INDIANAPOLIS -- When Mike McCarthy announced earlier this month that he was giving up play-calling duties, he said the relationship between the play-caller and quarterback Aaron Rodgers is "of critical importance."
So how will this change the relationship between the Green Bay Packers coach and his quarterback?
"To be honest, I might be around him more," McCarthy said at the NFL scouting combine. "There are some things I need to change. There are some things I need to change in my job responsibility."
For one, McCarthy indicated he needs to spend more time in the football facility and less time in the offices. To do so, he said he plans to move the coaches' offices, which are currently located on the third floor at Lambeau Field. He did not offer specifics, but it's clear he feels he needs to be closer to the meeting rooms, which are on the ground floor near the locker room.
"It might sound silly, but the stress of having your office at that furthest point of the building and everything you need is down here, I have to change," McCarthy said. "There's going to be an office change."
What should not change, McCarthy said, is how Rodgers operates in the offense now that associate head coach Tom Clements will call plays. Clements and Rodgers have worked together since 2006. Clements served as Rodgers' position coach from 2006 to 2011 before he took over as offensive coordinator.
Rodgers has always spoken highly of Clements, who nurtured him through McCarthy's quarterback schools in his early years, however, Rodgers has not made any public comments since McCarthy announced the changes earlier this month.
"His world is not going to change a whole lot, and that's really the most important," McCarthy said of Rodgers. "I say it all the time, but our offense is built around making the quarterback successful. That's the way I learned it back in '89, and he's a prime example of it.
"This is something that I didn't think would really change for him at all. I was more focused on other areas like special teams and defense and really three [coaches] that got promotions, the opportunities for them. Because I think like a lot of things, you've got to really look at relationships. The relationships that Aaron has with the whole staff is strong. I figured that maybe I didn't pay as much attention to that kind of stuff when I was a younger coach, but that's a very strong, evolving operation. Because he's on a level, clearly, as a coach. There's a lot of give and take there. So I don't think a whole lot is going to change in his world."
If anything, McCarthy seemed to indicate that he felt comfortable making the change because of Rodgers, who has won his two NFL MVPs in a four-year span.
"This has a lot of spokes to it," McCarthy said. "There's a lot of spokes in this wheel to make this decision, and they're all positive. That's why I feel great about it. I think we’re going to be better as a football team, and I look for us to play to the standard that we establish on offense."
