Veteran coach might be best fit for Packers

"Ask Vic" will publish on Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the football season.

Here's the "Ask Vic" Week 14 power rankings:
1. Rams -- League's best record.
2. Saints -- They can be stopped.
3. Chiefs -- What will losing Kareem Hunt mean?
4. Texans -- They have arrived.
5. Chargers -- A true championship contender.
6. Patriots -- Beginning to hit their late-season stride.
7. Cowboys -- Look out!
8. Seahawks -- Hottest team in the NFC.
9. Bears -- Nice trick play, but they lost.
10. Vikings -- Just another team.
11. Steelers -- Defense the problem again.
12. Ravens -- Defense reason for rally.
13. Eagles -- Impressive grit.
14. Broncos -- In the hunt.
15. Panthers -- Fading quickly.
16. Colts -- Shutout loss halts surge.
17. Titans -- Hanging around.
18. Giants -- They've come a long way.
19. Washington -- That's all, folks.
20. Lions -- Played better under Caldwell.
21. Browns -- Playing for next season.
22. Packers -- Sadness meets hope.
23. Bucs -- Good team waiting to happen.
24. Falcons -- How could they have fallen this far?
25. Bengals -- Signs of quit.
26. Dolphins -- Worst 6-6 team in the league.
27. Bills -- Playing hard.
28. Jaguars -- Scored six points and won.
29. Jets -- Better than their record.
30. Cardinals -- Not without hope.
31. 49ers -- Season ruined early.
32. Raiders -- They need the first overall pick.

Justin from Boston, MA
Vic, why did the SI article force Murphy into choosing between McCarthy and Rodgers? Why couldn't the two get in a room, hash it out, and then come out publicly and say we're OK? Rodgers went on the record this week saying he and McCarthy have a strong relationship.
Too many people knew too much about the problems in the marriage. The whole neighborhood was talking about it, and ugly rumors were beginning to surface. It was for the best for both parties to move on with their lives. Mike McCarthy will have a chance to relocate and get a fresh start with another team and another quarterback. Aaron Rodgers has a chance to put the stigma of a failed marriage behind him, find harmony with a new coach and become the quarterback he was before injury and discord derailed his life. Maybe the day will come when McCarthy and Rodgers will meet on the field, shake hands and share a smile for great days that were, on "As the Football Turns."

Andrew from Ettrick, WI
Mike McCarthy will be back to a Super Bowl before Aaron Rodgers. Mark it down! The question is which team will he be coaching?
What if it's Cleveland? I can't imagine a better fit for McCarthy. He'd be coaching a young quarterback who's desperate for a coach with whom he can bond. McCarthy would find Baker Mayfield willing for and appreciative of the stamp McCarthy would put on the young passer. Cleveland? They've never been to a Super Bowl. McCarthy would become a god in Cleveland if he took the Browns to the big game. The circumstances in Cleveland are perfect for McCarthy. He'd be within a two-hour drive of his family in Pittsburgh; in the same division with his hometown team. The Browns have lots of high picks and more high picks on the way. They're poised to become the dominant team in a division where the Steelers only have another year or two with Roethlisberger, the Bengals are headed for a makeover and the Ravens face uncertainty at quarterback.

Karl from Albuquerque, NM
How does GM Vic go about finding and evaluating a new head coach? Is picking one any better guess than drafting a player in the first round?
It's the same principle. You do exhaustive research on every candidate, you pick one and then you discover a weakness you didn't think the guy you picked had when he was a candidate. The first time he calls a bad play, he's like every other coach in the league who's lost a game and angered the fans. That's life in today's NFL. So, with that thought, I'll say this: As much as I like young coaches on the rise, I think the Packers' situation might favor a veteran coach who's adept at working with quarterbacks and whose skin has been thickened by years of ignoring the howl of the wolves. Bruce Arians interests me. He's a quarterback guru and he might be the perfect fit for Rodgers. I don't think this needs to be a long-term hire; it needs to be the right guy for right now.

Sean from Brighton, MI
Mike McCarthy is gone and an era is officially over. Will the Packers regret this?
If they lose, yes. If they win, no. Just win, baby. I know that sounds cold, but professional football's coldness is its charm. McCarthy is a pro. He knows how the game works. When I was in Jacksonville, McCarthy interviewed for the Jaguars' offensive coordinator's job. He was offered the job and had either accepted it or was about to accept it when Jack Del Rio changed his mind and withdrew the offer. It was a big disappointment for a young coach, but he rebounded nicely. We're talking about a guy who began his career as a grad assistant at Pitt, and who collected tolls at the Pa. Turnpike to supplement his income. He worked at a pizza place in my hometown! This is a tough guy who knows how to recover from adversity. Weep not for Mike McCarthy. Soon, he'll be the enemy.

Roger from Chesterton, IN
Vic, if the Packers had made it to the Super Bowl in 2014, does a lot of the angst against McCarthy disappear, or do you think we would have the same outcome maybe a season or two later?
The final 3:52 of regulation in Seattle became a bitter pill for Packers fans to swallow, and I think it embittered them to McCarthy. Here's my question: If Aaron Rodgers has complete freedom to change the plays -- the si.com story claims Rodgers was changing too many of McCarthy's plays -- why didn't Rodgers change the plays he didn't like in that 3:52? Do we know for sure those were McCarthy's plays? I'm not a plays kind of guy; I think everyone knows that. I'm having trouble wrapping my arms around this whole plays feud thing. In my opinion, the Packers are looking for a new coach because the talent on the roster has declined sharply from the talent on the roster in that 2014 NFC title game.

Chris from Minneapolis, MN
What do you think of the decision to promote Philbin to interim head coach?
It's a no-brainer. He's a former head coach and, as the offensive coordinator, he works directly with the quarterback. Joe's history with the team also gives him a baseline Mike Pettine doesn't possess.

Matt from Chicago, IL
Do you really believe Aaron Rodgers' comments about Mike McCarthy on Monday afternoon? I mean, this is a guy who has turned his back on his own family.
His comments were perfect for the occasion. They were calming and that's what the team and the fan base needed at this time. We all need to move on. Turning this into a soap opera is the wrong thing to do.

Adam from Winter Park, FL
What do you see about the Packer’s head coaching job that is attractive to a candidate? What would be the deterrents?
The attractions, beyond a lucrative contract, are a franchise that is deeply committed to winning, a championship quarterback who probably has more left in the tank than this season would indicate and who wants to play to 40, a young roster on the rise with high picks in next year's draft, a general manager who is talented, reasonable and cooperative, a team president who has made you his pick and will be committed to you and patient with you, and a fan base whose expectations have been tempered. I don't see anything not to like.

Kirsten from Madison, WI
Well, we're not used to being in this situation: Week 14, no playoff run and head coach out. So what's the Packers' goal for the rest of the season?
Find a new coach.

​Joe from De Pere, WI
Vic, what is your favorite Mike McCarthy story from your time with the Packers?
It's from the season McCarthy took back the play-calling from Tom Clements. In a postgame press conference, Aaron Rodgers talked about how he couldn't understand the play call that was coming into his helmet from Mike McCarthy; it turned out to be a big play in the game. Rodgers said he had to rely on Alex Van Pelt's hand signals to get the play McCarthy wanted run. "You know, Mike has that Pittsburgh accent," Rodgers said. The following day, I was crossing paths with McCarthy in the hallway and we stopped to talk. I said, "The quarterback doesn't like the way we talk, Mike." He just stared at me with a little smile on his face. I felt like I was covering Noll-Bradshaw all over again. I felt young again.

Mark from Missoula, MT
All these suggestions about college coaches taking the Packers' vacancy got me thinking. Never mind his willingness to leave Iowa (or lack thereof), how do you think Kirk Ferentz would do at the NFL level?
Another Packers coach with a Pittsburgh accent? You better ask Rodgers.

David from Moore, ID
I am one of the few Packers fans who did not advocate McCarthy's firing. However, if I take Mark Murphy at his word, I found his Monday press conference even more disturbing. The admission McCarthy might have kept his job for another week had Crosby sent the game into overtime smacks of a plan that is event-driven on a daily basis, as opposed to a long-term plan to methodically rebuild the roster.
Firing a guy after a win sends a bad message: Win and you're fired. Come on, everybody, let's put our emotions aside and be reasonable.

Zach from Chicago, IL
Everyone seems to be expecting an offensive-minded coach to replace McCarthy. Why is no one considering a defensive-minded coach?
I'd be OK with it. I think the reason most fans haven't considered the possibility is Green Bay is the most plays-crazy fan base I have ever observed. When and how did this happen? This was the "seal here and a seal here" fan base of a franchise built on the fundamental execution of the most famously predictable play in football history, the Packer sweep, and now it's built on the art of deception? If I'm the new head coach, that's the No. 1 culture I would be determined to change. No more of this play-call crap.

David from Chillum, MD
Well, the Packers are now drafting in the top 10, so we've got that going for us, which is nice.
As much as it hurts, it's how you build a strong roster. The Rams didn't draft Goff, Gurley and Donald at the bottom of the order. The Saints needed some losing seasons to get back to where they are. The Packers are experiencing the inevitable. I wish Packers fans had been more accepting of that fact.

Brian from Kingston, NY
What the heck was Winston Moss thinking with that tweet? Was he trying to get himself canned?
Winston is an emotional man and he had something he wanted to say. It saddens me such a special time in my life and in the history of the Green Bay Packers has ended so divisively.