Wade
  • Wade
  • Veteran Member
14 years ago

Packers coach McCarthy is better than legendary Lombardi
Mike McCarthy will need to win about five Super Bowls before most Packers fans will elevate him to Vince Lombardi's exalted status, but I say he's already a better coach.

By JIM SOUHAN, Star Tribune
Last update: January 19, 2011 - 6:55 AM

If he wins his next two games, Packers coach Mike McCarthy will get to hold the Lombardi Trophy, that symbol of NFL excellence and homage to the presumed greatest coach of all time.

Which is funny, because if I had to win an NFL playoff game today, I'd rather have McCarthy on the sideline than ol' St. Vince.

McCarthy will need to win about five Super Bowls before most Packers fans will elevate him to Lombardi's exalted status. I say he's already a better coach than Vinny, and any Packers fan who doesn't agree should get with the century and embrace modern developments. Such as electricity, and the forward pass.

Lombardi dominated 14- and 16-team leagues. To win his first four NFL titles, he had to win either one or two postseason games. Today, becoming the best of 16 teams and winning one or two postseason games would get you to the conference title game, a level reached by such legends as Jim Mora, Denny Green, Brad Childress and Steve Mariucci.

Lombardi took advantage of a league that viewed the forward pass as an occasionally necessary evil. The Packers who won the 1961 NFL title ranked ninth in the 14-team league with 168 passing yards per game.

If a McCarthy-coached team ever averaged 168 yards passing, he'd be Macalester's offensive coordinator the following year.

In today's NFL, the quarterback is the fulcrum of an elaborate and intricate mechanism featuring dozens of formations and hundreds of plays. In Lombardi's NFL, the quarterback was a UPS man, required to deliver a leather object from the center to the halfback.

Lombardi dominated the NFL by demanding toughness from his players. That was easy when concussions were referred to as "seeing stars.''

In McCarthy's NFL, one more blow to Aaron Rodgers' head could end the season, and if he asked Rodgers to "gut it out,'' McCarthy would be subjected to public ridicule, if not legal action.

The NFL was so primitive during Lombardi's rise that he gained a marked advantage over the rest of the league by -- I'm not making this up -- making his players work out.

The level of physical fitness required by the average backup tackle in today's NFL made the Packers physically superior to the competition in the 1960s.

Remember, Lombardi dominated a league that had yet to embrace the concept of the short pass. Lombardi became a coaching giant by emphasizing -- I'm not making this up -- the "sweep.''

Imagine if a current NFL coach tried to win with a playbook designed around the power sweep. Even Childress, who wanted to build his offense around power running when he took over the Vikings, eventually acknowledged that an intricate passing offense was necessary to win in today's NFL.

In Lombardi's NFL, he could line up his assortment of indentured Hall of Famers and run over the opposition.

In an NFL filled with remarkably fast, powerful defenders, McCarthy has resorted to using three-back and five-receiver sets during the same drive.

Lombardi's team was never threatened by free agency or salary caps. McCarthy has been forced, because of free agency and injuries, to remake his team almost weekly. His best defender during the playoffs has been Tramon Williams, who was once released by Houston, and his best back has been James Starks, a rookie sixth-round draft pick.

Lombardi relied on one Hall of Fame quarterback, Bart Starr. McCarthy reinvigorated one Hall of Famer, Brett Favre, and may have created another in Rodgers.

Lombardi reaped the benefit of coaching on the Frozen Tundra, giving his players a dramatic home-field advantage. Today, Lambeau Field and its sidelines are heated, making Lambeau just another outdoor stadium to opponents.

Clearly, McCarthy is the better coach. But in the interest of even-handedness, we have to give Lombardi this: He was the better dresser.

McCarthy always looks like he just got done mowing the lawn. Lombardi dressed like a champ -- the champion of a small, backward, league.

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon and weekdays at 2:40 p.m. on 1500ESPN. His Twitter name is Souhanstrib. jsouhan@startribune.com


And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
Rockmolder
14 years ago
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Dulak
14 years ago


Clearly, McCarthy is the better coach. But in the interest of even-handedness, we have to give Lombardi this: He was the better dresser.

McCarthy always looks like he just got done mowing the lawn.

"Wade" wrote:



Lol ... I started reading it then thought hmmm ya whatever; luckily I skimmed to the end and read the above - made me laugh

I got to say - if I really felt that what a man wears is what makes him a man then I might care ... but then again I dont - its what is inside that counts and what he expresses to the world.
Zero2Cool
14 years ago
http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/114175784.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUvDEhiaE3miUsZ 

Mike McCarthy will need to win about five Super Bowls before most Packers fans will elevate him to Vince Lombardi's exalted status, but I say he's already a better coach.

If he wins his next two games, Packers coach Mike McCarthy will get to hold the Lombardi Trophy, that symbol of NFL excellence and homage to the presumed greatest coach of all time.

Which is funny, because if I had to win an NFL playoff game today, I'd rather have McCarthy on the sideline than ol' St. Vince.

McCarthy will need to win about five Super Bowls before most Packers fans will elevate him to Lombardi's exalted status. I say he's already a better coach than Vinny, and any Packers fan who doesn't agree should get with the century and embrace modern developments. Such as electricity, and the forward pass.

Lombardi dominated 14- and 16-team leagues. To win his first four NFL titles, he had to win either one or two postseason games. Today, becoming the best of 16 teams and winning one or two postseason games would get you to the conference title game, a level reached by such legends as Jim Mora, Denny Green, Brad Childress and Steve Mariucci.

Lombardi took advantage of a league that viewed the forward pass as an occasionally necessary evil. The Packers who won the 1961 NFL title ranked ninth in the 14-team league with 168 passing yards per game.

If a McCarthy-coached team ever averaged 168 yards passing, he'd be Macalester's offensive coordinator the following year.

In today's NFL, the quarterback is the fulcrum of an elaborate and intricate mechanism featuring dozens of formations and hundreds of plays. In Lombardi's NFL, the quarterback was a UPS man, required to deliver a leather object from the center to the halfback.

Lombardi dominated the NFL by demanding toughness from his players. That was easy when concussions were referred to as "seeing stars.''

In McCarthy's NFL, one more blow to Aaron Rodgers' head could end the season, and if he asked Rodgers to "gut it out,'' McCarthy would be subjected to public ridicule, if not legal action.

The NFL was so primitive during Lombardi's rise that he gained a marked advantage over the rest of the league by -- I'm not making this up -- making his players work out.

The level of physical fitness required by the average backup tackle in today's NFL made the Packers physically superior to the competition in the 1960s.

Remember, Lombardi dominated a league that had yet to embrace the concept of the short pass. Lombardi became a coaching giant by emphasizing -- I'm not making this up -- the "sweep.''

Imagine if a current NFL coach tried to win with a playbook designed around the power sweep. Even Childress, who wanted to build his offense around power running when he took over the Vikings, eventually acknowledged that an intricate passing offense was necessary to win in today's NFL.

In Lombardi's NFL, he could line up his assortment of indentured Hall of Famers and run over the opposition.

In an NFL filled with remarkably fast, powerful defenders, McCarthy has resorted to using three-back and five-receiver sets during the same drive.

Lombardi's team was never threatened by free agency or salary caps. McCarthy has been forced, because of free agency and injuries, to remake his team almost weekly. His best defender during the playoffs has been Tramon Williams, who was once released by Houston, and his best back has been James Starks, a rookie sixth-round draft pick.

Lombardi relied on one Hall of Fame quarterback, Bart Starr. McCarthy reinvigorated one Hall of Famer, Brett Favre, and may have created another in Rodgers.

Lombardi reaped the benefit of coaching on the Frozen Tundra, giving his players a dramatic home-field advantage. Today, Lambeau Field and its sidelines are heated, making Lambeau just another outdoor stadium to opponents.

Clearly, McCarthy is the better coach. But in the interest of even-handedness, we have to give Lombardi this: He was the better dresser.

McCarthy always looks like he just got done mowing the lawn. Lombardi dressed like a champ -- the champion of a small, backward, league.

"JIM SOUHAN" wrote:


UserPostedImage
azrunning
14 years ago
Kind of dumb. Like saying teachers are so much better today than 50 years ago because they can teach so much more about space and computers and physics and stuff. Doesn't mean the teachers are better.

Don't even know why he would write such a stupid article. Just trying to drum up some readership by writing about something tangentially related to the football events of the week. I guess he has to do that since he's from minnesota and doesn't have a football team still in the hunt.
BAD EMAIL because the address couldn ot be found, or is unable to receive mail.
peteralan71
14 years ago
I think that this was a major reach. The evidence that s given is very weak. Lombardi did they best that he could with the knowledge that was currently around, and he helped his team rise above with weight lifting and the sweep, which at the time, he was the pioneer coach of. McCarthy plays pass because that is what the rest of the league does. He learns from others, just as Lombardi learned from others. They both are able to get results, but it seems to me that Lombardi was much more creative because he went outside of the norm and subjected his players to things that other teams did not do.

I feel that McCarthy is good, but I think that Souhan is a little premature in saying that he's a better coach than Lombardi. Of course we would want McCarthy right now over Lombardi, because he understands the playbook that he created. What it comes down to, is if we had Lombardi calling plays with the same knowledge of the playbook as McCarthy, who would be able to do this better, and who would be able to rally a team better? Logic tells me that it is Lombardi. The man is a legend for his coaching philosophy and techniques.

Again, McCarthy cannot be compared to Lombardi because they were in completely different leagues with players that had completely different knowledge and skill-sets. It is too convenient to say that McCarthy is better simply because his players are better.
Green Bay: Home of the Green & Gold. And the hunter orange. And the camouflage.
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Nonstopdrivel
14 years ago

McCarthy cannot be compared to McCarthy

"peteralan71" wrote:



He can't? Poor guy. 😉
UserPostedImage
Packers_Finland
14 years ago
UserPostedImage
This is a placeholder
yooperfan
14 years ago
Different era, different athletes, different league.
Dumb article.

Damnit, just "Run to Daylight".

Most of you folks are too young to relate to that, I'm thinking.
zombieslayer
14 years ago
I can't even read this. 5 titles in 7 years? Lombardi's regarded as the best coach in NFL history and possibly the best coach in all major American sports. He took a horrible team and gave them a winning record in his first season. Mike McCarthy has a long way to go to even be mentioned in the same sentence as Lombardi.

This is not a knock on MM. It's a praise to Lombardi.
My man Donald Driver
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(thanks to Pack93z for the pic)
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