Former Packers coach Winston Moss: 'Aaron Rodgers has been the coach for nine years'

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Joe Philbin’s first major move last week as Green Bay Packers interim head coach was to fire associate head coach/linebackers coach Winston Moss. Moss had been with the Packers since 2006, hired by Mike McCarthy to be part of his staff when McCarthy was named the team’s head coach.

Moss is a McCarthy loyalist, and when he sent a tweet last week that was seen as disparaging to the organization, he was let go.

On Sunday, Moss got a turn to share his side of things, and let’s say it’s unlikely he will be chosen as president of the Aaron Rodgers Fan Club.

‘Rodgers has been the head coach for the past nine years’

Winston Moss was with the Green Bay Packers for over 12 years. (Getty Images)
Winston Moss was with the Green Bay Packers for over 12 years. (Getty Images)

Moss sat down with the Fox “NFL Kickoff” personalities on Sunday morning and hit on a few topics. Several of his answers indicated that Rodgers has too much power within the franchise.

“It didn’t work out this year,” Moss said when asked why McCarthy and Rodgers’ relationship didn’t work. “But you go back through the course of when Aaron Rodgers got his shot starting in 2008, they have grown exponentially together. They have created one of the most dynamic duos in the National Football League.

“Aaron Rodgers is going to be a Hall of Fame quarterback. Mike McCarthy’s résumé speaks for itself.”

But Moss let other feelings about Rodgers show when he was asked who he believes would be the best coach for Rodgers.

“Aaron Rodgers has been the head coach for the last nine years,” Moss said, theatrically looking to his left then up to the ceiling for several seconds. “Just joking, just joking.”

But he clearly wasn’t. The Packers’ braintrust said last week that Rodgers won’t help determine who the team hires as its next head coach. Moss was asked if he believed that.

“Yeah,” he said with an exaggerated wink. “I believe that.”

Moss followed, “They should listen to his input, but the final decision should rest on who the decision-makers would like to choose to lead this organization moving forward.”

‘The team won the game’

At one point, Moss pulled out his championship rings — one from his days as a player with the Miami Hurricanes, when they beat Nebraska in the 1984 Orange Bowl, and the other his Super Bowl ring from when Green Bay won for the 2010 season.

“I brought these out here on purpose,” he said, placing the Miami ring on the table in front of him first. “National championship game. Last play of the game, won by a defensive player, Kenny Calhoun. We had great chemistry.

“The next deal here — how about that? 2010. Defense. The team won the game. Aaron Rodgers was great, the running game was great, the receivers were great, the defense was great, everybody had a role, stood their ground, did their job, and that’s what wins.

“I think we all probably all got a little comfortable with putting everything on A-Rod’s plate, to be quite honest with you. I’m not saying that it happened, because I will tell you this: my guys would go out and try to execute the plan to the best of their ability. The defense tried to get that done. We had young guys, we had injuries, we’ve had so many fluctuations in talent and personnel, and it was hard to get into a rhythm and a synergy.”

Moss was seemingly saying that Rodgers isn’t the sole reason for the Packers’ success.

‘Tweet was directed at Green Bay fans’

The tweet that ultimately led to Moss’ firing, he said, wasn’t directed at Philbin or team president Mark Murphy.

“The tweet was directed at the Green Bay fans. It was not directed towards anybody within the Packer organization — Coach McCarthy, Joe Philbin, Aaron Rodgers — the Packer nation has a high standard. We’ve developed and created a high standard, and this season has been somewhat … disappointing,” Moss said. “And so I tried to give direction, I tried to give purpose, and I tried to enlighten, and give my opinion on it. My opinion, so much as that worked out.”

He said he doesn’t regret the post at all.

After well over a decade with the Green Bay organization, Moss said what he’ll remember most is “coming to work every day and trying to make someone better. Trying to make myself better and trying to make someone else better.”

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