Packers can bounce back, Harlan says

[PWT36]

The following Article was in Feb. 22, 2006 issue of the Green Bay Press Gazette and posted on their website packersnewsforum.com

Posted Feb. 22, 2006


Packers can bounce back, Harlan says


By Mike Vandermause
PackersNews.com

"The Green Bay Packers’ 4-12 record in 2005 brought back painful memories of the 1970s and 1980s, but team President Bob Harlan is convinced the Packers can turn things around quickly rather than endure a prolonged drought.

“I don’t think we’re going to go into one of those doldrums,â€

 

[P@ck66]

This is a "very" interesting article, and I think that this is an indictment on how Bob Harlan really felt about Mike Sherman. I believe that Harlan wanted to
sh!tcan Sherman several years ago...but didn't know how because there was no GM to take over...i mean..you'd be in trouble politically in GB firing both your GM and HC all at once...especially since you're not rebuilding, and you have Brett Favre on your team....

I think Harlan's hiring TT was the first step in being able to fire Mike Sherman...He just couldn't admit that they made that big of a "mistake"...

"Harlan is pleased with the performance of General Manager Ted Thompson, who has been on the job a little more than a year, and he has a good feeling about new coach Mike McCarthy."

“This is nothing against Mike Sherman, but I am more comfortable with the arrangement we have now,â€

 

[DePack]

I wouldn't read too much into it. I think he is pumping up TT and McCarthy rather than running down Sherman. If he wanted to "shitcan" Sherman years ago he would have done it. Bob Harlan is a strong man of conviction.

The comfortable comment had to do with keeping the GM and headcoaching jobs seperate:


“This is nothing against Mike Sherman, but I am more comfortable with the arrangement we have now,â€

 

[calicheesehead]

The following Article was in Feb. 22, 2006 issue of the Green Bay Press Gazette and posted on their website packersnewsforum.com

Posted Feb. 22, 2006


Packers can bounce back, Harlan says


By Mike Vandermause
PackersNews.com

"The Green Bay Packers’ 4-12 record in 2005 brought back painful memories of the 1970s and 1980s, but team President Bob Harlan is convinced the Packers can turn things around quickly rather than endure a prolonged drought.

“I don’t think we’re going to go into one of those doldrums,â€

 

[Beab66]

Bob Harlen has always been a hands off guy when it comes to personnel. He basically hires people and allows them to do their jobs. When TT was hired it was because the duel role for MS was obviously too much. He hired TT because among other reasons, MS thought that they could work together. I believe getting rid of MS was TT's call. Once again, Harlen hires people and allows them to make the decisions. Therefore, no cloak and dagger or conspiracy stuff enters the picture.

 

[Bruce]

P@ck66: Harlan hired Sherman to be GM. Harlan possessed the power to make a change at GM and/or head coach at any time he wanted. IMO I think you are trying to read to much into this.

I know it can be hard to let go of an obsession but Mike is gone now -- relax.

This is a "very" interesting article, and I think that this is an indictment on how Bob Harlan really felt about Mike Sherman. I believe that Harlan wanted to
sh!tcan Sherman several years ago...but didn't know how because there was no GM to take over...i mean..you'd be in trouble politically in GB firing both your GM and HC all at once...especially since you're not rebuilding, and you have Brett Favre on your team....

I think Harlan's hiring TT was the first step in being able to fire Mike Sherman...He just couldn't admit that they made that big of a "mistake"...

"Harlan is pleased with the performance of General Manager Ted Thompson, who has been on the job a little more than a year, and he has a good feeling about new coach Mike McCarthy."

“This is nothing against Mike Sherman, but I am more comfortable with the arrangement we have now,â€

 

[tromadz]

yeah this is just one of those 'rah rah' things, building up the team and his coaches. its his job!

 

[4packgirl]

just as harlan allows others to do their jobs, he's also got to do his & i think that's all he's doing with this article. :cheerleader:

 

[Beab66]

Very true, 4 pack! Keep in mind Harlen is but one of the main reasons for the Packer's success the past 13 seasons. I suggest he knows his job far better than we do. What other team president or owner will answer his phone messages or go door to door to sell a new stadium? By the way, I am not belittling your answer, I am agreeing with it. My only contention is that Harlen is not just paying lip service to the public. He actually believes what he is saying and while some may consider it over optimistic, I think he speaks with some insight as well as knowledge.

 

[4packgirl]

agreed, beab66 - he has always seemed like such a genuine guy - my guess is that could be one of the secrets to his success.

 

[tromadz]

yeah, what other owner in the nfl would be seen in public with cheesey?

 

[cheesey]

OOOOOOH!!!! LOW HIT TROM!!! :wink:
I think you should get called for "clipping!"
Hey......Harlan KNEW his value would go drasticly UP being seen with the "BIG CHEESEY!!!"
As it REALLY happened........his secretary called my wife and BEGGED her to get me to come up to Green Bay so he could have his picture taken with ME! I told him...."No problem Bob! I'll help you out!" And the REST is history! He even called me to ask me if i would help out TT with signing the next coach for the Packers.........but i told him i wouldn't feel right, leaving the rest of the league out in the cold, not helping any of them with my vast football knowledge! I could TELL he was hurt, but he KNEW the Packers would have an unfair advantage by having my input!
Yeah........thats the ticket!!! :wink:

 

[PackerTraxx]

He called you too?

 

[Philtration]

What do you expect him to say? The Packers will suck in 2006 and beyond? :roll:

 

[net]

My take on it first posted on one of the "Fire Ted Thompson" websites I'm on...I posted the link to the Press-Gazette story.
----------

"Fire Harlan, too".

Here's a link to the greatest comedy writing I've read in sometime. What a complete snowjob.

Bob Harlan has done many good things but never forget:

1)He allowed Wolf to hire Ray Rhodes
2)He hired Mike Sherman to be GM though he had no experience.
3)He hires Ted Thompson, who wrecked the team this year on purpose so he could "get his own man" as coach.
4)Allowed Ted to spend more than 4 million dollars(new figure 2/22/06) on coaches who aren't here anymore. The same man who netted the Packers absolutely NOTHING in free agency last year(Klemm might be a so-so backup).


http://www.packersnews.com/archives/new ... 7975.shtml

I get a real kick out of all this "Mike McCarthy is just one of the guys" B.S.
If I want to drink with "one of the guys" I'll go to the bar and meet them.
What I want is a competent football coach for the Green Bay Packers, not the leader of the 32nd ranked offense last year who nearly destroyed a rookie QB. Ted's wooden puppet better prove out of the box that last year was a fluke or Ted will turn the blame on him faster than farter in church.

 

[Beab66]

He also played a major role in 13 consecutive seasons without a losing record and took a low revenue team into a high revenue team. But we were 4-12 this year so what has he done for us lately?

 

[digsthepack]

Net...what happened man...did last season get to you? The **** and venom in your messages is pretty harsh against people who have yet to have a chance to prove themselves.....do you not count what appears to be one of the better drafts in recent years as something positive? Thanks TT!

SF 49ers? ****** ownership and a purged roster....what is a guy to do with that? I am pretty sure it would be the HC's call as to whether Alex Smith starts....oh, yeah, and let's not forget Smith is a shotgun QB trying to make the adjustment to pro-set....never a pretty spectacle. Rodgers comes from a pro-set background, has much more talent on the roster than the 9ers and by all accounts (from people who actually know their ****...not forum fanatics like us)...MM has all the earmarks of a solid up and coming HC.

Dude....chill a bit and let things present themselves to you before you crucify people whose performance you have no basis to judge. Hell, at least with MS there was a foundation to pass judgement, one way or another!

 

[Greg C.]

net: Maybe you should start a "Fire Bob Harlan" web site and also a "Fire Mike McCarthy" web site. Then you would have something to do when you're not on the "Fire Ted Thompson" web site, and you wouldn't have to waste your time with the rest of us dummies who haven't given up on our team yet.

 

[cheesey]

Harlan has always been one to keep his nose out of what the coach and GM do. Which to me is good. If he makes them do what HE wants, then why even HAVE them? Then, he would just be another Al Davis, or Jerry Jones. Those guys hire people to do a job, then mettle in all of their decisions. How can you judge a coach or GM if they have someone constantly hassleing them?
I say give TT AND McCarthy a chance to prove themselves before you toss them aside. Sherman was at the helm when the Packers did so so, but he never took them far in the playoffs, period. And WHO of you are satisfied with just MAKING the playoffs now? Me, i'd like to see another super bowl run in my lifetime. Maybe with new leadership they can do so. Thats what i'm hoping for. When being mediocre is good enough, then it's time to go a different way in my view.

 

[digsthepack]

Well, you know....some amongst us have apparently NEVER made a mistake! Hell, the best way to judge someone when they fail is how they react to correct their mistake. As history tells us, both Wolf and Harlan acted decisively to remedy their mistakes, unlike one recently departed coach and sometime GM who littered his staff and roster with his personal pets far beyond their usefulness in order to save face. BJ Sander anyone...Tom Rossley, Frank Novak, Bob Slowik...........

******.......it works!

 

[cheesey]

Yup digs!
No one is perfect!(I'm a PERFECT example of that! :wink: )
It's what you do after a mistake to fix it that you should judge. Thats why the Pack is trying something different. Hopefully it will work. But i can't predict the future.

 

[DePack]

How can you guys crucify net for his opinions. I don't happen to agree with them but his feelings toward TT seem to mirror your feelings toward MS last season. You may feel one year isn't enough to judge TT but net may feel one losing season after five winning ones was not enough to get rid of Sherman (see Bill Cowher).

Again, I personally will give TT and MM time to prove they know what they are doing, but for all you Sherman bashers to jump on net for bashing a 4-12 lifetime GM, when Sherman's record as GM was 33-15+/-, seems pretty hypocritical.

 

[Schmitty]

I think that Sheman should defenatly been stripped of his GM duties after all the boneheaded moves he made. And seeing as he was replaced by TT makes TT his boss, and he wanted his own guy as HC. Its TT's string to pull and I think he did the right thing. If Sherman was such a good HC he would have scored a HC job somewhere elese, and he didnt. TT will pull this team together now that he has fixed most of Shemans mess.

 

[DePack]

I think that Sheman should defenatly been stripped of his GM duties after all the boneheaded moves he made. And seeing as he was replaced by TT makes TT his boss, and he wanted his own guy as HC. Its TT's string to pull and I think he did the right thing. If Sherman was such a good HC he would have scored a HC job somewhere elese, and he didnt. TT will pull this team together now that he has fixed most of Shemans mess.

That's fine....it's your opinion......I hope it happens.......it hasn't happened yet, so if others have a different opinion, don't drill them. Starting out 4-12 as a GM when the team won the division under a "bonehead GM" the previous year, for whatever reason, does not qualify you for blind faith from all the fans.

 

[cheesey]

Hmmm.....i know i didn't crucify anyone......recently. Anyone can have an opinion.......including me. Whether you agree or disagree with me, i always TRY to keep it civil. Not that i "never" have resorted to name calling, i'm not perfect either. I just try not to. I just voice my opinion, and if you don't agree thats fine. I don't try to force anyone to agree with me.......just try to give my reasons WHY i feel a certain way.
Your certainly free to disagree.