Each offseason presents different challenges. That's part of what helps keep things fresh for Mike McCarthy, one of the longest-tenured coaches in the NFL.
McCarthy has been at the helm of the Green Bay Packers since 2006. Only New England's Bill Belichick (2000), Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis (2003) and the New York Giants' Tom Coughlin (2004) have coached their current teams longer.
"I feel like I'm at halftime, frankly," McCarthy told reporters Wednesday at the NFL annual meetings. "Hopefully."
With a Super Bowl title and an 88-50-1 record (including postseason), there's little reason to think otherwise of the 50-year-old McCarthy, who signed a five-year contract after the Packers' championship season of 2010.
However, he's cognizant of the fact that things can get stale under the same leadership.
"Yeah, I think you have to be concerned about that even if you're in your first, second or third year too," McCarthy said. "I know I was. You're always trying to keep your messaging not only fresh and creative but real to where you think your team is and how you get your team to move to where you want them to get to. I think that's a big part of coaching. It's a huge part of being a head coach."
This offseason, McCarthy became more involved in the defense after veteran coordinator Dom Capers' unit was hit with injuries and slipped to 25th in the NFL last season. He called his postseason conversation with Capers "harder than other years, a lot of hard topics that we had to talk about" although he did not elaborate on what that meant.
While McCarthy said he's careful not to spread himself too thin, he has no plans to give up calling the offensive plays -- something he has done since his first season in Green Bay.
"If I felt we would be better served to have someone else call the plays, frankly, I'd give that up," McCarthy said. "But I just don't think we're there right now."
