When hiring the replacement to G.M. Ted Thompson, the Packers introduced an unexpected twist to the power structure of the organization. Moving forward, the head coach would report not to the General Manager, but to the CEO.
Which means that it was Mark Murphy who fired McCarthy. Said Murphy in the press release announcing the firing, “I made the difficult decision to relieve Mike McCarthy of his role as head coach.”
It also means that Mark Murphy will be hiring McCarthy’s replacement.
New G.M. Brian Gutekunst will surely have a voice in the process, but this one surely is Murphy’s call. He’s the closest thing the team has to an owner, and it will be Murphy, not Gutekunst, who will be meeting with the media on Monday.
For the 63-year-old Murphy, this will likely be a legacy hire. Given that he arrived as CEO in 2007, it likely will be Murphy’s only coaching hire.