Mike McCarthy

This page is about the football coach. For the football executive & scout with the same name, see Michael P. McCarthy

Mike McCarthy
Date of birth	November 10, 1959 (1959-11-10) (age 50)
Place of birth	Greenville, Pennsylvania
Position(s)	Head coach
College	Baker University
Awards	2007 NFL Alumni's Coach of the Year 2007 Motorola NFL Coach of the Year
Regular season	32-25-0
Postseason	1-1
Career record	33-26-0
Championships       won	NFC North: 2007
Stats
Coaching stats	Pro Football Reference
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1987-1988 1989-1991 1992 1993-1994 1995-1998 1999 2000-2004 2005 2006-present	Fort Hays State (Graduate assistant) University of Pittsburgh (Quarterbacks coach) University of Pittsburgh (Wide receivers coach) Kansas City Chiefs (Offensive quality control assistant) Kansas City Chiefs (Quarterbacks coach) Green Bay Packers (Quarterbacks coach) New Orleans Saints (Offensive coordinator) San Francisco 49ers (Offensive coordinator) Green Bay Packers (Head coach)

Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is the head coach of the National Football League's Green Bay Packers.

Playing career

College

McCarthy was a tight end at Baker University, an NAIA school located in Baldwin City, Kansas.

Coaching career

College

After serving as a graduate assistant at Fort Hays State from 1987 to 1988, McCarthy was hired to work under Paul Hackett at the University of Pittsburgh, where he served as quarterbacks coach before coaching wide receivers during the 1992 season.

NFL

Assistant coach

In 1993, McCarthy began a six-year stint with the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs; after working two years as an offensive quality control assistant, McCarthy became quarterbacks coach, overseeing the work of Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac, and Steve Bono. McCarthy spent the 1999 season in the same position with the Packers, coaching Brett Favre in a season when Favre threw for 4,091 yards, the third-best total of his career.

After the Packers released the entire coaching staff following the 1999 season, McCarthy became the offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. He would remain in that position for five seasons and was selected as NFC Assistant Coach of the Year by USA Today in 2000.

In 2005, McCarthy served as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. His unit, beset by injuries and led by rookie quarterback (top draft pick Alex Smith), finished the season ranked last in the NFL in points scored and yards gained.

Head coach

Green Bay Packers

McCarthy was interviewed by Packers general manager Ted Thompson on January 8, 2006 and was offered the head coaching position three days later.^[1]

In 2006, the Packers started with a 4-8 record, but managed to win their last four games to finish the season 8-8, ending with a win against their archrival Chicago Bears, but missing the playoffs for the second straight year.^[2]

In 2007, McCarthy had his most successful season to date as a head coach. After guiding the Packers to a 8-1 record in the first 9 games of the 2007 season, McCarthy recorded the best won-loss ratio to start the first 25 games of a career among active coaches, tying Washington's Joe Gibbs at 16-9. It's also the best coaching start in Packers' history (Vince Lombardi went 15-10).^[3] McCarthy led the Packers to a 13-3 record and an NFC Championship berth in 2007. He finished second in voting for The Associated Press Coach of the Year award, garnering 15 votes to Bill Belichick's 29 votes.^[4] He signed a five-year contract extension with the team on January 19, 2008, that raised his salary to $3.4 million a year. ^[5]

In 2008, McCarthy became embroiled in a major controversy involving the future of their franchise quarterback, Brett Favre. The controversy started when Favre decided to come out of retirement to play again. McCarthy and Packers' General Manager Ted Thompson had stated their desire to move on with new starter Aaron Rodgers. Favre was ultimately traded to the New York Jets for a conditional fourth-round draft pick.^[6]

The season was McCarthy's worst to date with the Packers. Despite a solid showing by Rodgers, who threw for over 4,000 yards and posted a 93.8 QB rating ^[7], the Packers started with a 5-5 record, proceeding to lose five consecutive games until they managed to defeat the Detroit Lions, who finished their season with an NFL worst-ever 0-16 record,^[8] 31-21.^[9] The Packers finished 3rd in the NFC North, ahead of only the winless Lions, and did not make the playoffs.

In 2009, the Packers have shown some signs of improvement, but also have some struggles. Rodgers has improved on 2008's statistics, but has been sacked more times than any other QB in the NFL. The Packers have dominated teams with losing records, but were swept by the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings, led by former Packers franchise QB Brett Favre. The Packers lost to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but then came back to beat the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys^[10]. The team, to many observers, has been teetering back and forth between greatness and disaster, and it remains to be seen where they will finish.^[11].

Head coaching record

Coaching tree

NFL head coaches under whom Mike McCarthy has served:

• Marty Schottenheimer, Kansas City Chiefs (1993–1998)
• Ray Rhodes, Green Bay Packers (1999)
• Jim Haslett, New Orleans Saints (2000–2004)
• Mike Nolan, San Francisco 49ers (2005)

Assistant coaches under Mike McCarthy who became NFL head coaches:

• None

Assistant coaches under Mike McCarthy who became NCAA head coaches:

• Jeff Jagodzinski, Boston College

Awards

In 2007, McCarthy was voted the Motorola NFL Coach of the Year ^[12] after twice receiving Coach of the Week awards.^[13][14] He was also named the NFL Alumni's Coach of the Year by a group of former players.^[15]

In 2008, McCarthy received the distinguished service award at the Lee Remmel sports awards banquet in Green Bay.

Personal life

McCarthy married the former Jessica Kress in March 2008 at a private ceremony in Maricopa County, Arizona. Their daughter, Gabrielle Kathleen, was born on October 22, 2008. McCarthy also has a daughter, Alexandra, from a previous relationship.

References