Green Bay Packers fire head coach Mike McCarthy following shock Arizona Cardinals loss
Monday 3 December 2018 11:48, UK
The Green Bay Packers fired head coach Mike McCarthy on Sunday, hours after the team fell to a 20-17 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Team president and CEO Mark Murphy said in a statement, "The 2018 season has not lived up to the expectations and standards of the Green Bay Packers. As a result, I made the difficult decision to relieve Mike McCarthy of his role as head coach, effective immediately.
"Mike has been a terrific head coach and leader of the Packers for 13 seasons, during which time we experienced a great deal of success on and off the field.
"We want to thank Mike, his wife, Jessica, and the rest of the McCarthy family for all that they have done for the Packers and the Green Bay and Wisconsin communities. We will immediately begin the process of selecting the next head coach of the Green Bay Packers."
Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, who has three-plus years of head-coaching experience from 2012-15 with the Miami Dolphins, will serve as interim head coach.
McCarthy, who turned 55 last month, was midway through his 13th season at the helm in Green Bay. He finishes with a 125-77-2 regular-season record while going 10-8 in the postseason, leading the team to a Super Bowl XLV win following the 2010 season.
The Packers (4-7-1) entered Sunday as double-digit favourites over the Cardinals (3-9), who had just two wins previously this season, both against the San Francisco 49ers (2-10.
Green Bay are not mathematically eliminated from the postseason, but the team now sits in 11th place in the NFC with four games to play.
The Packers had made the playoffs in eight consecutive years before missing out last year when finishing 7-9 on the season.
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