Yes. He does have to use it. Let me speak as one who has experienced the anxiety of being a fan who has seen the bigger picture. I don't purport to be some genius by any stretch, but I have honestly had complaint (and it is well document) with MANY of the arguments against McCarthy. I have always felt that many of them were unwarranted. In the few occasions that I attend the Gameday Chat I am appalled at the number of armchair amateurish arguments against him. I won't lie that every now and then I am left scratching my head after a playcall. But the fact remains that the complexity of the game is far above my own understanding. I've always felt that some of the knocks on McCarthy are purely based in perception. Much the same way the Cutler is viewed as a turd, it's a situation of style points. People have long argued they are tired with his lack of press conference candor or not seeming to be fired up enough on the sidelines. C'mon. We've had people wishing Bill Cowher would come to Green Bay for damn year three seasons.

There are some of us that feel vindicated in their support for McCarthy. Our attitude now isn't meant to be "divisive". If I speak for myself, my attitude is -- if anything -- meant to bring people on board. To quote a semi-famous QB: "Get on board, or shut up."

If you know me in real life you'd know that I am SOOO not a status-quo kinda guy. If anything, I'm uncomfortably cynical for most. But I've bought into this team and it's leadership. McCarthy has professed that towards the playoffs his own leadership was not enough. As such, he entrusted the selection of team captains to the players. This says to me that McCarthy understands he's not Holmgren. He's not going to stand in the locker room and deliver one of those "WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" That's not how he's wired. He's kinda awkward. But what it shows is that he knows how to do his job and how to make his players respond. Charles Woodson will fire up the troops. McCarthy will find his own ways to fire up the troops. He'll set the schedule, meticulously. He'll fit them for rings, then downplay it to the media. He'll call the plays. He'll manage the team, and lead -- in his own, understated ways -- the team to a Super Bowl victory.

Long winded rant. McCarthy is our leader, but he's not the brash demonstrative type. Stay the course. Believe in the system. If you've been one of those guys on his side the whole time. Yeah. You feel pretty awesome.

---

Who hasn't scratched their head at some of the things McCarthy has done?
I had my few quips about how McCarthy is a terrible play caller and making terrible decisions at very crucial points in games. However, it was easy for me to look here (in Chicago) and up northwest of here (in Minnesota) to realize the Packers have the better coach.

I like McCarthy and I like the way he carries himself. He fits into the Packers organization better than any current head coach would.

---

Yes, it does feel pretty awesome that I've supported Mike McCarthy throughout this whole process. Ted Thompson too for that matter.

And what play caller in the NFL DOESN'T make a few bad calls? It is almost impossible to call a perfect game.

---

Too bad we didn't get Brad Childress instead of McCarthy when they were both looking for a job 5 yrs ago.

---

So have I. I was defending Thompson when it wasn't cool to do so, and I've never called for McCarthy's firing, even when I wanted to strangle the guy. But you don't see me calling other people "haters," particularly when their main offense is to disagree with some of the abovementioned men's decisions. (For the record, I've agreed with almost all of Thompson's decisions, the main exceptions being bringing back Clifton, Jackson, and Bigby.)

That was my point.

---

But there ARE haters that make everything out to be McCarthy's fault. That is just simply what some people here are. One in specific.

---

Not sure why but this comes off wreaking of elitism. You weren't the only one, that's a fact. PH.com had quite a few members who supported Ted Thompson. Some of us at times have said/thought "Eh, not sure I like that decision, but he's the GM for a reason" essentially saying he knows what he's doing, and they trust him.

When the Packers had their 18 flag fest, I was a bit pissed because it seems to be a running theme with McCarthy's team and outside looking in, no consequences for those actions. He even has said sitting a guy hurts the team. I disagree. Sure, it does for the plays he's out, but it'll also send a message to him and the team that I feel outweighs that.

---

Anyone remember this thread? . It was created less than two months ago. Or maybe this one in September?  A lot of people stood up for McCarthy and the two people that started the threads--Chutzpah and twebdonny--haven't shown their face around here since we won the Super Bowl. But why not go back to the 2009 thread  to see who the real Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson supporters are.



My favorite quote from the 2009 thread...



EDIT: I'm not saying I was always behind McCarthy myself either by posting this. I was always critical of him.

Aww, I used to be so nice and peace-loving.



Quick routes? Not using the run to set up the passing game, but just enough to keep the defense from pinning their ears back and killing Rodgers? Looks like our SB gameplan.

I have always been a McCarthy backer. I saw what he did that first year with a lot of new guys and he was new himself and they won a string of games at the end of the year. That was it for me.

Having coached and being the son of a long standing college coach I don't think a lot of people grasp what being a coach is all about. The biggest thing is having command of the troops and showing confidence in your players in a way that they respond with confidence in you.

When things go bad that's not easy to hold onto and it can go down fast from there. This is where McCarthy excels. We lose a very bad game against a Tampa team or a Detroit and at the end of the year that game is looked at as the signiture game that turned a season the right way.

This is very hard to pull off. Doubt starts to creep in and attitudes and negativity has to get squashed quickly. A bad loss can turn a team the wrong way and seasons are lost. The strength of the HC at that time will determine which way it goes.

I don't know Mike McCarthy but from what I see the guy is a rock for this team. This guy is just always the same. These players know what he's all about and they are all behind him all the way.

Forget the X's and 0's. A HC has to be at a place with his players where they are all in every day and they believe. They have that and they will be very hard to beat. They don't have it and I don't care how much talent is there they probably won't accomplish what they could.

Sixteen weeks and then the playoffs this coach has to manage through this stuff. That's a very long time to have to handle 53 guys with all the things that happens during a season.

We got the right guy. Every time he hits a rough spot and things look pretty bad he gets it turned around fast. Not many guys can do that. Trust me.

---