January 3, 2018 at 1:05 p.m.
Shoutouts & Callouts
Hard part just beginning for Packers this offseason
Shoutouts & Callouts
By Tuesday, Packers' coach Mike McCarthy had fired defensive coordinator Dom Capers, as well as two other defensive assistants, and general manager Ted Thompson had been ushered aside by team president Mark Murphy, though Thompson will stay with the team in a senior advisory role.
There were some hoping for the trifecta - that McCarthy would be gone too - but that doesn't appear likely, especially after ESPN's Rob Demovsky reported Tuesday that McCarthy signed a one-year contract extension earlier in the season that will keep the Super Bowl-winning coach in Green Bay through 2019.
While changes were certainly in order in the personnel and defensive departments - neither of which rose to the occasion in the wake of Aaron Rodgers' season-derailing collarbone injury - the pressure is now on Murphy and McCarthy to find replacements who will make the team better.
It's easy to say "fire this guy" or "fire that guy" when times are tough and the fan base is disgruntled, but fans will reminding themselves to be careful of what they wish for if these changes were made solely for the sake of change.
A smart organization won't pull the trigger on such moves unless it is certain to upgrade itself at the positions.
While the intelligence of the Oakland Raiders ownership and front office has been called into question at times, there's a reason the team parted ways with coach Jack Del Rio only one year after he led the team back to the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade. Despite a 6-10 mark this season, the Raiders would have likely stood pat unless they had a pretty good idea that a succession plan was in place. With several reports indicating former Oakland coach Jon Gruden will return to the Bay Area, the Raiders have that confidence.
Luckily for Packers fans, it appears like the team does have some semblance of a plan in place, or at least plenty of candidates to choose from to fill the vacated roles.
Defensively, Bears' coordinator Vic Fangio has surfaced as a potential candidate. Joe Whitt and Darren Perry are considered internal candidates for the job, Demovsky reports.
While there were many problems with the Bears this year, defense wasn't one of them. Fangio's unit was ninth in scoring defense, 10th in total defense and seventh against the pass - significantly better than the Packers who were 22nd, 26th and 23rd in those departments, respectively.
Fangio, who was a Capers' assistant in Carolina, runs a similar defensive scheme to what the Packers have employed since 2009. So the team would not need to make a major overhaul of its defensive roster to fit a new scheme.
Speaking of personnel, the Packers should have plenty of choices to take that spot, too. There are several internal candidates, led by Eliot Wolf, the son of Packers' Hall of Fame GM Ron Wolf. Raiders' GM Reggie McKenzie and Seahawks GM John Schneider, who both have ties to the Packers' front office, have been bandied about as possible external candidates, though Murphy said Tuesday he won't necessarily stick to the Ron Wolf/Thompson scouting tree, or a scout in general, to be the Packers' next GM.
A healthy Rodgers will certainly tempt many front office execs, as will the low turnover rate in the Packers' front office. The next GM will be only the Packers' fourth since Ron Wolf took over in 1991.
Murphy said he'll have the final call on who the next GM will be and McCarthy will have the final say on who's calling the defense for the Packers next year. For their sake, they need to get these picks right, otherwise the fans will once again be calling for heads to roll come the dawn of 2019.
That's why, though the moves to fire Capers and demote Thompson have been roundly applauded among Packers fans, the difficult task for the organization is only beginning.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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