MM on the Pack :

WinnipegPackFan

Cheesehead
Joined
Sep 23, 2005
Messages
1,943
Reaction score
0
Uncertainty not stopping Packers' McCarthy
Written by PackerChatters Staff
Thursday, 13 April 2006

MILWAUKEE - Don't sweat things you can't control.

Easy to say, tough to do.

But new Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy doesn't have any other choice.

"I think it's hard to do in any capacity of your life," McCarthy said. "But you've got to worry about controlling the things you can."

Like everybody else, McCarthy wants to know if Brett Favre will return next season. And he'd like to avoid being singed by the other brush fires that have popped up during his first three months on the job, from receiver Javon Walker's trade demand to the team's inability to land a big-time free agent.

But for now, McCarthy is concentrating on his beefed-up offseason workout program, installing his playbook and perfecting a new blocking scheme - nuts-and-bolts issues that lack the juicy twists of Favre's retirement saga, but just might help the team win a few more games.

So far, McCarthy likes what he sees.

"It's clearly a different environment than it's been in the past," McCarthy said.

Packers general manager Ted Thompson, who hired McCarthy in January, gives him high marks for handling the regular rigors of being a first-time head coach while not being thrown off by the unexpected.

"I do think Mike has the personality to hang in there in tough times, and (understands) we're headed in a direction to reach a goal," Thompson said. "We might take two steps forward and one step back, but it's important to keep taking those two steps."

For McCarthy, increased participation in a more intense offseason workout program is an important first step toward improving on last year's 4-12 mark.

"The turnout has been excellent," McCarthy said. "We obviously won't stop pushing until we hit 100 percent."

McCarthy obviously wants players to be in better shape. But the voluntary supervised workout sessions, which began March 20, also give players a chance to bond with each other and their new coaches.

"The most important thing is, they're training next to the guy they'll be lining up next to," McCarthy said.

Coaches are taking the first steps toward teaching zone blocking to the Packers' offensive line, a more aggressive style that requires increased collaboration among linemen.

"As an offensive lineman, it's a fun scheme to play in," McCarthy said.

Coaches also are working with Aaron Rodgers, last year's first-round draft pick, on quarterbacking fundamentals and the new playbook.

"He's doing a very good job," McCarthy said. "He has a lot to learn, and obviously being in the league a year is helping him prepare."

Favre could return, or the team could take a quarterback with the fifth pick in the NFL draft later this month. But McCarthy wants Rodgers to prepare as if he were the starter.

"Any quarterback that doesn't take that approach is fooling himself," McCarthy said.

McCarthy knows the Packers have had a "unique" quarterback situation but must prepare for the inevitable: Some day, No. 4 won't be there anymore.

"Unfortunately, that day is coming," McCarthy said.

But when will the Packers know if it is coming in 2006?

"I've been saying 'soon' for quite some time, so I'm going to stick to my guns," McCarthy said.

Thompson and McCarthy have said they'd like a decision from Favre as soon as possible, but have not criticized him. "He's been honest throughout the whole process, and Ted and I both are comfortable," McCarthy said.

Saturday is the next due date for a $3 million roster bonus that already has been delayed three times. Thompson would not say if the team is moving the date again and doesn't consider the date itself a major issue.

"There really is no deadline," Thompson said.

In his most recent comments, Favre has said he would like the Packers to make a "statement" in free agency. It hasn't happened yet.

The Packers most recently hosted linebacker LaVar Arrington and defensive back Charles Woodson. Agent Kevin Poston represents Arrington while his brother, Carl, is representing Woodson.

"There's interests on both sides with both players, but we're talking to other teams, too, about each of them," Kevin Poston said Thursday night.

McCarthy said he met with both players and thought each would be a good fit with the Packers.

But again, McCarthy can only coach the players he has. He insists that isn't a bad thing, despite what last year's record might indicate.

"Trust me, we're going to be ready," he said.

Source: Chris Jenkins - Associated Press
 

smlutz

Cheesehead
Joined
Nov 28, 2005
Messages
331
Reaction score
0
Location
Pennsylvania
Yeah great article. It seems to me like McCarthy does NOT want to "rebuild." Which to me is an excellent thing considering Detriot/Arizona/Clevland/Houston have been rebuilding for seemingly forever.
 

porky88

Cheesehead
Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Messages
3,991
Reaction score
0
Location
Title Town
McCarthy sure does say the right things and comes across like he will be a great Head Coach but let's hope he's not just all talk and he can help the team apply everything to the field.
 

Greg C.

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
Messages
2,856
Reaction score
0
Location
Marquette, Michigan
McCarthy continues to say all the right things. I don't think the Packers are rebuilding either, although there is a lot of roster turnover, so I can see how people would say that. It's really just a matter of terminology.

Rebuilding is not necessarily a bad thing, anyway. smlutz mentions that Detroit/Arizona/Cleveland/Houston have been rebuilding forever, but it would be more accurate to say that they've been sucking forever. Each of those teams have expected to improve dramatically at some point. It just hasn't happened because they've been incompetent. Of those teams, I would say that Cleveland has the best chance of breaking out of their funk, not so much because of their free agent signings, but because their coach looks like he might turn out to be a good one.
 

Anubis

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
767
Reaction score
0
Location
Ontario, Canada
Greg C. said:
is not necessarily a bad thing, anyway. smlutz mentions that Detroit/Arizona/Cleveland/Houston have been rebuilding forever, but it would be more accurate to say that they've been sucking forever. Each of those teams have expected to improve dramatically at some point. It just hasn't happened because they've been incompetent.

I have a friend who has been a huge Bengals fan for years (he was born there). They are a classic example of a team that blew for years, made some key changes and is now in playoff contention. Many of the teams that never make it out of the basement think that signing a couple big-name FA for a mint, at the same time mortgaging the future of their franchise, is suddenly going to propel them overnight to the SB. What they don't realize is that solid leadership and team cohesion is going to take you a lot farther than a couple over-inflated egos.

GO PACK!!!

Robert C. Hedley
 

gopackgo4

Cheesehead
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
1,080
Reaction score
0
Location
oak creek
YEh chemistry with a team is a very key thing. One guy can take away that superbowl ring with a bad attitude.
 

Lare

Cheesehead
Joined
Jan 17, 2005
Messages
705
Reaction score
0
Location
Packwalking, WI
Regardless of how you decide to rebuild a team (free agency or through the draft) the key is talent evaluation. Do a good job of it and you can rebuild in a hurry. Do a poor job of it and it can take forever.
 

Packnic

Cheesehead
Joined
Mar 29, 2006
Messages
2,454
Reaction score
6
Location
Salisbury, NC
great post lare.... the diffence in rebuilding and reloading is how good you are at putting the right peices together.

Matt Millen = Bad Detroit = "rebuilding forever"

Dan Rooney= Good Pittsburgh = "same coach forever, always competive and recent super bowl champions.

MM and TT = To be determined at a later date.
 

Chamuko

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
1,067
Reaction score
0
Location
Guadalajara, Mexico
Well I like his attitude, but you need to have quality players also and not only good attitude, anyway I prefer to have great attitute with standard average players than bad attitute with great players.
 

Members online

Latest posts

Top