Mike McCarthy ( American football ) Michael John " Mike " McCarthy ( born November 10 , 1963 ) is a professional American football coach , currently serving as the head coach of the National Football League ' s Green Bay Packers . Early life . McCarthy was born and raised in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . His father was a firefighter and Pittsburgh Police officer as well as a bar owner , who raised McCarthy as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan . Playing career . McCarthy was a tight end at Baker University , a NAIA school located in Baldwin City , Kansas . Coaching career . College . After serving as a graduate assistant at Fort Hays State from 1987 to 1988 , McCarthy returned home to Pittsburgh and was hired in 1989 to work under Paul Hackett at the University of Pittsburgh , where he served as quarterbacks coach for three seasons before coaching wide receivers during the 1992 season . At first and during the off season he also worked on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to supplement his income NFL . Assistant coach . In 1993 , McCarthy began a stint with the NFL ' s Kansas City Chiefs ; after working two years as an offensive quality control assistant , McCarthy became quarterbacks coach , overseeing the work of Rich Gannon , Elvis Grbac , and Steve Bono . McCarthy spent the 1999 season in the same position with the Packers , coaching Brett Favre in a season when Favre threw for 4 , 091 yards , the fourth - best total of his career . After the Packers released the entire coaching staff following the 1999 season , McCarthy became the offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints . He would remain in that position for five seasons and was selected as NFC Assistant Coach of the Year by USA Today in 2000 . In 2005 , McCarthy served as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers . His unit , beset by injuries and led by a rookie quarterback ( top draft pick Alex Smith ) , finished the season ranked last in the NFL in points scored and yards gained . Head coach . Return to Green Bay . McCarthy was interviewed by Packers general manager Ted Thompson on January 8 , 2006 and was offered the head coaching position three days later . In 2006 , the Packers started with a 4 - 8 record , but managed to win their last four games to finish the season 8 - 8 , ending with a win against their archrival Chicago Bears , but missing the playoffs for the second straight year . In 2007 , McCarthy had his most successful regular season to date as a head coach . After guiding the Packers to a 8 - 1 record in the first 9 games of the 2007 season , McCarthy recorded the best won - loss ratio to start the first 25 games of a career among active coaches , setting the record for the best coaching start in Packers ' history ( Vince Lombardi went 15 - 10 ) and tying Washington ' s Joe Gibbs at 16 - 9 , McCarthy led the Packers to a 13 - 3 record and made it to the NFC Championship game , where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl - winning New York Giants in overtime . That year , he finished second in voting for The Associated Press Coach of the Year award , garnering 15 votes to Bill Belichick ' s 29 votes . He signed a five - year contract extension with the team on January 19 , 2008 , that raised his salary to $ 3 . 4 million a year . In 2008 , McCarthy became embroiled in a major controversy involving the future of their franchise quarterback , Brett Favre . The controversy started when Favre decided to come out of retirement to play again . McCarthy and Packers ' General Manager Ted Thompson had stated their desire to move on with new starter Aaron Rodgers . Favre was ultimately traded to the New York Jets for a conditional fourth - round draft pick . The season was McCarthy ' s worst to date with the Packers . Despite a solid showing by Rodgers , who threw for over 4 , 000 yards and posted a 93 . 8 QB rating , the Packers started with a 5 - 5 record , proceeding to lose five consecutive close games until they ended the disappointing season with a victory over the Detroit Lions , who went on to become only the second team in the NFL ' s post - merger ( the NFL and original AFL merged prior to the 1970 season ) history to go winless in a single season and the first to go 0 - 16 in one season after the NFL ' s transition to a 16 - game schedule in 1978 , 31 - 21 . At 6 - 10 , the Packers finished 3rd in the NFC North , only ahead of the Lions , and did not make the playoffs . In 2009 , the Packers showed some signs of improvement , but also had struggles . Rodgers improved on 2008 ' s statistics , but was sacked 50 times , more than any other QB in the NFL . The Packers dominated teams with losing records , but were swept by their rival Minnesota Vikings , led by former Packers franchise QB Brett Favre . The Packers lost to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers , but then came back to beat the NFC East - leading Dallas Cowboys . They then began a five game winning streak , and the Packers qualified for the playoffs with a Week 16 win over the Seahawks , finishing at 11 - 5 , the second playoff berth in McCarthy ' s tenure . The Packers lost the Wild Card round to the Arizona Cardinals in a controversial overtime game , 51 - 45 , . In 2010 McCarthy led the Packers to a 10 - 6 finish , never losing by more than four points . This record was good for 2nd in the NFC North , behind the arch - rival Chicago Bears , with whom they split victories in the regular season . They finished as the sixth seed in the NFC . The Packers went on to defeat the number three seeded Philadelphia Eagles and then the number one seeded Atlanta Falcons . They played the second seeded Chicago Bears for the third time that season in the NFC Championship game , which they won 21 - 14 to advance to Super Bowl XLV where they played the Pittsburgh Steelers . This was only the second time these two teams played each other in the postseason . The Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31 - 25 to win their fourth Super Bowl and 13th NFL title overall . McCarthy signed a 3 year contract extension on March 4 , 2011 . Coaching tree . NFL head coaches under whom Mike McCarthy has served : Assistant coaches under Mike McCarthy who became NFL head coaches : Assistant coaches under Mike McCarthy who became NCAA head coaches : Awards . In 2007 , McCarthy was voted the Motorola NFL Coach of the Year after twice receiving Coach of the Week awards . He was also named the NFL Alumni ' s Coach of the Year by a group of former players . In 2008 , McCarthy received the distinguished service award at the Lee Remmel sports awards banquet in Green Bay . Personal life . McCarthy married Jessica Kress in March 2008 at a private ceremony in Maricopa County , Arizona . Together , they have two daughters , Gabrielle Kathleen , born on October 22 , 2008 and Isabella Conroy , born on July 29 , 2011 . McCarthy also has a daughter , Alexandra , from a previous marriage .