Aaron Rodgers reacts to Dallas Cowboys parting ways with his former coach Mike McCarthy

Aaron Rodgers spent 13 seasons playing under Mike McCarthy and has a ton of respect for him as a person and a football coach. McCarthy is now looking for a new head coaching job after the Dallas Cowboys parted ways with him earlier this week.

Aaron Rodgers reacted to the news Thursday afternoon on The Pat McAfee Show, making it clear that he doesn’t believe McCarthy should be out of a job for long.

“Hell of a ball coach,” Aaron Rodgers said. “What he did this year, with the amount of injuries that they had, I thought was amazing.

“Hearing the guys talk about him, I wasn’t surprised, just because, you know, anybody who plays for Mike, and gets to know him a little bit, and gets to feel that great big heart that he’s got, you know, it’s special.”

Mike McCarthy spent five seasons in Dallas, but he and owner Jerry Jones could not agree on a new contract at the completion of the 2024 season.

McCarthy coached this past year while in the final year of his deal, finishing with a 7-10 record. He ended his tenure with the Cowboys with a 49-35 record. The Cowboys won only one playoff game under McCarthy.

Aaron Rodgers wasn’t a fan of McCarthy having to coach this season out with no extra years on his deal.

“You know, it was interesting, because anybody that knows the business… most of the time, coaches have an extra year on their deal, right?” Aaron Rodgers said. “So it gives you that buffer. If you get released, you have a year to not have to rush back in there.

“But I think most of the coaches on the staff went into the year without another year on their deal. They were in the last year of their deal. That’s a freakin’ tough way to go about doing it, with no guarantees afterwards.”

Mike McCarthy has already had several teams express interest in him, including the Bears, who have interviewed him.

Of course there has also been speculation about Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy perhaps teaming up once again. ESPN insider Adam Schefter addressed that possibility earlier this week.

“I think the first thing is whether he wants to play,” Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show. “When he’s committed to playing, then you can begin to discuss all these options and whether that would be. I think New Orleans is financially committed to Derek Carr. Now we’ll see how that plays out. You can have a new head coach. He’ll have ideas, but the cap situation is such that I think he’s on their books for like $40 million and if they move on, they only gain like $2 million so either way, he’s counting for like $38 million … 

“And so I think they’re kind of committed. They have to be committed to Derek Carr, whoever the head coach is. If Mike McCarthy gets that job, and if Aaron Rodgers wants to play, and if they have the conversation, there’s a lot of ifs that have to happen before we could get there, in my mind.”