GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It’s Mike McCarthy’s offense to call and Aaron Rodgers’ offense to run.

But it’s never operated more effectively than when Joe Philbin has coordinated it.

What exactly an offensive coordinator does for a team on which the head coach calls the plays can be a bit murky, but no one denies that when Philbin had that job, the Green Bay Packers were at their best.

From 2007, Brett Favre’s final season as quarterback, through Aaron Rodgers’ first MVP season of 2011, the Packers' offense was the envy of the NFL. Green Bay went to a pair of NFC Championship Games, won a Super Bowl, amassed a franchise-record 15 wins in the 2011 season and never ranked lower than ninth in total offense.

There wasn’t a "Welcome back, Coach Philbin" sign at Lambeau Field when he was rehired as coordinator earlier this month, but perhaps there should have been.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” McCarthy said of Philbin’s return. “We’ve taken a little bit of a back-to-basics approach on offense. We’re going back and building a playbook like you would if it was your first year as a staff. Joe’s such a great teacher. So, it’s been a lot of fun so far.”

In the six seasons since Philbin left -- first to become the Dolphins head coach in 2012, then on to the Colts, where he coached the offensive line the past two seasons -- the Packers' offense finished with an average rank of 13.2, compared to an average rank of 5.6 in Philbin’s five seasons as offensive coordinator.

Guide To NFL Coaching Carousel It's firing-and-hiring season, and we're tracking all the moves.

• Everything to know about current, potential openings »

• Candidates our analysts would hire »

Those who have worked with and played for Philbin in Green Bay say he’s the perfect tonic for McCarthy, equal parts sounding board and suggestion maker but not a yes-man. That’s critical when it comes to building a game plan for the week and making in-game suggestions from his perch in the coaches' box.

“Having Coach Philbin back is a real big asset,” said offensive line coach James Campen, who also will serve as Philbin’s run-game coordinator. “Not only is he a great football coach, but he’s a great person. Having someone of that caliber as a person just resonates throughout the program, and not only his knowledge of football but who he is and what he stands for is outstanding. There’s not a finer person than Joe Philbin.”

Philbin views his role as, in a word, “simple.”

“Help Mike McCarthy be the smartest playcaller in the National Football League, help our offense score points, period,” Philbin said. “That’s really, that’s it. Part of that is managing a staff, so Mike can be freed up to do what he needs to do.”

It was when Philbin became coordinator in 2007 that McCarthy essentially handed over the job of running the offensive meetings, something he had done early in his head-coaching tenure.

“Joe’s always been at the front of the room,” McCarthy said. “He’ll run the meetings, and just with my role being the head coach and the playcaller, sometimes you’re in and out of some of those meetings. So, we’re back to the same format.”

Still, things have changed since Philbin left. The offense has evolved, players have left and the coaching staff has changed.

One of the additions to the staff, pass-game coordinator Jim Hostler, spent the past two years with Philbin in Indianapolis and previously worked with McCarthy in both San Francisco and New Orleans. Although Hostler has never worked with McCarthy and Philbin at the same time, he said he understands why they operate so well together.

“There’s no agendas to him; he’s not doing anything that’s for him,” Hostler said of Philbin. “It’s all about what he can do to help others. That is the leadership, the man, the character -- all of those things are right out there for you to see. That’s what everybody is attracted to. When you work for someone like that, you know that everybody’s going in one direction and it’s all for the good of the whole, the good of the other. That’s an easy environment to work in. That makes it appealing to go to work, when you work for people, leaders that have your best interests -- not theirs -- at heart. That is what really makes people productive.

“And Mike is very similar to that. So when you think about those kinds of things, Joe and Mike mesh very well together.”