Green Bay Packers Next Head Coach: Who's the Favorite to Replace Mike Mccarthy?

When the Green Bay Packers fired Mike McCarthy on Sunday, the fired the starting gun in the race for what is widely regarded as one of the most attractive jobs in football.

McCarthy's reign in Wisconsin came to an end after 13 seasons and an overall 125-77-2 record, which included a 10-8 record in the playoffs.

Read more: Packers fire head coach Mike McCarthy, Joe Philbin named interim coach

In his first 10 years in Green Bay, the Packers made the playoffs on eight occasions, winning Super Bowl XLV and reaching the NFC Championship Game three times. However, they missed out on the playoffs for the first time in nine years last season and with a 4-7-1 record after a defeat at home against the Cardinals on Sunday, the Packers look unlikely to make the playoffs.

Green Bay has promoted offensive coordinator Joe Philbin to interim coach but will look to appoint a permanent successor to McCarthy before the beginning of next season.

The prospect to take over one of the most prestigious franchises in the NFL and to work with Aaron Rodgers should guarantee the Packers aren't short of options when they look at potential candidates.

Here's the five men bookmakers consider the favorites to replace McCarthy at Lambeau Field.

Josh McDaniels

Bookmakers have the New England Patriots offensive coordinator as the runaway leader for the job, with odds as short at +170 with Bovada. The 42-year-old went 11-17 during his two seasons as head coach of the Denver Broncos but has had much better success in New England.

With McDaniels as offensive coordinator, the Patriots have won two Super Bowls and reached a further pair. Having worked with Tom Brady, the prospect of reviving Rodgers' career would almost certainly appeal to McDaniels.

However, agreeing to be the Colts head coach for this season only to leave them at the altar could raise some questions among Packers' executives.

John DeFilippo

The Vikings offensive coordinator DeFilippo turned Carson Wentz into a regular season MVP candidate in Philadelphia last season and has enjoyed success in Minnesota this season, with Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen making the Vikings a very solid offense.

Minnesota is ranked seventh in passing offense and 14 in total offense, while Cousins has thrown for 3,490 yards, just a smidgen lower than Rodgers' 3,504.

At +275, De Filippo's odds are slightly longer than McDaniels'.

Lincoln Riley

Considered one of the next star coaches in the NFL despite being only 35, the Oklahoma Sooners head coach is the bookmakers' joint second favorite at +275 alongside, De Filippo.

In his first season as Sooners head coach he helped Baker Mayfield win the Heisman Trophy and came close to the national title. It would be intriguing to see how Rodgers would work with a head coach only a few months older than him.

The Cleveland Browns are also thought to be considering Riley, mainly because they want to build their future around Mayfield

However, back in October he sound very reluctant about leaving Oklahoma.

"I love college football," he said at the time.

"I certainly don't have that itch [of coaching in the NFL] right now. Don't know that I ever will."

Eric Bieniemy

The fourth-favorite to replace McCarthy, at +1,000 Bieniemy's odds are considerably longer than those of the aforementioned coaches. It's easy to see why the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator features on the list as he's made a huge impact in his first season with the team.

The Chiefs lead the NFL in terms of total points scored and of points per game with 444 and 37, respectively.

Pete Carmichael Jr.

Carmichael has been with the Saints since 2006 and his expertise could revive the Packers' offense. Under his guidance, this season Saints have the third-best offense in terms of points scored and the joint second-best in terms of points per game.

With odds of +1500, the New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator is the fifth-favorite to take over the Packers job.