forbid you're sick and you can't go to work, do you feel comfortable putting the team in that individual's hands?'
"That's a question I continued to ask myself during the process and I definitely feel that way about Winston."
Though Moss undoubtedly received a significant raise and a multi-year contract that will lock him up for a while, McCarthy said he was most interested in tapping Moss' coaching potential.
Roster move
Marcus Randall, who started 14 games as a quarterback at Louisiana State from 2002-'04, signed a free-agent contract as a linebacker.
Randall, 6 feet 1½ inches and 228 pounds, was signed by Tennessee as an undrafted rookie in '05 and converted to safety, where he played three games. The Titans moved him to linebacker in the '06 off-season before cutting him Sept. 2.
Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report from Green Bay.
