McCarthy stunned by firing: 'Couldn't have been handled any worse'

In 13 seasons, Mike McCarthy delivered the Green Bay Packers a Super Bowl title, eight straight years of playoff football, and 125 regular-season wins.

But in the end, none of that could save him from a shock midseason firing in December with four games left to play. In his first sit-down interview since his dismissal, McCarthy said he was blindsided by the Packers' decision.

"If we missed the playoffs, I expected change might happen," McCarthy told ESPN's Rob Demovsky. "But the timing surprised me. Actually, it stunned me. It couldn't have been handled any worse."

While McCarthy spoke glowingly about his time in Green Bay, the ex-coach said "it was hard to swallow" the emotionless way president Mark Murphy dismissed him following a loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

"Every time I released an individual, you get your words right," McCarthy said. "There's a personal component to it. You know he has a family. He's family. There wasn't any of that. So that was off. The way people leave that building was very important to me. That's a part of the business."

It was rumored the end of the McCarthy era was driven by a fractured relationship with Aaron Rodgers, however, the 55-year-old heaped praise on his former quarterback while acknowledging the fact their working partnership was far from perfect.

"To think you can be in a relationship that long and not have any frustrations, that's unrealistic," he said.

McCarthy again confirmed he intends to sit out the 2019 season before attempting a comeback in 2020.