Mike McCarthy sports new colors at NFL Combine

INDIANAPOLIS -- After a year away from football, Mike McCarthy has returned to the NFL Combine as the Dallas Cowboys' head coach.

"I never thought I'd say this but it's good to see everybody here," McCarthy said. "I always looked at this day as Groundhog Day, but I no longer do."

Not Groundhog Day for Mike McCarthy at the NFL Scouting Combine because he's not the coach of the Packers anymore. Fired late in the 2018 campaign, the man who earned a win in Super Bowl 45 in Dallas is now the coach in Dallas, so Green Bay is in his past.

"Great memories and fond thoughts about my time there and I'm thankful for not only the opportunity to coach here but the relationships that I'll always have," McCarthy said. "I have a lot of close friends that still work for the Packers and the community that we lived in, that will always be part of our family."

McCarthy did not work last season and since he was still living in Green Bay, he regularly ran errands right past Lambeau Field.

"Do you live in Green Bay, Bill? Well, it's kind of hard to go anywhere up there without seeing the stadium so," McCarthy said to a reporter. "It's where my kids were born, it's their hometown so really the year off was very beneficial for us as a family."

McCarthy will be coaching in a new city this fall, but part of him will always belong to Green Bay.

The Packers aren't scheduled to play the Cowboys in the 2020 regular season, but there's always a chance the two teams could meet in the playoffs.