Which NFL head coach would you pair with Aaron Rodgers?

Mike McCarthy will go down as one of the most successful head coaches of one of the NFL’s most storied franchises. He was the man behind the Green Bay Packers’ fourth Super Bowl championship and has overseen six NFC North titles in 12+ years in Wisconsin.

But when his tenure at Lambeau Stadium comes to a close, the most pressing question he’ll deal is whether or not his teams deserved better.

McCarthy was given the gift of a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, a player with a legitimate argument as one of the top five passers in NFL history. His combination of athleticism, arm strength, and vision has helped turn impossible situations into Green Bay victories. He’s a two-time NFL MVP and a singular talent whose name will be mentioned alongside players like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Joe Montana for years after he’s done playing the game.

Those quarterbacks all had their personal success validated by team triumphs. Together, they’ve played in 16 Super Bowls, winning 11. Rodgers has been there only once, failing in the playoffs in eight of the past 11 seasons.

While McCarthy’s been successful, it’s easy to wonder whether a stronger head coach could have assembled a championship team around a generational talent. In a league defined by quarterback play, the Packers have had one of the NFL’s biggest trump cards anchoring its hand, but have had few opportunities to truly let Rodgers shine on the league’s biggest stage.

So what if you could change that? Missing the postseason for a second straight season would put McCarthy on the hot seat, and it’s not just wishful thinking to wonder who the Packers could bring in to replace him. So what if you were making the call — and there was no limitation on your pick, only that the coach you want has to be alive and in reasonable enough condition to stand on the sideline 19 weekends per year?

Would you make the obvious call and lure Bill Belichick away from New England? Bet your reputation on a rising mind like Sean McVay? Throw enough money at Bill Cowher to make him forget about broadcasting and his Pittsburgh ties?

Look, I could say “Bill Belichick” and just give you a list of accomplishments, but there’s no challenge in that. Pairing the Patriots’ head coach with the only other quarterback in the league who rises to the occasion late in close games at Tom Brady’s level is a no-brainer.

I also struggled to not pick Mike Tomlin. His 11+ years in Pittsburgh has seen him develop one of the league’s most dynamic offenses. While Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell have been his stanchions, he’s also turned players like Jesse James, Sammie Coates, Eli Rogers, Markus Wheaton, Jonathan Dwyer, the aging ghost of Hines Ward, and a 33-year-old DeAngelo Williams into key players on a series of top-10 offenses.

But in the end, I want to get a little risky with Sean McVay. The coaching wunderkind has turned Jared Goff from Jeff Fisher’s replacement-level QB to a bonafide MVP candidate and has been aggressive in building out his roster around the talented core he’d inherited in 2017. McVay is the architect of 2018’s No. 3 scoring offense and the NFL’s No. 6 scoring defense. His Rams are the last remaining undefeated team in the league.

He’s gotten there by building around his prized quarterback, playing to his strengths rather than hoping he’ll do enough to cover up any offensive weaknesses and allow the franchise to build elsewhere. In the past two years, he’s been the head coach of a team that’s added difference makers like Robert Woods (free agent), Brandin Cooks (trade), Sammy Watkins (since gone, but originally added via trade), and Cooper Kupp (draft) while signing Todd Gurley and important blocker Rob Havenstein to long-term contract extensions. Those players have been the heart of a multi-faceted offense that gives Goff multiple opportunities to shine.

Can you imagine if the Packers had been as proactive? Instead of spending Rodgers’ age 34/35 season stuck at .500, Green Bay would have an otherworldly offense. And even if you want to throw the “coach doesn’t pick his players, the general manager does” card at me, like McVay wouldn’t have any impact on who came to the Packers — take a look at the improvements players like Woods and Cooks have made since coming to Los Angeles, or the leap Kupp made while going from FCS Eastern Washington to the NFL.

That’s the kind of coach who can get the most from an Aaron Rodgers-Equanimeous St. Brown connection. That’s the experiment I want to see out of my hypothetical Packers. — Christian D’Andrea

Kyle Shanahan’s offense has yet to take off in San Francisco, mainly due to the turbulence that the 49ers have suffered from at the quarterback position. When Jimmy Garoppolo was healthy for a five-game stretch last season, the 49ers were able to score at will — including a 43-point outburst against the rigid Jacksonville Jaguars defense.

Imagine Shanahan’s play action and bootleg offense with a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers is already fantastic at throwing on the run and making accurate throws from different points in the pocket — two things that Shanahan’s offense is predicated on.

Shanahan runs a more structured, aggressive offense than current head coach Mike McCarthy does. Shanahan wants to push the ball downfield; McCarthy can be a little too reliant on playing within a few yards of the line of scrimmage.

We all saw what Shanahan was able to do with the 2016 Atlanta Falcons offense. Heck, we saw what he did with Nick Mullens at quarterback. Now imagine arguably the most talented quarterback of all time to play for him. They would absolutely shred defenses. — Charles McDonald

In his 20 seasons as an NFL head coach, Reid has found sustained success with Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, and Alex Smith as his starting quarterbacks. Now, he’s reaching new levels of offensive success with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City.

He’s been malleable and open-minded, allowing assistant coaches to be creative and think up new ways to move the ball down the field. So give him a player like Rodgers and is there any doubt they would collaborate to destroy all comers?

If there’s been an Achilles heel for Reid in his career, it’s that his time management skills down the stretch are lacking. He’s mismanaged many important games and it played a role in the Chiefs’ only loss of 2018.

But give him Rodgers — a player who has 19 game-winning drives since 2008 — and now we’re in business. Even if Rodgers can’t quite maneuver down the field with a smooth drive, here’s no one in the world better at inexplicably pulling out a ridiculous Hail Mary victory.

Just look how comfortable and confident this Packers fan was about his team’s chances when the Cowboys scored a go-ahead touchdown in the final two minutes of a 2017 game against Green Bay:

Rodgers delivered with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took 62 seconds to win the game.

The duo of Reid and Rodgers would light the NFL on fire — and if things got close at the end of a game — Rodgers could take the reins and close the show. It’s the perfect pairing and all that would be left is to watch the Lombardi Trophies come rolling in. — Adam Stites

Yes, it’s obvious. Yes, it’s boring. Yes, it’d be unfair. But admit it, you wanna know. Could Aaron Rodgers hijack Tom Brady’s GOAT status if paired with the GOAT coach?

Right now, any Rodgers vs. Brady debate is for contrarians or professional hot takers. Brady’s entire body of work — five Super Bowl wins, four Super Bowl MVPs, three NFL MVPs, an obscene number of records — puts him in a class by himself.

But Rodgers has the bigger and better arm. He’s the superior athlete. Even Brady said that Rodgers was more talented.

So what would happen when you pair the league’s most skilled quarterback with its best coach? How would Rodgers’ game change — and how would Belichick’s? Would they be a lethal combination that would lay waste to the entire league, or would their personalities clash and then bleed over to the field?

About the only thing Brady and Belichick have in common is their bloodthirsty method of breaking down opponents’ will to live. And it works — Brady is the Paula Abdul to Belichick’s MC Skat Kat.

Rodgers and Belichick are more alike. They have no patience for anyone who will waste their time, and they’re clever in ways that quietly terrify you. Or to put it more bluntly, if any coach would understand Rodgers’ decision to stop talking to his family, it’d probably be Belichick.

That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a match, but it’s scary to think what would happen if they combined forces, like if Thanos teamed up with Hela in the next (last?) Avengers movie (that’s not a spoiler, btw).

At the very least, it’d be a challenge for both, and that’s probably something Belichick and Rodgers could use at this point in their careers. Could Rodgers, who has dealt on a yearly basis with rumors of tension with McCarthy, play under Belichick without finding himself in the subject of sports gossip? Could Belichick switch up his scheme to take advantage of Rodgers’ mobility?

It’s not going to happen, but aren’t you curious — morbidly or not — to see what they could do together? — Sarah Hardy