Mike McCarthy's former employer is thriving without him. In the Green Bay Packers' first season since 2006 without McCarthy as head coach, they made the NFC Championship, posting a 13-3 record in the process.
McCarthy, now the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, did not turn off the TV when the Packers played. Instead, while living in Green Bay, he studied them in his year off, along with every NFL team.
“If they're doing something I like, I wrote it down,” McCarthy said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “If I didn't like it, I didn't write it down. But that was the same with the other 31 teams, too.”
Though McCarthy isn't one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, he is brutally honest. He wanted to watch what he built, and what Matt LaFleur is building upon.
“Let's be honest, you go through the emotions of it, but I think the reality of living there, it was something that you had to work through in the beginning,” McCarthy said. “To be transparent and reflecting on improving myself, it wouldn't have been very smart of me to not watch them, because that program that's there, that's something that was built over a 13-year period. Now what they've done with it, obviously, they've moved it forward and are having success, so I think it's important to watch.”
McCarthy spent 2019 off, as he sought to develop his playbook. He certainly took bits and pieces from the Packers' success and will likely implement that into what he will do with the Cowboys.
“That's your last experience, so however they're doing this or doing that, I think it's a good way to spend your offseason,” McCarthy said. “It was definitely part of my research to improve.”
McCarthy won a Super Bowl with the Packers. Now, he is trying to do the same with the Cowboys.
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