on mccarthy
 

Mike McCarthy, OC, San Francisco 49ers
By Mark Mihalko, Edited by Scott Foreman and Cory J. Bonini
In a lot of ways, everything old is new again for the San Francisco 49ers. After suffering through two years of uncertainty and offensive turmoil under head coach Dennis Erickson, team owner Tom York decided it was time for a change.

Out went Erickson and his attempt at a more vertical offense and in came defensive minded Mike Nolan as the 49ers new head coach. One of Nolan's first hires was former New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator and West Coast offense disciple, Mike McCarthy. McCarthy was brought on board to right the offensive ship.

The 49ers are in need of some major changes on both sides of the ball and McCarthy will have his hands full rebuilding the offense. While there will be some growing pains, returning the 49ers offense to the system they made famous during their glory years in the 1980s and early 1990s, is a huge first step.

McCarthy's Career
McCarthy, 41, is an outstanding teacher, who brings 22 years of experience from both the college and professional level to the table. He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Fort Hays State University (Kansas) from 1987-88 before moving on to the University of Pittsburgh, where he spent three years as the quarterbacks and receivers coach under former 49ers wide receivers coach Paul Hackett.

After his stint at the University of Pittsburgh, he moved into the professional ranks serving as an offensive assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1993-94 and then quarterbacks coach from 1995-1998. In Kansas City, McCarthy continued to learn the intricacies of the West Coast offense by working closely with Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana.

In 1999, he changed his address but not the system when he took over as quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers. He took over as the Saints' offensive coordinator in 2000 and had four very successful seasons. In 2000, USA Today named him the NFC Assistant Coach of the Year, in his first year as a coordinator.

A Return to the "Glory Days"
McCarthy has been extremely successful at every stop in his professional coaching career. Even more importantly he has proven to bring the best out of his players, especially the quarterbacks, which will be a must for the 49ers young offense.

His resume as a quarterbacks coach speaks for itself. With the Chiefs he took a bunch of journeymen quarterbacks and turned them into quality starters. From 1995-98, QBs Steve Bono, Rich Gannon and Elvis Grbac recorded the lowest total of interceptions in the AFC (52) while leading a balanced offensive attack.

After a year in Green Bay, coaching future Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre to another 4,000-yard season, McCarthy turned around a sputtering Saints offense, which had been dormant for years. Under his tutelage, the Saints recorded four of the top-10 scoring seasons in the history of the franchise, including leading the NFC in scoring in 2002 with 432 points and 49 touchdowns.

Even with often-erratic QB Aaron Brooks at the helm, his offense clicked. His offensive attack ended what was almost a decade of futility when it came to having a 1,000-yard rusher (10 years) or a 1,000-yard receiver (eight years) by having one at each position during his entire stay. This should be good news for a 49ers franchise, which has some young playmakers on the offensive side of the ball.

He will inherit a young but inexperienced nucleus of skill position players to mold, all of whom have the ability to be successful in the West Coast offense. WRs Brandon Lloyd, Rashaun Woods and Derrick Hamilton are raw but talented receivers, who have the ability to stretch the field. These receivers are helped by a tremendous receiving tight end in Eric Johnson, who had a career season in 2004, leading the team with 82 receptions for 825 yards (10.1 yards per reception) and two touchdowns.

RB Kevan Barlow, who is coming off of a disappointing 2004 campaign in which he rushed for 822 yards on 244 carries (3.4 yards per carry) and seven touchdowns, will be looking to bounce back and prove he is a franchise-caliber back.

Multi-talented FB Fred Beasley is the perfect fullback for the West Coast offense, having solid blocking and receiving skills. Unfortunately for the 49ers, he was under-utilized by coach Erickson over the last two seasons.

Nolan will be counting on McCarthy's ability as a quarterback mentor to rebuild their offense in 2005. The 49ers enter the offseason with three unproven and mostly inexperienced quarterbacks on their roster. Incumbent starter QB Tim Rattay, who missed seven games due to injury in 2004, will enter the offseason as the starter. In 2004, he completed 198-of-325 passes (60.9 percent) for 2,169 yards, with 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In his absence, backup QB Ken Dorsey proved to be only capable. The jury is still out on whether or not the 49ers have their franchise quarterback on their roster and they may choose to take one of the highly rated rookies (QBs Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith) with the first overall selection in the 2005 NFL Draft.


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on mccarthy
 

if he works out in san fransisco..can we finally say that brooks is an idiot and must go?

on mccarthy
 

well thats what im wondering you know. at the same time brooks has had good numbers since being a starter. my opinion is that he just lacks leadership. i just have a bad taste in my mouth since he said his team was bad and he was good and carolina was good and delhomme was average.

on mccarthy
 

I agree. He is inconsistent...he says things that irritate you...I want someone else. Joe Horn says things that irritate you, but he is fairly consistent, so if he stays I got no problem with that. I would feel the same way about any marginal player.

on mccarthy
 

i think that you are right on

on mccarthy
 

truth hurts

on mccarthy
 

His lack of leadership has hurt....the fans, the team...everybody involved. Somehow he and his sidekick Haz are still around. IMO, that is a telling tale about this franchise\'s present FO. Any other franchise and both of those guys would be employed elsewhere by now.

on mccarthy
 

The bad D and inconsistent O-line has hurt just as much though....so now what do we do?

on mccarthy
 

Some fans make me want to pull my hair out!!!

Let\'s see ... our offense LED the NFC in scoring and we miss the playoffs. Why you rekon that was? And who was the QB?

I hope we lead the NFC in scoring again and miss the playoffs. Maybe some of you will wake up and smell the defense? ;)

[Edited on 31/3/2005 by GumboBC]

on mccarthy
 

It will be Aaron\'s fault he didn\'t lead the Defense!!!!!!!! I feel ur pain Gumbo!!