Former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has a number of interviews planned for the next few days, and has already met with the Panthers twice (per multiple reports), as his quest to return to the NFL as a head coach continues.

After being fired by the Packers at the end of last year, like many coaches before him, McCarthy took a year off.

But it is his preparation for his comeback is what has been really special, and Peter King was able to capture all of that during a recent trip to visit McCarthy before the NFL coaching carousel really started to heat up.

Over the past several years, McCarthy and his wife had a really impressive “barn” built on the property by their house they’ve had together since 2008. If we’re being honest, “barn” is in quotations because, as McCarthy accurately describes it in the clip, it’s more of a multi-use facility that houses a full basketball court, game room, weight room and an impressive office setup that allows him and some friends to get together and brainstorm.

Brainstorming doesn’t really accurately sum up what the NFL veteran and his self-called “McCarthy Group” of three other former coaches have been up to. Jim Haslett, Frank Cignetti and Scott McCurley were the other coaches that McCarthy shared would get together for about a week a month to pour through copious amounts of video along with former DV Sport exec Justin Rudd.

“It’s been an incredible opportunity for me to take a deep-dive professionally,” McCarthy answered when asked how he’s spent his year away from coaching. Every week he and his coaching buddies put together a “trends tape” to study the latest schemes around the league being implemented, and that is just one of their many objectives when they get together.

McCarthy describes himself as rejuvenated after the year off and he clearly spent this past year about as wisely as he possibly could have.

See more from McCarthy via Peter King’s interview in the video.