So John Harbaugh was fired in Baltimore yesterday after losing to Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. Kind of a shocker, but I think this one is a lot like when the Packers fired Mike McCarthy in 2018. He’d been around a long time, did a LOT of winning, but hadn’t made a Super Bowl in a long time, and it was just time for a fresh perspective in the locker room.
Now, of course, this led to a lot of discourse from @packerbacker6320151 on Twitter yesterday, screaming and shouting about how the Packers should fire LaFleur after this season and hire Harbaugh.
Do I want Harbaugh over Matt LaFleur, in a word:
I can understand why some Packer fans are going to feel that way, though. While Matt LaFleur’s regular season record in Green Bay is basically unimpeachable, his record in close games against good teams and playoff games isn’t great. And as we’re rounding the corner of his 7th year in Green Bay, some fans are going to want a change.
But John Harbaugh does nothing for me. His regular season record is also great, but the #1 thing people are going to point to as rationale to hire him is that, “he’s won a Super Bowl!” Yes, that’s true. But that Super Bowl was in 2012. 2012! Almost 15 damn years ago! In 2012 Bitcoin was trading at $6. In 2012 Donald Trump’s primary job was hosting The Apprentice. In 2012 Tucker Kraft was still alive. In 2012 I was writing blogs on the internet with 20-30 year old TV show references. Okay, some things have stayed the same, but you get the picture. 2012 was a LONG time ago.
Since then he’s had an MVP quarterback that he’s done nothing with. A lot of regular season wins, a few #1 seeds, but not even a Super Bowl appearance. If we’re going to hire a guy who has a lot of experience with winning in the regular season and ONE Super Bowl championship, you may as well just bring back this guy:
Sidenote: If my options were John Harbaugh or Mac I’d take Mike McCarthy back in a heartbeat.
Now look, if they fired Matt LaFleur at the end of the season, and hired John Harbaugh, would I be crying internet years? No. He would be FINE. But if we’re going to move on from a young head coach with the resume LaFleur has, I’d prefer it be for someone with some upside, or someone who has multiple rings (and a 25 year old girlfriend?).
PS: Yes, we’re back to bloggin’. I’m making it a priority to get back to writing on days where we’re not podcasting. Over/under on days until I give up on that resolution is currently set at 27.5.
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