Former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy’s first extended interview since being fired by the team last December went live on Wednesday morning and it includes discussion of his relationship with quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
That relationship was in the crosshairs at various points over McCarthy’s 13 years on the job. Rodgers was the starter for 11 of those seasons and it wasn’t unheard of for him to make public criticisms of the offense or to hear about complaints he made on the sideline about play calls during games.
McCarthy told Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com that he was “not aware” of anything that went on during games and used the words “challenging, very rewarding and fun” to describe coaching Rodgers. McCarthy added that the challenging part of things was impossible to avoid given the length of time they spent together.
“When I think about my relationship with Aaron, you’re talking about 13 years,” McCarthy said. “That’s a very long time. It’s been a privilege to watch him grow in so many different ways and see him do so many great things on the field and off. To think you can be in a relationship that long and not have any frustrations, that’s unrealistic.”
McCarthy called it “a joy” to work with a quarterback as talented as Rodgers and said he feels he’s a better person and coach because of the time the two men spent together. He’ll need to wait a while before putting the better coach portion of that belief to the test, but we’ll get a look at how Rodgers deals with a new head coach much sooner.