"It could not have been worse"

Former Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy is still shocked by how his franchise exit was handled last year.

Team President Mark Murphy has surprisingly sacked McCarthy after a disappointing home defeat by the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 2 when the Packers hopes were shabby, but he still has four games left in the season. regular.

McCarthy never saw him coming.

"If we missed the playoffs, I was expecting a change. But the timing has surprised me. In fact, it has knocked me out, "McCarthy told Rob Demovsky of ESPN.

The power of hindsight has brought clarity to McCarthy. He now believes that "both parties need a change," but he is still thwarted by an informal outing that he says has not caused any emotion on the part of the other.

"It could not have been worse," McCarthy said. "Mark said it was an ugly loss and that it was time to change things. He said something about the offensive and the special teams, but he did not think it would be better. There was no emotion to that. It was hard.

Murphy and General Manager Brian Gutekunst met after the 20-17 defeat at the hands of the Cardinals and agreed to make the change. The Packers were 4-7-1 at the time and were close to eliminating the NFC playoffs for the second year in a row, this time with Aaron Rodgers playing every game.

The aesthetics of the December 2nd loss probably played a role. The Packers' assault was just 4.4 yards per game on average and a 3-14 record in the third try in another disappointing effort. Meanwhile, rookie quarterback Josh Rosen led the Cardinals 10 points in a row in the third quarter and a decisive victory with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Packers missed a goal on the court at the end of the allotted time, which would have put the game in overtime.

McCarthy clearly felt that the end was near, but he was also expecting to finish his 13th season in Green Bay. This did not happen. The Packers fired him the night of the Cardinals' loss and named Joe Philbin an interim head coach for the last four games of a lost season.

"This exit, frankly, Rob, the exit really stuck for a moment. It was hard to swallow, "explained McCarthy. "The emotional challenge of moving from humiliation to reflection was a very important step in the search for clarity so that I could personally leverage the experience of my entire career at Green Bay Packer; that's what I wanted to achieve, not just the end. "

The Packers went 2-2 on the last four games under Philbin and finished 6-9-1.

Murphy later explained that the shot was a chance for the Packers to take a step ahead of the coaches' search. They eventually hired Matt LaFleur, the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, while McCarthy was a finalist in the New York Jets work for Adam Gase.

Neither party needed another month to get from point A to point B.

Whatever it is, McCarthy left the job without regret.

"All I know is that I did my job every day and that I had to win according to the standards and values ​​of the Green Bay Packers that had been established by people like Ted Thompson and clearly Bob Harlan a long time ago, "said McCarthy.