What if Packers coach Mike McCarthy goes out like Bo Ryan?

Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan announced on Monday that the 2015-16 season will be his last. Assistant coach Greg Gard seems to have a good shot at replacing Ryan. Then again,the Badgers could opt for someone like Tony Bennett in Virginia or UNI’s Ben Jacobson.

Either way,speculation on who will replace Ryan kicked into full gear merely seconds after Ryan made his announcement. A few gullible folks even fell for the joke that Minnesota Gophers coach Richard Pitino is being considered. 

If Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy announced later today that the 2015 season would be his last,who would be the first person that popped into your mind as a possible replacement?

You could go the big name route and see if dropping a hellicopter full of money on Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden might bring them to Green Bay. A move like that would generate plenty of headlines,but it doesn’t seem like something Ted Thompson or Mark Murphy would do.

Bringing in a big name from the college ranks would also create plenty of splash. Can you picture Nick Saban or Urban Meyer roaming the same sideline once occupied by Lombardi,Homgren and McCarthy?

How about Brad Childress? You’re one of the saps who bought the Pitino-to-the-Badgers tongue-in-cheek “report” if you think that’ll ever happen.

In all liklihood,if McCarthy did announce he was stepping down in a year,the Packers would probably turn to an under-the-radar assistant already on their coaching roster,or an assistant tucked away in obscurity on another coaching staff. I’ve got no inside info and no way to prove that my hunch is correct,it just seems like that’s what Thompson and the Packers’ brass would do.

No pomp. No circumstance. No big ordeal. Just find a good coach and bring him in,regardless of national recognition.

Of course,being nationally recognized doesn’t automatically disqualify you from also being a good coach. If someonelike Cowher or Saban was hired,it’s not fair to assume the Packers went for name recogntion over football acumen.

Thankfully,it doesn’t appear that McCarthy will be pulling a Bo Ryan anytime soon. He should be around for a while to orchestrate one of the league’s best offenses,oversee a perrenial Super Bowl contender and give us bloggers and those who lurk in the comments sections of the blog posts we write plenty of fodder to bitch & moan about on the rare ocassions when the Packers don’t come away with a win.