[img_r]http://cmsimg.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20080919&Category=PKR07&ArtNo=809200402&Ref=AR&Profile=1058&MaxW=318&Border=0[/img_r]It was a startling statement from a man who has witnessed all 15 of the team's head coaches in action over the past several decades. McCarthy is beginning only his third season at the Packers' helm, and he has some heavy lifting in store if he wants to match the accomplishments of coaches like Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren.
But Remmel has picked up on something many national NFL observers have been slow to recognize. No one mentions McCarthy's name when the league's elite coaches are discussed.
He's too young. He's too inexperienced. He has too much to prove.
McCarthy himself looks at more experienced NFL head coaches like Bill Belichick, Holmgren, Tony Dungy, Mike Shanahan and John Fox, and doesn't think he belongs in the same sentence.
"What those guys have accomplished, I think they get all the credit they deserve," McCarthy said. "I don't look at myself that way. I still think I'm a young coach. I'm only in my third year."
Predicting coaching success in the NFL is like playing the stock market. There are inevitable highs and lows, and the speculation can get you burned. But when searching for the fastest-rising star among the league's younger coaches, my money is squarely on McCarthy.
None of the national pundits know it, but the Packers likely have one of the best-kept coaching secrets in the league.
"He's very underrated," cornerback Al Harris said. "Maybe it's because he's a younger guy."
Then Harris, like Remmel, made a bold prediction about McCarthy. "His name will be mentioned with the big dogs," he said.
What makes McCarthy special? He knows football inside and out, but he also knows people.
"He's got a good handle for his team," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "He knows some of the buttons to push. I think he knows when to push guys and when not to, when to lay off."
A perfect example came at practice in the week leading to the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, when the players were a little worn down from training camp.
"At practice, we weren't firing on all cylinders," linebacker Brady Poppinga said, "and things were a little lackadaisical."
Most coaches would have lowered the boom and demanded more.
"He's like, no, we're going to shut it down," Poppinga said. "We're going to rest you. And he did. He shut us down. He said, 'Look, I see that you guys are tired.' And everybody was like, 'Dang, this is great.' He read us perfectly. We got our legs back under us and wound up having a good game against the Vikings."
Anyone who thinks McCarthy coddles his players and staff has the wrong idea. He knows when to step on the accelerator and is described as demanding.
"He's a blue-collar guy," special teams coach Mike Stock said. "He expects you to do your job and do it thoroughly. If you don't, you're going to hear about it, but it's always going to be privately."
Philbin said: "He's not a yeller and a screamer. He's not a guy that's throwing video machines around in the office. But he's very clear about what he wants."
Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders added: "Mike is as good as I've ever worked for. He's very knowledgeable, very organized, very demanding. He knows exactly what's going on."
You can accuse the assistant coaches of buttering up the boss, but take a look at the results in McCarthy's two-plus seasons on the job.
The Packers are 19-3 in their last 22 regular-season games, which matches Holmgren's best 22-game stretch in the mid-1990s and falls just short of Lombardi's best stretch (20-2) in the 1960s. McCarthy is 12-5 on the road and a remarkable 10-0 against Minnesota and Detroit. His overall winning percentage (.667) is tied for second all-time with Holmgren and trails only Lombardi.
"Those are hard numbers to ignore," Philbin said. "You've got to give Mike a lot of credit for being steady. As we all know, we had some rough sailing in that first year he was here. He kept the ship steady."
The Packers stumbled to a 4-8 start in McCarthy's first season but since have posted the best regular-season record in the NFC and second-best in the NFL behind the New England Patriots.
But McCarthy knows success is ultimately counted in championships. He can live with that and isn't weighed down by the pressure to produce a Super Bowl title.
"I'll just say this, I enjoy my job, I love coming to work every day, regardless of what happened the day before," McCarthy said. "There's nothing like pulling into this stadium. Just the people that we work with, this is a great environment to work."
Lambeau, Lombardi and Holmgren wound up coaching elsewhere after successful stints with the Packers. From the sounds of it, McCarthy is willing to stay in Green Bay for the long haul, if the organization wants him.
"This is a community that I'm going to be a part of the rest of my life," McCarthy said. "My wife Jessica and I, we've made that commitment here, so that's where personally it's not helping my contract negotiations for the future, but I am very content. As long as the environment is the way it is, this is where I want to be."
That's good news for the Packers. And it makes Remmel's prediction not sound so far-fetched after all.