B
Bob McGinn
Guest
By BOB McGINN
Bob Harlan conceived and implemented the football decision-making structure in 1992 that resuscitated the Green Bay Packers and remained in effect for largely winning, playoff football for 27 years.
Ron Wolf, his first general manager, wielded the power to hire and to fire the head coach in his decade with the organization.
In January, the Packers reverted to the pre-Harlan era when Mark Murphy, who as president and chief executive officer is one of seven members of the executive committee and one of about 45 members of the board of directors,
took back control of football decisions from the general manager, who for 11 months has been Brian Gutekunst.
Since firing Mike McCarthy on Dec. 2, Murphy presumably has begun the search for the 15th coach in team history.
Although Harlan never actually hired a coach he served 37 years in the Packers’ front office, including the last 18 as team president. And today, while living in the same home on Green Bay’s West Side that has been his family’s since his arrival in 1971, he remains a staunch proponent of consolidating football decision-making authority in the general manager.
“We have brilliant people on our executive committee but they weren’t brilliant in the field of football,” Harlan said Friday. “They were great businessmen, very smart businessmen. But we needed a football person to come in.”
In December 1991, Harlan fired Tom Braatz, the executive vice president of football operations. Under the structure of Judge Robert Parins, a long-time Brown County circuit court judge and the Packers’ president for seven years before Harlan, Braatz shared responsibility for football decisions with the head coach but Parins retained the power to hire and fire.
About two weeks later, Harlan brought in Wolf from the New York Jets. After being interviewed in Green Bay four years earlier, Wolf had pulled his name from consideration for the post that went to Braatz because his authority was restricted.
“When I hired Ron that was the time to get the executive committee and the board out of everything,” said Harlan. “In 1987, when he was in with the Judge, he said I’ve got to have the authority to hire and fire the head coach.”
During his tenure, Harlan observed that Wolf couldn’t abide coach Lindy Infante and GM Ted Thompson couldn’t make it work with embittered coach Mike Sherman.
“The one thing that came through to me, overseeing the thing, was that the general manager has got to get his own guy,” said Harlan. “They work so closely together. He’s got to have a guy he wants, he’s confident in and he’s comfortable with.
“Ron knew immediately he wasn’t going to be able to work with Infante. Ted waited and waited and waited before he finally settled on Sherman. They weren’t comfortable with Infante and Mike Sherman but they were very comfortable with (Mike) Holmgren and McCarthy.
“We failed trying it the other way. I just think you’ve got to let that general manager pick his coach.”
In Green Bay, Wolf hired three coaches: Holmgren (84-42, .667), Ray Rhodes (8-8, .500) and Sherman (59-43, .578). Holmgren departed for Seattle in January 1999 to become coach and general manager, Rhodes was fired immediately after the last game in January 2000 and Wolf retired in February 2001 five years before Sherman, his successor as GM, was fired by Thompson.
“Two out of three,” said Wolf, who was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. “That’s what? Six-six-seven? That’s pretty good.”
Wolf acknowledged that hiring people probably should be and was the most vital part of his job. It reminded him of Raiders boss Al Davis, for whom he worked for 23 years.
“I’d go in and sit with him and invariably he would tell me, ‘Ronnie, you’re f—–‘ with my life,” remembered Wolf. “I never really understood what he meant by that until I sat in that chair. That’s my life right there. It’s really important to get it right because I have to live with this guy.”
How does a decision-maker winnow down the dozens of names bandied about to fill a vacancy and hire a good coach?
“Well, you certainly don’t do what I did in the middle of my (tenure) in Green Bay,” Wolf said, alluding to his selection of Rhodes without interviewing anyone else. “You don’t put blinders on and say, ‘This is what we want, and once we got it we’re not going any further.’
“You have to interview people. You have to find out who can and who can’t through your interview process. That helps you immeasurably.”
Wolf insisted on conducting all interviews by himself, an approach agreeable to Harlan.
“I didn’t need someone else sitting in the room telling me what he thought,” Wolf said. “I needed to feel comfortable with the guy. Fortunately, Bob Harlan gave me the keys to the franchise.”
Once Wolf hired the coach, he stayed out of his way when it came down to game plans and strategy. All of that, however, was fair game during the interview.
“You have to be on the same page,” said Wolf. “You have to know what’s important to the individual that you’re interviewing. You have to know who he is going to bring with him.”
If, for example, Wolf was interviewing a coach with expertise on offense, he would want to know who would be his defensive coordinator, his offensive line coach, his defensive assistant with vast knowledge of coverages and his special-teams coach.
“You want to hear who these guys are,” he said. “When you hear that, you know whether you can work with this guy or not.”
Interviewing head-coaching candidates was a new assignment for Wolf. He learned as he went.
“You’d be shocked, as you do the interviews, guys that you know right away, say 20 minutes in, that you’ve wasted a day,” said Wolf. “Guys just aren’t ready. I wasn’t exactly an ace in the hole with this, either.
“You have a list. When you get in your list and start going through this process there are guys that are going to turn you off and guys that will turn you on.
“When you get to the guys that turn you on, that’s when the interview lasts longer. With some guys, you just want to get the hell out of the room. When they sit down and start talking, you know whether they’re prepared or whether they really care.”
In 40 years covering the Packers I played a part reporting on the hiring of six coaches. Here’s a look back at the twists and turns associated with them.
1984
Parins fired Bart Starr early on Monday morning one day after his ninth season ended with a 23-21 defeat at Soldier Field. Starr’s final record was 53-77-3 (.410).
Two days later, Parins called Cincinnati seeking permission to talk to coach Forrest Gregg. When owner Paul Brown wasn’t available, he spoke with his son, Mike.
Gregg led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 1981 and a 7-2 record in strike-shortened ’82 before slipping to 7-9 in ’83. He had one year remaining on his contract.
According to Harlan, Parins was surprised that the Bengals would grant permission. The Bengals recognized that returning to Green Bay would be special for Gregg, a Hall of Fame tackle.
“If you don’t give permission to someone and he finds out it was denied, you’ve got an unhappy person on your hands,” Paul Brown said.
Dick Corrick, the Packers’ director of player personnel, said they interviewed Illinois coach Mike White and tried to interview CBS analyst John Madden, who Corrick said “graciously” told the Packers he wasn’t interested.
When the search committee met Thursday, the decision was made to pursue Gregg because, as Parins put it, “It did not appear to us that there might be anyone of the coaching stature with NFL experience that would be available.”
Thus, Parins, Corrick and vice president Tony Canadeo made the short flight to Chicago Friday morning to meet with Gregg at the O’Hare Hilton.
“That was the trip where on the flight down the Judge told Dick, ‘You’re going to be in charge of football, the draft, all personnel, all football decisions,’” said Harlan. “Dick says, ‘That’s great.’ He was tickled to death, obviously.
“So they go in and they sit down with Forrest, and Forrest says, ‘I’m only interested if I get full control of everything.’ And the Judge says, ‘You got it.’
“I remember Dick coming back the next morning and the first thing he told me was, ‘I had the job but it lasted for less than 40 minutes.’ The Corrick regime was very short.
“When Mike Brown mentioned Forrest, it surprised the Judge because Forrest had done pretty well at Cincinnati. He thought it was a real coup to get him, and he went and got him.”
Speaking for Gregg’s former teammates, linebacker Ray Nitschke said, “His biggest thing is discipline and conditioning. He is an intense guy that can get the players to play. The Packers in the long run will benefit.”
Gregg never had a winning season, finishing 25-37-1 (.405). On Jan. 14, 1988, about 2 ½ weeks after the season, he left the Packers to become coach at Southern Methodist University.
1988
Following Gregg’s departure, Braatz was charged with finding the next coach. “His background, having worked in the field and his first-hand, even first-name knowledge of many, many people … you can’t measure the importance of that,” said Parins.
Braatz, a key personnel man for the Falcons from 1965-’86, interviewed every candidate by himself, including some at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. It marked a significant change in which the executive committee no longer was part of the interview process.
“It’s best this way,” said one NFL general manager. “Because nobody up there knew what the hell they were doing.”
Said Braatz: “I communicate every day with the Judge and let him know how it’s going and who I’ve talked to. I tell him, ‘This guy’s better than that guy, this guy’s out of it.’
“When it gets down to one or two, I don’t know how the Judge is going to react. He might want to talk to him and he might not.”
Braatz interviewed nearly 20 candidates, possibly setting some sort of record.
The list included coach George Perles of Michigan State, the 49ers’ Dennis Green (receivers coach), the Rams’ Dick Coury (quarterbacks coach), the 49ers’ George Seifert (defensive coordinator), the Steelers’ Tony Dungy (defensive coordinator), the Packers’ Bob Schnelker (OC), the Browns’ Lindy Infante (OC), the Broncos’ Mike Shanahan (OC), the Bears’ Johnny Roland (running backs), the Packers’ Dick Modzelewski (DC), the Cowboys’ Al Lavan (running backs), ex-Illinois coach Mike White, South Carolina coach Joe Morrison, Pittsburgh coach Mike Gottfried and the Falcons’ Jimmy Raye (receivers coach).
On the night of Jan. 27, 13 days after Gregg’s departure, Perles told Parins he would accept the five-year, $2.25 million but wanted to sleep on it.
At the time, Perles was four weeks removed from the Spartans’ victory in the Rose Bowl. In the next few hours, Michigan State extended his five-year contract to 10 years, funded an annuity and added some perks. Pressure was thick on campus.
On the morning of Jan. 28, Parins appeared relieved, relaxed and pleased that Perles, who helped the Steelers win four Super Bowls as a defensive coach, would replace Gregg when I caught up with him at the Green Bay airport about 6 a.m. before he flew to the Super Bowl in San Diego. Perles had agreed to the deal in a meeting with Parins on the night of Jan. 26 at the O’Hare Airport.
Perles was the only candidate interviewed by Parins. “Tom made the selection,” said Parins. “He did a masterful job of research and interviewing.”
Lee Remmel, the Packers’ publicist, wrote the press release announcing Perles but had to leave town. He asked Harlan to call Perles at home in East Lansing, Mich., at 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 28 to obtain a few quotes from the coach for insertion in the release.
“I called at the time and George answered,” recalled Harlan. “I told him who I was and what I was doing. He listened very politely. When I finished talking all he said was, ‘Bob, I’m not coming. I’ve changed my mind. I’m not taking the job.’”
Five days later, the Packers hired Infante, the No. 2 name on Braatz’ preferred list. Braatz would later say Seifert finished near the top. His concern regarding Green was whether his height (5-6) might prevent him from commanding the attention of an entire NFL team.
Infante was fired by Wolf shortly after completing his fourth season with a 27-7 victory in Minnesota. The Packers’ 4-12 record in 1991 left Infante with an overall mark of 24-40 (.375).
“Even years after that, Tom would say that he’d still go and hire the guy,” Harlan said in 1994, referring to Perles. “He was always very high on him. I just think he thought he was a sound coach from his days on defense with Pittsburgh. I talked to the man once in my life.”
1992
Upon jettisoning Infante, Wolf said Friday that he wanted to hire Bill Parcells and would have if not for his health problems. At the time, Parcells was working for NBC-TV after leading the Giants to two Super Bowl titles in a nine-year tenure (1982-’90).
“He had the heart problems and said he wasn’t going to do it (take the Packers job),” Wolf said. “He needed open-heart surgery.
“So that was it. That’s who I wanted to go with but he couldn’t do it. I think he would have done what he did everywhere. He’s brilliant.”
The first candidate interviewed by Wolf was Holmgren, the 49ers’ offensive coordinator. The problem was, Holmgren also ended up being interviewed by the Steelers, Buccaneers, Colts and Rams. The Packers’ search had been held up for about eight days by Parcells’ indecision.
Wolf also interviewed Terry Robiskie, the tight ends coach for the Raiders. Wolf said he wanted to interview Richie Petitbon, the Redskins’ defensive coordinator, but Washington GM Charley Casserly refused to grant permission until after the Super Bowl and the Packers didn’t want to wait.
“I had a call from (Marty) Schottenheimer and he recommended somebody,” remembered Wolf. “I asked him about Bill Cowher and he told me he didn’t want to lose Bill Cowher. I think he lost him to the Steelers. I wanted to interview Cowher but I didn’t.”
Cowher, the defensive coordinator in Kansas City, was hired by the Steelers nine days after the Packers hired Holmgren. At the time, the 34-year-old Cowher was the youngest coach in NFL history.
Among the coaches that were rumored to have been interviewed by Wolf but he said never were interviewed included Chuck Knox, Steve Sidwell, Wade Phillips, Vince Tobin, Pete Carroll, Dave Wannstedt, Buddy Ryan and Perles.
Wolf said he must have interviewed more than three people but couldn’t identify the others.
“When Ron started going after Holmgren I think everybody thought, ‘Boy, that’s a longshot,’” said Harlan. “But Mike took the job. I asked him a couple years later, with all the opportunities you had, why did you pick Green Bay?’
“He said very simply, ‘I knew Ron would get me players.’”
In order to get Holmgren from the 49ers, the Packers had to send a second-round draft choice (No. 35) as compensation. San Francisco used it to select halfback Amp Lee.
A few days later at the Super Bowl, Holmgren was asked by incredulous Bay Area reporters why he would leave San Francisco for Green Bay.
“I would say right now my situation is easier,” replied Holmgren. “I think the more people involved in the decision-making, the more cumbersome it becomes.
“Right now, Green Bay is very lean in the front office. You have Ron Wolf, and that’s it. They have Bob Harlan and the executive committee, but in essence Bob Harlan has turned the team over to (Wolf). Really, I talk to one person.
“The 49ers right now have a few more people. There’s (president) Carmen Policy, George (Seifert) is running the football operation, John McVay is the general manager and there’s (owner) Eddie DeBartolo.”
1999
Rhodes was fired by the Eagles on Dec. 28, one day after the conclusion of a 3-13 season that left him with a four-year record of 30-36-1 (.455). He had been defensive coordinator under Holmgren in 1992-’93.
Why did Wolf select Rhodes without interviewing Dick Jauron, the Packers’ secondary coach from 1986-’94 and at the time defensive coordinator in Jacksonville?
“Head coaching experience,” Wolf said at the time. “I realize how important it is. I can’t start over. I’m 60 years old. I’m hoping that this guy can carry the torch.
“I’m very comfortable with Ray. I understand Ray. He and I seem to see things the same way. That’s very important to me.”
On Friday, Wolf said he did talk to Florida’s Steve Spurrier by telephone.
“Hell, yes, I would have interviewed him,” Wolf said. “I thought he was a heck of a coach. He didn’t want to leave Florida and come to Green Bay.”
Offensive coordinator Sherman Lewis had been let go but Wolf said had made a deal with quarterbacks coach Andy Reid to become what he believed would have been the highest-paid offensive coordinator in history under the next coach.
“He was staying as offensive coordinator and I was feeling really good about that,” said Wolf. “I was sitting there with Andy Reid and I don’t even interview him as a head coach. That’s how stupid I was.”
On the same day Rhodes was introduced in Green Bay, Reid got the job to become Rhodes’ successor in Philly.
At the time, Wolf said he probably would have interviewed Seifert. However, Seifert was hired by Carolina when the Packers were losing a wild-card game in San Francisco.
“When Ron hired Ray he was looking for somebody tough and thought Ray would be it,” said Harlan. “Ron kept sticking with him and sticking with him. As soon as the last game was over Ron called and said, ‘I’m making a coaching change. He’s just lost control of the team.’
“Thing I always admired about Ron, if he was wrong he was the first one to admit it. He admitted he made a mistake and let him go.”
2000
On Friday, Wolf confirmed that he interviewed at least these six coaches: Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, Miami coach Butch Davis, Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, defensive coordinator Larry Peccatiello of Detroit, the unemployed Schottenheimer and Sherman, the offensive coordinator for one season in Seattle under Holmgren. He was confident there were a few others but couldn’t recall them.
“(Sherman) had a superb interview,” Wolf said Friday. “He was head and shoulders above all the other people.”
At one point, Wolf said “there was a feeling it was going to be Schottenheimer,” who would return for one final season of coaching in 2001 with Washington.
At the time, Harlan said he had notified the other six members of the executive committee when the Packers and Chiefs agreed that the compensation for hiring Schottenheimer would have been a first-round pick in 2000 and a fourth-round pick in ’01.
On Friday, Wolf said he didn’t think he offered the job to anyone other than Sherman, who accepted after a 4 ½-hour interview in which he presented, among other things, a binder containing a detailed schedule for the first 52 weeks of his first season in Green Bay.
“I was in the office on a Saturday,” remembered Harlan. “I was in the hallway and Ron was taking (Sherman) around.
“I got home that night and 5, 5:30 Ron called. He said, ‘If I had any guts at all I’d hire the guy. He knocked my socks off.’ I said, ’Go ahead and do it.’ He said he would sleep on it.
“He called the next morning and said I’ve made up my mind. It was that simple and that quick. He was just very impressed with Mike’s organizational skills and how prepared he was for the interview.”
Wolf said that at his age the timing wasn’t right for Alvarez. “I had to get somebody that at least knew the league,” he said.
Said Harlan: “He met Barry in some restaurant on the highway some place. I believe down in Oshkosh. Barry was just coming off surgery and Ron told me he was walking with a cane. Then he had the interview with Sherman and his mind was made up.”
2006
Harlan has said that Sherman was so bitter about being stripped of his GM’s duties after the 2004 season that he found it next to impossible to work with Thompson, his successor.
So, after firing Sherman, Thompson wound up interviewing seven NFL coordinators, including three on offense and four on defense.
“Quite an impressive list, by the way,” said Harlan. “Ted worked so diligently on it. He put a lot of time and study into it.”
Within the span of eight days, Thompson conducted one-on-one interviews with offensive coordinators Sean Payton of Dallas (actually assistant head coach-passing game coordinator), Maurice Carthon of Cleveland and McCarthy of San Francisco, and defensive coordinators Ron Rivera of Chicago, Wade Phillips of San Diego, Tim Lewis of the New York Giants and Jim Bates, who held the post under Sherman in 2005.
Chronologically, the order of interviews was Payton, Carthon, Rivera, McCarthy, Phillips, Lewis and Bates. Rivera was interviewed in Chicago, Lewis in New York. The others met Thompson and Harlan in Green Bay.
“Ted asked me if I’d greet each (candidate) alone and walk him through the locker room,” Harlan said. “Take him on a tour of the building and then bring him up to him. Later, Ted would ask me my thoughts.
“I knew Mike McCarthy, of course, because he had been here as an assistant. I was very impressed with Sean Payton. Kind of his great interest in the history of the franchise. When we walked out of the tunnel it really grabbed him.
“Wade was a great guy. I liked the candidates that Ted picked.”
Brad Childress, the Eagles’ offensive coordinator, was supposed to interview in Green Bay as well but never made it out of Minnesota and was hired by the Vikings to succeed Mike Tice.
“His last interview was with Jim Bates,” Harlan recalled. “Ted came into my office when it was all finished and said, ‘Bates had a great interview.’
“He said, ‘You have a tendency to go with the last person you talk to.’ He said, ‘Let me sleep on it and I’ll call you in the morning.’
“He came in and said, ‘It’s going to be Mike McCarthy.’ He said, ‘The more I thought about it, I liked McCarthy’s toughness.’
“Ted said, ‘I hope I never have to go through this again.’ Turns out he didn’t. He picked the right guy.”
Thompson telephoned McCarthy that afternoon. Contract negotiations between McCarthy’s agent at the time, Gary O’Hagan, and team attorney Jason Wied were completed by the next morning.
McCarthy bet on himself and signed a short-term contract (three years, $6 million).
The last 49ers’ offensive coordinator that the Packers hired was Holmgren.
“Obviously, his resume is more impressive than mine,” McCarthy said at his introductory press conference on Jan. 12. “Coach Holmgren has a street named after him. I know if I have a street named after me, there’s going to be great times in Green Bay.”
McCarthy got his street, Mike McCarthy Way, and there was all kinds of winning (135-85-2, .613) and an NFL championship.
Now history will one day review and pass judgment on Mark Murphy and how he fares in possibly the foremost challenge of his career.
SIGN UP
The post As coaching search continues, a look back at how the past six were hired appeared first on Bob McGinn Football.
Continue reading...
Bob Harlan conceived and implemented the football decision-making structure in 1992 that resuscitated the Green Bay Packers and remained in effect for largely winning, playoff football for 27 years.
Ron Wolf, his first general manager, wielded the power to hire and to fire the head coach in his decade with the organization.
In January, the Packers reverted to the pre-Harlan era when Mark Murphy, who as president and chief executive officer is one of seven members of the executive committee and one of about 45 members of the board of directors,
took back control of football decisions from the general manager, who for 11 months has been Brian Gutekunst.
Since firing Mike McCarthy on Dec. 2, Murphy presumably has begun the search for the 15th coach in team history.
Although Harlan never actually hired a coach he served 37 years in the Packers’ front office, including the last 18 as team president. And today, while living in the same home on Green Bay’s West Side that has been his family’s since his arrival in 1971, he remains a staunch proponent of consolidating football decision-making authority in the general manager.
“We have brilliant people on our executive committee but they weren’t brilliant in the field of football,” Harlan said Friday. “They were great businessmen, very smart businessmen. But we needed a football person to come in.”
In December 1991, Harlan fired Tom Braatz, the executive vice president of football operations. Under the structure of Judge Robert Parins, a long-time Brown County circuit court judge and the Packers’ president for seven years before Harlan, Braatz shared responsibility for football decisions with the head coach but Parins retained the power to hire and fire.
About two weeks later, Harlan brought in Wolf from the New York Jets. After being interviewed in Green Bay four years earlier, Wolf had pulled his name from consideration for the post that went to Braatz because his authority was restricted.
“When I hired Ron that was the time to get the executive committee and the board out of everything,” said Harlan. “In 1987, when he was in with the Judge, he said I’ve got to have the authority to hire and fire the head coach.”
During his tenure, Harlan observed that Wolf couldn’t abide coach Lindy Infante and GM Ted Thompson couldn’t make it work with embittered coach Mike Sherman.
“The one thing that came through to me, overseeing the thing, was that the general manager has got to get his own guy,” said Harlan. “They work so closely together. He’s got to have a guy he wants, he’s confident in and he’s comfortable with.
“Ron knew immediately he wasn’t going to be able to work with Infante. Ted waited and waited and waited before he finally settled on Sherman. They weren’t comfortable with Infante and Mike Sherman but they were very comfortable with (Mike) Holmgren and McCarthy.
“We failed trying it the other way. I just think you’ve got to let that general manager pick his coach.”
In Green Bay, Wolf hired three coaches: Holmgren (84-42, .667), Ray Rhodes (8-8, .500) and Sherman (59-43, .578). Holmgren departed for Seattle in January 1999 to become coach and general manager, Rhodes was fired immediately after the last game in January 2000 and Wolf retired in February 2001 five years before Sherman, his successor as GM, was fired by Thompson.
“Two out of three,” said Wolf, who was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. “That’s what? Six-six-seven? That’s pretty good.”
Wolf acknowledged that hiring people probably should be and was the most vital part of his job. It reminded him of Raiders boss Al Davis, for whom he worked for 23 years.
“I’d go in and sit with him and invariably he would tell me, ‘Ronnie, you’re f—–‘ with my life,” remembered Wolf. “I never really understood what he meant by that until I sat in that chair. That’s my life right there. It’s really important to get it right because I have to live with this guy.”
How does a decision-maker winnow down the dozens of names bandied about to fill a vacancy and hire a good coach?
“Well, you certainly don’t do what I did in the middle of my (tenure) in Green Bay,” Wolf said, alluding to his selection of Rhodes without interviewing anyone else. “You don’t put blinders on and say, ‘This is what we want, and once we got it we’re not going any further.’
“You have to interview people. You have to find out who can and who can’t through your interview process. That helps you immeasurably.”
Wolf insisted on conducting all interviews by himself, an approach agreeable to Harlan.
“I didn’t need someone else sitting in the room telling me what he thought,” Wolf said. “I needed to feel comfortable with the guy. Fortunately, Bob Harlan gave me the keys to the franchise.”
Once Wolf hired the coach, he stayed out of his way when it came down to game plans and strategy. All of that, however, was fair game during the interview.
“You have to be on the same page,” said Wolf. “You have to know what’s important to the individual that you’re interviewing. You have to know who he is going to bring with him.”
If, for example, Wolf was interviewing a coach with expertise on offense, he would want to know who would be his defensive coordinator, his offensive line coach, his defensive assistant with vast knowledge of coverages and his special-teams coach.
“You want to hear who these guys are,” he said. “When you hear that, you know whether you can work with this guy or not.”
Interviewing head-coaching candidates was a new assignment for Wolf. He learned as he went.
“You’d be shocked, as you do the interviews, guys that you know right away, say 20 minutes in, that you’ve wasted a day,” said Wolf. “Guys just aren’t ready. I wasn’t exactly an ace in the hole with this, either.
“You have a list. When you get in your list and start going through this process there are guys that are going to turn you off and guys that will turn you on.
“When you get to the guys that turn you on, that’s when the interview lasts longer. With some guys, you just want to get the hell out of the room. When they sit down and start talking, you know whether they’re prepared or whether they really care.”
In 40 years covering the Packers I played a part reporting on the hiring of six coaches. Here’s a look back at the twists and turns associated with them.
1984
Parins fired Bart Starr early on Monday morning one day after his ninth season ended with a 23-21 defeat at Soldier Field. Starr’s final record was 53-77-3 (.410).
Two days later, Parins called Cincinnati seeking permission to talk to coach Forrest Gregg. When owner Paul Brown wasn’t available, he spoke with his son, Mike.
Gregg led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 1981 and a 7-2 record in strike-shortened ’82 before slipping to 7-9 in ’83. He had one year remaining on his contract.
According to Harlan, Parins was surprised that the Bengals would grant permission. The Bengals recognized that returning to Green Bay would be special for Gregg, a Hall of Fame tackle.
“If you don’t give permission to someone and he finds out it was denied, you’ve got an unhappy person on your hands,” Paul Brown said.
Dick Corrick, the Packers’ director of player personnel, said they interviewed Illinois coach Mike White and tried to interview CBS analyst John Madden, who Corrick said “graciously” told the Packers he wasn’t interested.
When the search committee met Thursday, the decision was made to pursue Gregg because, as Parins put it, “It did not appear to us that there might be anyone of the coaching stature with NFL experience that would be available.”
Thus, Parins, Corrick and vice president Tony Canadeo made the short flight to Chicago Friday morning to meet with Gregg at the O’Hare Hilton.
“That was the trip where on the flight down the Judge told Dick, ‘You’re going to be in charge of football, the draft, all personnel, all football decisions,’” said Harlan. “Dick says, ‘That’s great.’ He was tickled to death, obviously.
“So they go in and they sit down with Forrest, and Forrest says, ‘I’m only interested if I get full control of everything.’ And the Judge says, ‘You got it.’
“I remember Dick coming back the next morning and the first thing he told me was, ‘I had the job but it lasted for less than 40 minutes.’ The Corrick regime was very short.
“When Mike Brown mentioned Forrest, it surprised the Judge because Forrest had done pretty well at Cincinnati. He thought it was a real coup to get him, and he went and got him.”
Speaking for Gregg’s former teammates, linebacker Ray Nitschke said, “His biggest thing is discipline and conditioning. He is an intense guy that can get the players to play. The Packers in the long run will benefit.”
Gregg never had a winning season, finishing 25-37-1 (.405). On Jan. 14, 1988, about 2 ½ weeks after the season, he left the Packers to become coach at Southern Methodist University.
1988
Following Gregg’s departure, Braatz was charged with finding the next coach. “His background, having worked in the field and his first-hand, even first-name knowledge of many, many people … you can’t measure the importance of that,” said Parins.
Braatz, a key personnel man for the Falcons from 1965-’86, interviewed every candidate by himself, including some at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. It marked a significant change in which the executive committee no longer was part of the interview process.
“It’s best this way,” said one NFL general manager. “Because nobody up there knew what the hell they were doing.”
Said Braatz: “I communicate every day with the Judge and let him know how it’s going and who I’ve talked to. I tell him, ‘This guy’s better than that guy, this guy’s out of it.’
“When it gets down to one or two, I don’t know how the Judge is going to react. He might want to talk to him and he might not.”
Braatz interviewed nearly 20 candidates, possibly setting some sort of record.
The list included coach George Perles of Michigan State, the 49ers’ Dennis Green (receivers coach), the Rams’ Dick Coury (quarterbacks coach), the 49ers’ George Seifert (defensive coordinator), the Steelers’ Tony Dungy (defensive coordinator), the Packers’ Bob Schnelker (OC), the Browns’ Lindy Infante (OC), the Broncos’ Mike Shanahan (OC), the Bears’ Johnny Roland (running backs), the Packers’ Dick Modzelewski (DC), the Cowboys’ Al Lavan (running backs), ex-Illinois coach Mike White, South Carolina coach Joe Morrison, Pittsburgh coach Mike Gottfried and the Falcons’ Jimmy Raye (receivers coach).
On the night of Jan. 27, 13 days after Gregg’s departure, Perles told Parins he would accept the five-year, $2.25 million but wanted to sleep on it.
At the time, Perles was four weeks removed from the Spartans’ victory in the Rose Bowl. In the next few hours, Michigan State extended his five-year contract to 10 years, funded an annuity and added some perks. Pressure was thick on campus.
On the morning of Jan. 28, Parins appeared relieved, relaxed and pleased that Perles, who helped the Steelers win four Super Bowls as a defensive coach, would replace Gregg when I caught up with him at the Green Bay airport about 6 a.m. before he flew to the Super Bowl in San Diego. Perles had agreed to the deal in a meeting with Parins on the night of Jan. 26 at the O’Hare Airport.
Perles was the only candidate interviewed by Parins. “Tom made the selection,” said Parins. “He did a masterful job of research and interviewing.”
Lee Remmel, the Packers’ publicist, wrote the press release announcing Perles but had to leave town. He asked Harlan to call Perles at home in East Lansing, Mich., at 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 28 to obtain a few quotes from the coach for insertion in the release.
“I called at the time and George answered,” recalled Harlan. “I told him who I was and what I was doing. He listened very politely. When I finished talking all he said was, ‘Bob, I’m not coming. I’ve changed my mind. I’m not taking the job.’”
Five days later, the Packers hired Infante, the No. 2 name on Braatz’ preferred list. Braatz would later say Seifert finished near the top. His concern regarding Green was whether his height (5-6) might prevent him from commanding the attention of an entire NFL team.
Infante was fired by Wolf shortly after completing his fourth season with a 27-7 victory in Minnesota. The Packers’ 4-12 record in 1991 left Infante with an overall mark of 24-40 (.375).
“Even years after that, Tom would say that he’d still go and hire the guy,” Harlan said in 1994, referring to Perles. “He was always very high on him. I just think he thought he was a sound coach from his days on defense with Pittsburgh. I talked to the man once in my life.”
1992
Upon jettisoning Infante, Wolf said Friday that he wanted to hire Bill Parcells and would have if not for his health problems. At the time, Parcells was working for NBC-TV after leading the Giants to two Super Bowl titles in a nine-year tenure (1982-’90).
“He had the heart problems and said he wasn’t going to do it (take the Packers job),” Wolf said. “He needed open-heart surgery.
“So that was it. That’s who I wanted to go with but he couldn’t do it. I think he would have done what he did everywhere. He’s brilliant.”
The first candidate interviewed by Wolf was Holmgren, the 49ers’ offensive coordinator. The problem was, Holmgren also ended up being interviewed by the Steelers, Buccaneers, Colts and Rams. The Packers’ search had been held up for about eight days by Parcells’ indecision.
Wolf also interviewed Terry Robiskie, the tight ends coach for the Raiders. Wolf said he wanted to interview Richie Petitbon, the Redskins’ defensive coordinator, but Washington GM Charley Casserly refused to grant permission until after the Super Bowl and the Packers didn’t want to wait.
“I had a call from (Marty) Schottenheimer and he recommended somebody,” remembered Wolf. “I asked him about Bill Cowher and he told me he didn’t want to lose Bill Cowher. I think he lost him to the Steelers. I wanted to interview Cowher but I didn’t.”
Cowher, the defensive coordinator in Kansas City, was hired by the Steelers nine days after the Packers hired Holmgren. At the time, the 34-year-old Cowher was the youngest coach in NFL history.
Among the coaches that were rumored to have been interviewed by Wolf but he said never were interviewed included Chuck Knox, Steve Sidwell, Wade Phillips, Vince Tobin, Pete Carroll, Dave Wannstedt, Buddy Ryan and Perles.
Wolf said he must have interviewed more than three people but couldn’t identify the others.
“When Ron started going after Holmgren I think everybody thought, ‘Boy, that’s a longshot,’” said Harlan. “But Mike took the job. I asked him a couple years later, with all the opportunities you had, why did you pick Green Bay?’
“He said very simply, ‘I knew Ron would get me players.’”
In order to get Holmgren from the 49ers, the Packers had to send a second-round draft choice (No. 35) as compensation. San Francisco used it to select halfback Amp Lee.
A few days later at the Super Bowl, Holmgren was asked by incredulous Bay Area reporters why he would leave San Francisco for Green Bay.
“I would say right now my situation is easier,” replied Holmgren. “I think the more people involved in the decision-making, the more cumbersome it becomes.
“Right now, Green Bay is very lean in the front office. You have Ron Wolf, and that’s it. They have Bob Harlan and the executive committee, but in essence Bob Harlan has turned the team over to (Wolf). Really, I talk to one person.
“The 49ers right now have a few more people. There’s (president) Carmen Policy, George (Seifert) is running the football operation, John McVay is the general manager and there’s (owner) Eddie DeBartolo.”
1999
Rhodes was fired by the Eagles on Dec. 28, one day after the conclusion of a 3-13 season that left him with a four-year record of 30-36-1 (.455). He had been defensive coordinator under Holmgren in 1992-’93.
Why did Wolf select Rhodes without interviewing Dick Jauron, the Packers’ secondary coach from 1986-’94 and at the time defensive coordinator in Jacksonville?
“Head coaching experience,” Wolf said at the time. “I realize how important it is. I can’t start over. I’m 60 years old. I’m hoping that this guy can carry the torch.
“I’m very comfortable with Ray. I understand Ray. He and I seem to see things the same way. That’s very important to me.”
On Friday, Wolf said he did talk to Florida’s Steve Spurrier by telephone.
“Hell, yes, I would have interviewed him,” Wolf said. “I thought he was a heck of a coach. He didn’t want to leave Florida and come to Green Bay.”
Offensive coordinator Sherman Lewis had been let go but Wolf said had made a deal with quarterbacks coach Andy Reid to become what he believed would have been the highest-paid offensive coordinator in history under the next coach.
“He was staying as offensive coordinator and I was feeling really good about that,” said Wolf. “I was sitting there with Andy Reid and I don’t even interview him as a head coach. That’s how stupid I was.”
On the same day Rhodes was introduced in Green Bay, Reid got the job to become Rhodes’ successor in Philly.
At the time, Wolf said he probably would have interviewed Seifert. However, Seifert was hired by Carolina when the Packers were losing a wild-card game in San Francisco.
“When Ron hired Ray he was looking for somebody tough and thought Ray would be it,” said Harlan. “Ron kept sticking with him and sticking with him. As soon as the last game was over Ron called and said, ‘I’m making a coaching change. He’s just lost control of the team.’
“Thing I always admired about Ron, if he was wrong he was the first one to admit it. He admitted he made a mistake and let him go.”
2000
On Friday, Wolf confirmed that he interviewed at least these six coaches: Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, Miami coach Butch Davis, Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, defensive coordinator Larry Peccatiello of Detroit, the unemployed Schottenheimer and Sherman, the offensive coordinator for one season in Seattle under Holmgren. He was confident there were a few others but couldn’t recall them.
“(Sherman) had a superb interview,” Wolf said Friday. “He was head and shoulders above all the other people.”
At one point, Wolf said “there was a feeling it was going to be Schottenheimer,” who would return for one final season of coaching in 2001 with Washington.
At the time, Harlan said he had notified the other six members of the executive committee when the Packers and Chiefs agreed that the compensation for hiring Schottenheimer would have been a first-round pick in 2000 and a fourth-round pick in ’01.
On Friday, Wolf said he didn’t think he offered the job to anyone other than Sherman, who accepted after a 4 ½-hour interview in which he presented, among other things, a binder containing a detailed schedule for the first 52 weeks of his first season in Green Bay.
“I was in the office on a Saturday,” remembered Harlan. “I was in the hallway and Ron was taking (Sherman) around.
“I got home that night and 5, 5:30 Ron called. He said, ‘If I had any guts at all I’d hire the guy. He knocked my socks off.’ I said, ’Go ahead and do it.’ He said he would sleep on it.
“He called the next morning and said I’ve made up my mind. It was that simple and that quick. He was just very impressed with Mike’s organizational skills and how prepared he was for the interview.”
Wolf said that at his age the timing wasn’t right for Alvarez. “I had to get somebody that at least knew the league,” he said.
Said Harlan: “He met Barry in some restaurant on the highway some place. I believe down in Oshkosh. Barry was just coming off surgery and Ron told me he was walking with a cane. Then he had the interview with Sherman and his mind was made up.”
2006
Harlan has said that Sherman was so bitter about being stripped of his GM’s duties after the 2004 season that he found it next to impossible to work with Thompson, his successor.
So, after firing Sherman, Thompson wound up interviewing seven NFL coordinators, including three on offense and four on defense.
“Quite an impressive list, by the way,” said Harlan. “Ted worked so diligently on it. He put a lot of time and study into it.”
Within the span of eight days, Thompson conducted one-on-one interviews with offensive coordinators Sean Payton of Dallas (actually assistant head coach-passing game coordinator), Maurice Carthon of Cleveland and McCarthy of San Francisco, and defensive coordinators Ron Rivera of Chicago, Wade Phillips of San Diego, Tim Lewis of the New York Giants and Jim Bates, who held the post under Sherman in 2005.
Chronologically, the order of interviews was Payton, Carthon, Rivera, McCarthy, Phillips, Lewis and Bates. Rivera was interviewed in Chicago, Lewis in New York. The others met Thompson and Harlan in Green Bay.
“Ted asked me if I’d greet each (candidate) alone and walk him through the locker room,” Harlan said. “Take him on a tour of the building and then bring him up to him. Later, Ted would ask me my thoughts.
“I knew Mike McCarthy, of course, because he had been here as an assistant. I was very impressed with Sean Payton. Kind of his great interest in the history of the franchise. When we walked out of the tunnel it really grabbed him.
“Wade was a great guy. I liked the candidates that Ted picked.”
Brad Childress, the Eagles’ offensive coordinator, was supposed to interview in Green Bay as well but never made it out of Minnesota and was hired by the Vikings to succeed Mike Tice.
“His last interview was with Jim Bates,” Harlan recalled. “Ted came into my office when it was all finished and said, ‘Bates had a great interview.’
“He said, ‘You have a tendency to go with the last person you talk to.’ He said, ‘Let me sleep on it and I’ll call you in the morning.’
“He came in and said, ‘It’s going to be Mike McCarthy.’ He said, ‘The more I thought about it, I liked McCarthy’s toughness.’
“Ted said, ‘I hope I never have to go through this again.’ Turns out he didn’t. He picked the right guy.”
Thompson telephoned McCarthy that afternoon. Contract negotiations between McCarthy’s agent at the time, Gary O’Hagan, and team attorney Jason Wied were completed by the next morning.
McCarthy bet on himself and signed a short-term contract (three years, $6 million).
The last 49ers’ offensive coordinator that the Packers hired was Holmgren.
“Obviously, his resume is more impressive than mine,” McCarthy said at his introductory press conference on Jan. 12. “Coach Holmgren has a street named after him. I know if I have a street named after me, there’s going to be great times in Green Bay.”
McCarthy got his street, Mike McCarthy Way, and there was all kinds of winning (135-85-2, .613) and an NFL championship.
Now history will one day review and pass judgment on Mark Murphy and how he fares in possibly the foremost challenge of his career.
Become a Member
BobMcGinnFootball.com is an independent, member-based website dedicated to analysis, opinion and coverage of the Green Bay Packers and the National Football League draft. Our three writers have covered the NFL for more than 100 seasons combined.
SIGN UP
The post As coaching search continues, a look back at how the past six were hired appeared first on Bob McGinn Football.
Continue reading...
