Here’s a collection of facts on four of the Green Bay Packers’ new coaches.
Defensive Newcomers
Defensive Coordinator Mike Pettine
Age – 51
Experience – 16 years as a college or NFL coach
Highest Position – Head coach, Browns 2014-15
Team’s 2015 Record – Browns, 3-13
Notable Bosses – Rex Ryan, 2009-12
Notable Facts – lost 18 of his last 21 games with the Browns; out of coaching 2016 and 2017; consultant to the Seahawks in 2017; chosen over three Packers’ coaches for the job.
Defense – Run Game Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach Patrick Graham
Age – 38
Experience – 16 years as a college or NFL coach
Highest Position – Linebackers Coach, Patriots 2014-15
Team’s 2017 Record – Giants, 3-13
Notable Bosses – Bill Belichick, 2009-15
Notable Facts – Super Bowl rings re the 2014 and 2016 Patriots
Offensive Newcomers
Offensive Coordinator Joe Philbin
Age – 56
Experience – 34 years as a college or NFL coach
Highest Position – Head coach, Dolphins 2012-15
Team’s 2017 Record – Colts, 4-12
Notable Bosses – McCarthy (2003-11); Chuck Pagano (Colts, 2016-17)
Notable Facts – previously held the job under McCarty from 2007-11; his teams have had no winning records in last six years (Dolphins and Colts)
Quarterbacks Coach Frank Cignetti, Jr.
Age – 52
Experience – 29 years as a college or NFL coach, including five other NFL teams
Highest Position – Offensive coordinator, Rams, 2015
Team’s 2017 Record – Giants, 3-13
Notable Bosses – Jeff Fisher (Rams, 2012-16); Ben McAdoo (Giants, 2016-17)
Notable Fact – his teams (Rams and Giants) have had one winning season in last six years
Rising or Declining Careers?
Experience? In abundance, but is it the kind of experience a Super Bowl contender wants?
Pettine would be viewed by many as a falling star, having gone from being a head coach to out of the league for the past two years.
Philbin, like Pettine, compiled a losing record as a head coach, then took a lesser job with the Colts, who went 12-20 in his two years there.
Cignetti has also not met with much success lately – with the Rams and the Giants, he’s only been on one team with a winning record in his last six years.
I’m not worried about Patrick Graham’s one year with the 3-13 Giants. Before that, he spent seven years under the tutelage of Bill Belichick and his winning program at New England.
In their most recent year elsewhere, the above four coaches have compiled a cumulative record of 13 wins and 51 losses.
Other Coaching Staff Newcomers
The other incoming coaches are: Jim Hostler (Offense Pass Game Coordinator), Ryan Downard (Defensive Quality Control), and Maurice Drayton (Assistant Special Teams). A few others have stayed with the team, but have new titles and responsibilities. While they have less important coaching staff assignments, these three are relatively youthful, and might well move up the coaching tree in coming years.
Summary
If one views being part of a winning program as important, which I do, then McCarthy is one out of four in the above hirings. Patrick Graham is young and on the rise – and he was attached for seven years to the winningest NFL program. The other three – all of whom are being put into important positions – have met with little success of late, and have recently been with some very inferior NFL organizations.
It certainly isn’t fair to put a lot of blame for a team’s win-loss record on any coach other than the head coach. It’s concerning, however, to see that the vectors of three of these four heading downward for a while now. Maybe John Gruden already picked off all the young rising coaches to be on his Oakland Raiders staff?
In addition, it can be argued that the careers of some of the departed Packers’ coaches were on the rise. Edgar Bennett was quickly nabbed by Gruden. So was Mike Trgovac, the Raiders’ new defensive line coach. And it took Alex Van Pelt just a few days to be snapped up by the Bengals as their quarterbacks coach.
Maybe someone can explain to me how the popular Bennett can be given two promotions by Big Mike, including being named offensive coordinator in 2015, and then be unceremoniously dumped.
It appears that the newcomers to the Green Bay coaching staff were chosen largely because Mike McCarthy views them as a good fit – with himself. It would be an over-generalization to claim that Green Bay has become a place where unsuccessful coaches take refuge, but it’s hard to not see a pattern. I do think, however, that Mike Pettine is a gem of a pick and a big upgrade at defensive coordinator.
I had hoped that Big Mike would be attracting a few more rising, talented, creative, youthful, and even progressive coaches, and then placing them in key positions on his staff – and giving them some leeway in how they go about their jobs. Another lost opportunity.
Freed up from even nominal oversight by a general manager, McCarthy has quickly put his new power on full display with these sweeping coaching staff changes.
Every day, in every way, the Packers destiny becomes more dependent on the leadership of Mike McCarthy.