After sitting out the 2019 NFL season, former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy is already interviewing for jobs in 2020. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Carolina Panthers interviewed McCarthy for their head-coaching job following their 38-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. The Panthers, who fired Ron Rivera earlier this month, declined to make a statement on the matter.
The 56-year-old head coach was fired by the Packers following a 20-17 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals last December. He went 125-77-2 as the Packers head coach and won Super Bowl XLV back in 2011. McCarthy joined an elite club of coaches who had been fired after hoisting a Lombardi Trophy. It's a group that includes McCafferty, Hank Steam, Tom Landry, Mike Ditka, George Seifert, Mike Shanahan, Brian Billick, and Jon Gruden
His time off from football wasn't very quiet, however, as multiple former players and Packers employees alleged that McCarthy's relationship with quarterback Aaron Rodgers was a very tumultuous one. Regardless, McCarthy is eager to get back on the sideline soon.
As CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reported in November and NFL Network documented earlier this month, McCarthy is now "preparing in earnest" for a return to the sidelines in 2020. After spending most of this season with his family, away from the game, the 56-year-old has formed The McCarthy Project, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, an assembly of longtime coaches collaborating "as if they're the NFL's 33rd coaching staff" with everything from film and analytics study to playbook prep and practice scheduling.
"We need to do this," McCarthy said. "Coaching in this league's a way of life. And then you think it's a way of life for a coach, but it's for your whole family. We need football right now. We won't need it forever, but we need it right now."
