Tom Clements
After the Green Bay Packers overtime loss to Seattle in the NFC Championship Game, Mike McCarthy has been pouring over his game-day operation, something he does every year.
After the loss to the Seahawks, McCarthy has had much more to consider in terms of whether or not he continues to call plays moving forward.
Several things happened in the game that McCarthy claimed afterwards he wasn’t aware of because he had to stay focussed on his play-calling duties.
When a head coach loses focus on his overall football operation, he has to figure out what needs to be done to resolve the issue.
WDUZ Radio in Green Bay first reported that McCarthy was contemplating giving up the play calling duties and was considering promoting offensive coordinator Tom Clements from Offensive Coordinator to Assistant Head Coach with play calling duties, and promote receivers coach Edgar Bennett to offensive coordinator.
The NFL Network later reported that Clements would be calling plays and Bennett would be the new offensive coordinator.
A number of other sources say they can’t confirm the potential changes.
Some may question Mike McCarthy’s play-calling at times, but he is one of the most successful coaches in the NFL. His winning percentage of .656 is second only to Bill Belichick’s .729. He’s orchestrated one of the top offenses for years.
So the question is, should McCarthy give up play calling to focus more time on the overall operation of his team, or should he hold his assistants more accountable for the job that they’re supposed to be performing. When special teams struggled much of the season, then wound up costing the Packers a win in the NFC Championship game, McCarthy fired Special Teams Coordinator Shawn Slocum and promoted his assistant Ron Zook.
The list of head coaches that call plays is a short one. McCarthy would appear ready to join the list of teams that employ play-callers, allowing him to focus his energy on the entire team both during the practice week and on game days.
Even when the Packers are on defense, McCarthy, instead of allowing himself to pay attention to what’s going on around him during the game, is focussed on the next offensive series once the Packers got the ball back.
The Packers were a play here and a play there from a spot in the Super Bowl. Perhaps McCarthy is feeling had he not been buried in play-calling duties, the Packers could have avoided some of the key mistakes that cost them a trip to the Super Bowl.
The Packers haven’t confirmed any of the reports. That won’t happen until all coaching moves are completed.