WEBVTT - #254 Packers Unscripted: Season of change 0:00:01.200 --> 0:00:20.599 Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:23.239 I am Mike Spofford and he is the one and 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:26.760 only West Hodkowits were coming to here from our studios 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:29.520 at lambeau Field and West A lot to digest here 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:32.760 on today's show, because just before coming in here and 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:35.839 turning on the cameras, we heard from head coach Mike 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:38.960 McCarthy in his season ending news conference. It lasted I 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:44.760 believe roughly thirty three minutes. Okay, that's uh. I've been 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.240 here for all of McCarthy's coaching career and I can 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:49.600 tell you that that is the longest season ending news 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:52.120 conference he's ever had. It's a reflection, obviously, of all 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.040 the change that's going on here at twelve sixty five 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.880 Lombardi Avenue. UM, but an interesting, an interesting day in 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:01.080 the lambeau Field oud ofitur. It certainly is Mike. I 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:04.040 think last year McCarthy's final news conference, now mindy, there 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.000 was basically no coaching changes that happened after last season 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.319 was about twenty three minutes, nineteen minutes of questions from 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:12.640 what I gathered. UH, this year, he had a very 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.920 short intro, A lot of it were questions. Some of 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:18.520 the things that came out of that, Beginning with Dom 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:22.679 Caper's no longer the defensive coordinator. Scott McCurley and Mike Turkovac, 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:26.679 the assistant linebackers coach in defensive line coach, respectively, both 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:28.880 also have been parting ways at the organization. On the 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:32.640 offensive side, Edgar Bennett situation still fluid, but the offensive 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.440 coordinator position is going to look different. Alex Van pel 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:38.479 choosing to let his contract run out now a free 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:40.880 agent so he won't be back as the quarterbacks coach, 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.679 and then also Tim McGarrigle, who was the defensive quality 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:48.000 control coach, has also pursuing different opportunities. So for me, 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:50.120 during my time on the beat, how this line's up, 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:53.280 Mike the most changes other than you know, maybe the 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:55.920 shuffling that they did in two thousand and fourteen, A 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.040 lot of that was promotions, though it wasn't so much 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:00.560 guys being you know, parting ways with the team. So 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:03.120 very interested to see how the situation plays out now, 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.120 but definitely offensive defensive coordinator positions are going to look 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:09.400 different in two yeah, and certainly the biggest coaching shakeup 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:14.119 since uh the the after the Packers last non playoff 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.280 season in two thousand and eight, when the entire defensive 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:21.680 coaching staff really except for one or two individuals, was replaced. 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:26.360 And unlike that time nine years ago, I guess if 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:31.280 I'm doing my math right, um, this time Mike McCarthy 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.600 isn't talking so much about defensive scheme. He you know, 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:37.360 he really wanted to switch from that four three to 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:40.280 the three four when he brought in Dom Caper's in 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:44.280 early two thousand nine. This time he's not talking about, 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:47.919 you know, scheme and numbers and this and that. It's 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:51.880 about finding the right defensive coordinator that is is going 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:54.880 to have the same vision for the type of defense 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:57.040 that he wants to play, the style of defense he 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.440 wants to play, the xs and ohs. The schematic part 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.320 of it is secondary in a sense. And he did 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:06.440 mention three internal candidates for the job, associated head coach 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:10.960 Winston Moss, safety's coach Darren Perry, cornerbacks coach Joe Witt Jr. 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.920 But he will also interview some external candidates for for 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:16.400 defensive coordinator. This is going to be a very interesting 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:18.359 decision for Mike McCarthy. The first thing I want to 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:20.839 start off with their mike is the scheme situation? Because 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:22.760 you and I get the question all the time, well, 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:24.760 is it the right time to move back to a 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.360 four three? Nick Perry was asked about it in the 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.600 final locker room as well, people, and it isn't any 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.280 I'm not trying to single anybody out. We need to 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:35.680 stop focusing so much on that. And it's not just 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:38.920 in Green Bay, it's in the entire NFL. Base defenses 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:41.200 are run about fifteen percent of the time right now, 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:43.560 and even at that mike, if you watch the Packers 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.280 very closely this past season, they had a three four 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:49.000 base and they had a four three base variant where 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:51.440 you had Clay Matthews or Kyler Facro playing off the 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.920 line of scrimmage as basically a traditional four three inside 0:03:54.960 --> 0:04:00.000 middle linebacker. So that is different. What is ultimately when 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.200 you get to nickel and dime personnel. In most cases, 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:05.640 if you're going even strength, you have four pass rushers 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:09.400 going after the quarterback. Doesn't matter what your basic philosophy is, 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:13.120 the one on one concept is your four maybe five. 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.720 If you send a blitz, rushers need to beat those 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:18.560 offensive linemen need to beat the running back in protection 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:20.760 you need to get after the quarterback. And I think 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.680 that's the one takeaway I really got from McCarthy looking 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:26.080 at the vision for two thousand eighteen. With the defense, 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:30.120 it's finding the right guys to make everything fit defensively 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.080 and to really get the production that they felt they 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.279 really had that first month of the season before things 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:38.479 started to get away from them a little bit. Yeah, 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.279 I think so. You know, Mike McCarthy reference the season 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:44.640 opener against Seattle. Now, granted, Seattle ended up not being 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:46.800 a playoff team, just like the Packers ended up not 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.440 being a playoff team, but that performance in Week one 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.280 at lambeau Field, that's that's the type of defense that 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:56.840 McCarthy envisions. He got it established at the start of 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.719 but now it's a matter of having that the roster makeup, 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:05.560 the way the players are developed, especially young players developed 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:07.839 all of that to be able to carry it through 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.039 for an entire season, to be able to continue to 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.919 play that way. And uh, and that's that's really his 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:15.000 goal and his vision for the upcoming season. Yeah, and 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:16.960 it isn't as you said, it's not just the defense 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:20.279 either offensively that there's some soul searching they need to do. 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:22.760 As well trying to to find a way to bounce 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.320 back from this. Certainly they lost the kingpin, they lost 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:27.800 the biggest piece to this equation for Aaron with Aaron 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:31.279 Rodgers for the better part of ten games last season. Uh, 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:33.600 that is going to be something that makes everything difficult. 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:36.480 But it's how do the other pieces independent of that 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:38.599 come together, which I think is one of the reasons 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:40.880 he said, when you're looking at the offensive coordinator spot 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.040 in Green Bay, it's unique because he he mentioned he's 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:46.800 going to continue to call plays here in this offense, 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:49.640 so that coordinator spot is really the guy that's going 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:53.320 to be facilitating those those positions coming together, the overall 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.920 concepts of a defense, this scheme that has to fit too. 0:05:57.279 --> 0:05:59.880 So I think when you look at these two sides 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.159 of the ball, and certainly there's a lot of things 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.720 to be figured out. We only have the more abstract 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:08.360 vision at this point. But it will be interesting when 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.000 that staff does come together, when they start kind of 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:14.080 formulating that game plan for two thousand and eighteen, how 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.760 all these pieces are gonna align with that vision of 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.080 what McCarthy wants his team to be going forward. And 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.960 he said he doesn't have a timeline necessarily for when 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.479 he's going to finalize his coaching staff. But I think 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:27.120 we've seen in the past, you know, it takes it 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:28.960 takes a few weeks to get all the pieces in 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:32.760 place when you're making this many changes. But um, but 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:34.640 he's going to He's going to take his time. Yeah. 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:35.920 I wanted to ask you this much because I was 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:37.919 covering prep sports back in two thousand and eight and 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:39.800 two thousand night. How long do you remember how long 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:41.920 that was from when Bob Sanders and that staff was 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:43.760 let go to when they brought in Don Caper's I 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:45.560 want to say it was about a month because I 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:48.680 know that they got it all done. You get the 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.640 coaching staff definitely set before everybody goes to the combine 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:54.279 when you start meeting with the prospects, the college prospects 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.120 and whatnot. So I would think, you know, either by 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.960 the end of this month or shortly after the Super Bowl, 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:01.960 all I would have to believe he'll have his coaching 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:04.960 staff finalized for twenty Yeah, and and again, as you said, 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:06.680 there's no timeline on it. But it's just it is 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:10.320 interesting because this is these these weeks, these days, this 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:12.400 is where these decisions need to come together and what 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:14.400 we'll see what the Packers look like. Yeah, well, plenty 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.960 more to talk about from coach McCarthy. Season ending news 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.480 conference back with more on Packer's Unscripted right after this, 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.440 Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford in this chair, 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.040 Wes Hodkowits and that one. And what's another topic that 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:47.440 came up with Coach McCarthy in the media auditorium speaking 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:51.600 with reporters the new GM higher, which we talked about 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.640 a lot on previous shows this week, McCarthy said he's 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.560 uh involved in the process to a certain extent that 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:02.120 we didn't go into into the details. The main gist 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:07.160 of what he said, though, is acknowledging essentially that, um, 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:11.640 he wants to have a similar type of partnership relationship, 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:14.640 the same type of fit that that he felt with 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:19.760 Ted Thompson over a very successful twelve year run. But 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.720 but if that fit isn't there, he doesn't expect or 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.520 you know, doesn't have the expectation that that new GM 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:29.679 is going to necessarily keep him as the head coach, 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:31.040 you know. And and here's the thing. I thought it 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:34.160 was such a mature statement from McCarty looking at this 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.080 because it is you have to understand the realities of 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:39.800 this world, and it's that different people are gonna have 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.160 different philosophies, are gonna have different thoughts, and just to 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:44.679 think that, well, you hire one guy, everything will be 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:48.680 you know, unicorns and rainbows, it doesn't always work like that. 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.280 His his biggest statement, I thought going up there, whether 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:54.160 it was talking about the coaching staff, whether I was 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:57.920 talking about the GM, every aspect of the football team 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:00.960 with the goal of being a championship surrounded by the 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:04.319 idea of fit. So he's involved to a certain extent, 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.319 he said with this, but ultimately it is Mark Murphy's search. 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:09.920 The questions about it have to be directed towards Mark 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.760 Murphy in terms of who ultimately is going to be 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:15.880 handling that role of general manager. But one of the 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:18.600 reasons why him and Thompson worked so well is because 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:22.040 they aligned in the idea of fit. Thompson was hired 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:25.439 as GM, ends up a year later hiring McCarthy as 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:27.280 his coach when I think a lot of other people 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:29.880 in the NFL wouldn't have been glowing, you know about 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:31.960 an offensive coordinator that just went through the struggles that 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:36.320 he did. In San Francisco. Thompson saw the big picture, 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:38.480 he saw what he was as a developer, and they 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.320 had this run of twelve seasons together. Now that you 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:43.640 look towards the future, there's some really good in house 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:47.520 candidates as far as this GM position is concerned. McCarthy 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:50.880 didn't want to single out anyone specifically for obvious reasons, 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:53.760 but there is there is value to that, and there's 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:57.360 value to having that relationship and in understanding how all 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:59.760 of that can come together when you have people that 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:03.640 were raised in Thompson's personnel department in McCarthy obviously also 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:07.720 seeing his career as a coach really flourished under Thompson's watch. Yeah, 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.480 and make no mistake about it, Mike McCarthy confirmed, as 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:12.800 he said many times in the past, he feels he 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.280 has the best job in the NFL. He absolutely loves 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.160 coaching the Green Bay Packers. All the resources that are 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:20.319 available to him as a head coach to develop a 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.839 football team to go win football games. He loves it here. 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:27.559 He wants to stay here. He's just acknowledging the reality 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.719 that you know, if if there isn't a if there 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.360 isn't a viable partnership with whoever the new GM is, 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:37.840 that that's not going to be what's best for the 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:41.360 Green Bay Packers. And just as Ted Thompson stepping aside 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:45.720 when he has now was a move that wasn't the 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:49.319 best interests of the Packers going forward. Mike McCarthy's acknowledging 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:52.800 that these types of moves, you know, they could happen 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:55.520 down the road. He's he's not necessarily counting on the 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:58.400 fact that after twelve years as the head coach, that 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:00.160 he's going to be the coach here for another Well, 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.520 the Green Bay Packers really are an anomaly in the 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.000 NFL right now. And the reason I say that is 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:08.360 because you can look at lengthy coaching tenures in the NFL. 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.440 There are some examples of it. There's lengthy general manager 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:14.640 tenures in the NFL too. But the two establishments that 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:18.000 have a longer tenure right now than McCarthy is Bill 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:20.840 Belichick in the New England Patriots, and Belichick basically runs 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.440 their personnel department too in Marvin Lewis in the Cincinnati Bengals. 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:27.400 In Marvin Lewis basically runs that entire organization as well 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.960 with his coaches, So those everyone has a unique kind 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:34.199 of viewpoint on how you go about building a franchise, 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:38.360 building a football team, and sustaining that success. I think 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.920 the only other real comparable is New Orleans what they've 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:44.319 done with Mickey Loomis and in Sean Payton that has 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:46.959 stayed together over the years, but it is in some 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:49.640 ways it's uncharted territory what the Packers are going into. 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:52.560 So McCarthy understands the realities of this and how things 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.080 can play out. And again, it's gonna come down to 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:58.079 seeing how what happens ultimately with Mark Murphy, what he 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:01.200 decides to do for this organization, and then seeing from 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.000 there how everything could fit together. Yeah, and Mike McCarthy 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.520 also talked about some of the things on the field 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:10.160 in that obviously didn't go as planned. So we'll get 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.199 to that after the breakback with more and Packers Unscripted. 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:34.679 Right after this, Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford here, West, Hodkuh, 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:38.000 It's over there, West, Continuing our discussion of Mike McCarthy 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:41.160 season ending news conference. I want to start this segment 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:45.080 with some comments we heard the other day from Packers 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:48.520 safety ha Ha Clinton Dix in which he was expressing 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.800 some frustration with things that were going on on the defense, 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:56.160 particularly in regards to when the injury struck and you 0:12:56.240 --> 0:13:00.240 had to have young players filling in on defense and 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:04.680 things weren't going well that Uh, the Packers didn't necessarily 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:09.120 have really the options to replace those players to try 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:11.400 to do something better, to try to improve what was 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.080 going on out there. The options were limited. In a 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:16.880 lot of cases it was young players who not for 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:20.080 lack of talent, but for lack of experience. Really, we're 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:22.560 not getting the job done. But yet then the only 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:26.200 other options are guys with even less experience. Um. Mike 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.040 McCarthy addressed this a little bit too in terms of 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.600 in terms of the makeup of the team. What do 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:34.240 you make of of these comments that we're hearing, you know, 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.360 ha ha. I thought it made such a great point. 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:38.760 This goes back to Tuesday's final locker room. It was 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.240 the first question he was asked in regards to Don 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:45.439 Caper's being let go. Really supported Capers during that he 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:49.000 started off with probably a minute long response, UM, thanking 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:50.719 of for his time, saying that this is where I 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:52.960 got my start, this is where I really got to 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.840 get comfortable in an NFL defense. But one of the 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.520 parallels he drew was his first season in two thousand fourteen, 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:02.760 which was to for my money still probably aside from 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.160 the Super Bowl team itself, the best team that the 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:07.640 Packers have had probably under McCarthy. And I say that 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:09.760 because of how well rounded they were on both sides 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:14.920 of the ball. So that season they were incredibly healthy. 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.240 But you look at the depth that they had and 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:19.000 that they had for those years after. You know, in 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.600 that in that two thousand twelve to fourteen stretch, you 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:24.600 had guys that stepped in. You look at the outside 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:28.520 backers when you had Mike Neil and Nick Perry jumping in. Uh. 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:33.560 You know, in developing when you had Eric Walden, Jared Bush, uh, 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:38.200 a guy like Chris Banjo, Mica Hyde. Players that were 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:41.600 maybe not quote unquote starters because of the depth depth positions, 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:43.760 but they knew the defense and they knew it well, 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:46.200 and when they got the opportunity to go in there, 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:48.720 they were able to really flourish. And McCarthy addressed this too, 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:52.520 about this this sort of in the middle of young, 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:56.080 inexperienced players and veterans the Packers these last two seasons 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:58.400 have really struggled to find someone in the middle of that. 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:01.120 It's not an easy thing to solve because I think 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.440 injuries have really taken the biggest bite out of that. 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.800 I don't think it's anybody's really fault per se that 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:09.320 all this has happened, but it does lead to natural 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:12.000 challenges that I think in some ways took the Packers 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:13.640 from where they were that first month of the season 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:16.520 defensively and ended up making it what the season you know, 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:18.800 ultimately was. Yeah, and I think what we've seen over 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:21.240 the years, Mike McCarthy talks about it, it's it's a 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:23.640 it's the nature of the business in the NFL. You're 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.560 gonna have your young players and you're gonna have your 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.200 veteran players. But then as the season goes along, you 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:30.600 see that gap close in terms of in terms of 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:33.720 their ability, the young guys start to catch up. He 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:37.680 felt that really last season in ten he was seeing 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:40.280 the gap wasn't closing fast enough, and that's one of 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.320 the reasons the Packers started four and six. Before you know, 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:45.720 they picked it up and then obviously made that memorable 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.560 run to the NFC Championship Game. This year. The gap 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:52.760 seemed to be even larger and was was closing even 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:56.000 more slowly. And obviously you lose Aaron Rodgers and that 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:58.520 has an impact on on you know a lot of 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:00.760 things and a lot of these issues that that we're 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.920 talking about. But the uh, you've got to You've you 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:07.280 have to do one of two things. You either have 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:10.480 to have some more experienced players to be able to 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.400 weather those injury storms when they happen, because they're going 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.600 to happen, and they happen to everybody, or you have 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:18.680 to be able to get the young players up to 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.360 speed that much faster. And in the post two thousand 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.560 eleven cb A environment, you know, Mike, the first half 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.840 of Mike McCarthy's coaching career, the off season program was longer, 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.720 They could work with players more, you know everything about 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:32.800 those first and second year players. You've got to do 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:35.520 so much more with them, especially the second year guys, 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.200 you know, after they had put in their rookie seasons. 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.080 That's not that's not how it's done anymore because there 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:43.560 are so many more limitations on O t a s 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.640 and offseason program dates and hours and and this and that, 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:49.120 and I think we're seeing and Mike McCarthy says, it's 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:51.800 really across the league. We're seeing the impact of that 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:55.040 with young players having to be thrown into roles and 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:58.000 playing too soon, playing over their heads, so to speak, 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.800 and and teams are suffering for it. About this, Mike 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:04.920 Packers drafted Kevin King in the first round last year, 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:11.840 the first pick, sorry, ye overall? Okay, So he's unavailable 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.000 for basically the entire off season program due to the 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:17.000 college rules that left him back on the West Coast 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.800 because Washington wasn't out of school yet. He comes into 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:24.480 Green Bay, has the shoulder injury, plays through that ends 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.919 up starting whatever it was, seven eight games despite not 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.520 having that full off season to go off of. I 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:32.720 think in some ways that was a good illustration of 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:35.719 this inexperience and injury and how that can affect you. 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:37.600 We'll talk more about this, but I just I think 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:40.040 this is something that it's very interesting to see when 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:42.119 you really get a chance to review what happened this 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:45.480 past season, how much that really influenced, particularly on defense, 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:47.960 how the Packers were able to play football. Yeah, let's 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:50.000 talk a little bit more about that after the breakback 0:17:50.000 --> 0:18:10.760 with moren Packers unscripted. Right after this Ye, Welcome back 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:14.440 to Packers Unscripted Mike Spofford alongside West hodkowits West. Before 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:17.000 we go, I want to continue what we were discussing 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:20.439 in the previous segment about this gap between your veteran 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:22.879 players and your younger players in terms of that on 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:26.400 the field performance, because sixteen games is a long time. 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.480 The idea is that that gap closes and then you 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:32.920 get a team playing its best football down the stretch, 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.040 you make the playoffs, and you try to make that 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:38.480 postseason run. That's the formula. That's that's how the Packers 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:40.040 did it in two thousand and ten, That's how they 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:44.760 almost did it in two thousand and fourteen. But without 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:48.560 being uh, you know, armchair gms, or even you know, 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:51.800 football coaches for that matter, whose responsibility is to coach 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.600 these players and get them ready to play, how do 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.359 you go about trying to close that gap so the 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.360 Packers don't end up in these situations like we've seen 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:02.439 the last couple of seasons. We'll just be clear. You know, 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.800 Mark Murphy started this week, you know, interviewing candidates for 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:09.080 the GM job. My phone still hasn't rain yet, so 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:12.760 nobody's nobody's checking in with me. But um, to me, 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.480 it comes down to three different things, Mike. The first 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.480 thing is player acquisition. Packers have a lot of draft 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:20.399 picks this year. I think that's gonna be eleven or 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:22.879 twelve once this thing is all said and done with 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:27.320 the compensatory picks. That's a starting point. You have free agency, 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:29.879 both the free agents that you want to resign potentially 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:32.320 and then guys you want to entertain outside. I mean, 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:34.840 you look at you know what could potentially be out there. 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.439 Those are all decisions that whoever sitting in a GM 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.359 are ultimately gonna have to make to really set the 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:42.359 course for how things are gonna go. And the third 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:45.560 thing is the returning players that the Packers have. There 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:48.240 was a lot of departures last year just because of 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:50.679 how the situation worked, how contracts worked out. That was 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:53.600 a big off season for a lot of expiring contracts 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:57.680 and it impacted the leadership in the McCarthy acknowledged that absolutely, 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:00.239 and that two thirteen draft man it bared a lot 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:02.639 of fruit for the Packers and it just so happened 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:04.720 at the same time they had some good veterans that 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:08.760 were coming up at the same exact expiration. Yeah, So 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:11.040 to me, I think you need to keep your fingers crossed. 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:12.760 You have to, you have to hope for some luck 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:15.000 on the injury front because I think that ultimately really 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:17.439 took away when you look, especially at the secondary, what 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:21.439 the Packers could do. But they got a lot of experience. 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.000 These young guys on this roster this year. They need 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:26.760 to make sure that they're able to parlay those experiences 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:30.160 into a solid off season program and go into training 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:32.760 camp a lot better for what they went through this season. 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:35.000 I think that's the biggest key, because that's where your 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:37.040 experience is coming from. Yeah, and I wonder from a 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:40.600 roster makeup standpoint, and I'll reiterate what you said. My 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:45.560 phone is not ringing for the interview. Mike Mark Murphy 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:49.320 hasn't hasn't called me either. But you wonder when you 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:51.879 talk about draft and develop, and Mike McCarthy said, that 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:54.080 still needs to be the core of who the Packers 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:57.080 are and what they do is draft and develop. But 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:02.120 if you have too many young players, how much is 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:06.199 the development uh stunted in a sense for lack of 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:08.640