Losing creates a poisonous atmosphere.
The Green Bay Packers fired Mike McCarthy four games shy of 13 years on the job after the listless effort against the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday.
Tuesday night, the firing squad claimed another casualty when Winston Moss, the Associate Head Coach/Linebackers assistant was relieved of his duties.
Interim Head Coach Joe Philbin made the call on that one.
Packers Interim Coach Joe Philbin addressing the media on 12/3/18
Moss was one of McCarthy's most loyal lieutenants, among the first to be brought on board in 2006. A year later he was named Assistant Head Coach and he received the Associate Head Coach tag in 2015.
Moss may have been miffed he was passed over for the Interim job over the final four games of this season. He has a no nonsense, and at times, difficult personality. Philbin may have realized almost immediately that it would be difficult to work with Moss even for just four more weeks.
And a twitter post certainly added even more toxicity to the situation.
Tuesday afternoon, Moss posted the following: "Ponder this. What championship teams have are great leadership! Period! It's not the offensive guru trend. It's not the safe trend. Find somebody that is going to hold #12 and everybody in this building to the #lombardistandard! Period! #losing sucks."
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It doesn't take much to read between those lines. Even as a straightforward opinion on the state of the team and it's future direction, being an Associate Head Coach that singles out a player, in this case Aaron Rodgers, not to mention the entire staff, only made Philbin's decision to part ways that much easier, and necessary.
There is a widespread perception that Rodgers relationship with McCarthy had soured to the point that one had to go and it wasn't going to be the one who is under contract through 2023.
Rodgers has repeatedly spoken about being forced to play with young receivers who haven't been able to get on his same page. His body language on the field has become increasingly suggestive of frustration over play calling and execution.
The handling of Rodgers will be the biggest challenge for McCarthy's successor.
Poison started seeping into the locker room even before the team's 1-5 tailspin since the bye week.
First year General Manager Brian Gutekunst traded Pro Bowl safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix after he openly questioned whether the Packers would extend his contract. That divided some members of the defensive squad and the secondary in particular.
Then Ty Montgomery was dealt days after his insubordination from the coaching staff about downing a kickoff against the Los Angeles Rams. He fumbled the defiant return which derailed the Packers' upset chances. That left many players wondering if the next mistake will result in their bus ticket out of town.
Then came the excruciating fourth quarter losses to New England, Seattle and Minnesota.
The poisonous build-up became lethal with the remarkably tepid effort against a two win Arizona team while the Packers still held out hope for a late season playoff run.
Detoxifying the locker room and now the coaching staff falls upon Philbin. That's a lot to ask of an assistant coach who only returned to Green Bay to help an old friend, only to see that friend taken down by the toxic atmosphere that now engulfs all of Lambeau Field.
