Special teams coordinator Ron Zook will not return:
https://twitter.com/RobDemovsky/status/1083417042487791616
https://twitter.com/JimOwczarski/status/1083425831198879745
More leeway for LaFleur to come in and make some needed changes. Speaking of Matt LaFleur, he was formally introduced as new the Packers head coach:
https://twitter.com/TomSilverstein/status/1083410252207403008
https://twitter.com/packers/status/1083205301820682241
“After two long years, we are ready to get back to winning.” – Murphy
“It’s always been a dream of mine to be an NFL head coach, but to be the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, it is surreal, and I am extremely humbled. To follow in the footsteps of Vince Lombardi, Mike Holmgren, Mike McCarthy, it’s truly an honor. My philosophy is to lead, teach and inspire, not just our football players but everyone in this building. We will be process driven in our pursuit of bringing a Lombardi Trophy back here to Green Bay.” – LaFleur
Read more about LaFleur with our bio here. He obviously must have wowed management with his enthusiasm and passion during his interview for them to wrap the process up relatively quickly. Love it or hate it, he is our guy.
Mike McCarthy is going to take the year off after not getting the Jets job:
https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1083178426641641472
He was our guy but now he is no one’s guy. Enjoy time with your family, Mike.
32 Comments
Thanks for the update, J. I’m glad they didn’t force LaFleur to keep Zook, after the routine gaffes we were treated to this season.
Getting in touch with previous writers. Should have more content flowing soon.
It was never a question that Zook was going to be fired. Now I want to see at a minimum Hostler, Raih, and Cignetti Jr being relieved of their duties. The sooner the better.
Riah is confirmed out as well.
So much to say………here’s a tidbit as time doesn’t allow for much.
Micheal Cohen seems to think that Lafleurs performance might influence Murphy’s job security.
Wait a fookin minute, does that mean that someone maybe, possibly, might be thinking about questioning Murphy’s job performance?
GTFO!!
Coming soon…Matt LaFleur….First impressions
The first thought after LaFleur was hired I had, and before the press conference was LaFleur being Matt Ryan’s QB coach in 2016. Matt Ryan had a very good year, but remember how bad the Falcons blew the second half of the Super Bowl game by snapping the ball with double digit seconds on the play clock. We discussed it after the game. Hopefully that was a learning experience for LaFleur in game time and play clock management.
The poor clock management may have been on Shannahan, but LaFleur as a QB coach should have said something to both the OC and Ryan. Maybe he did?
That was a prolific offense in 2016 Howard. I’d have to lean towards giving more of the credit to Shanahan as it was his offense. But when they both left in 2017, that offense plummeted, like a rock. In 2016 they scored 540 points, in 2017 after they left, they scored 353 points, That wide of a margin in one year is unheard of.
As far as the bad clock management, all my simple mind could conjure up for an explanation was that, they were so confident (rightly so) in that offense, that they thought they just keep scoring. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t even think about the clock management aspect as they were just full throttle, all the time. Just my .02.
Yes, i remember that conversation like it was yesterday. It was during that conversation that i knew you had next level knowledge and you were the #1 commenter on this site. But you have been nice enough to let me pretend that i am. T Y my friend.
Since I believe you to be the #1 commenter. I’m interested on your first impressions of LaFleur from the press conference. Good, and bad. I have a couple.
Well, my first impression was that i liked him. The little he got into football, i liked what he said. The rest is just personality. I like his energy, you can tell he has an air of confidence. I also liked that he’s driven. It took someone that is driven and has career goals, to leave the Rams and go to Tenn. In general he seems to know what he wants, and has a vision of how to get there.
Some think he sounded too nervous, but i thought that was part of his charm. He just seems like a good dude and hopefully the players will feel the same and want to play over their heads for him.
This guy has good reason to be nervous. He just reached his goal of being a head coach, and he knows that the responsibility it entails. then you add that he is coaching the Packers and that just adds to it. Not many people in the world will get that opportunity, but he got it. He’s also nervous because his life just changed dramatically, He has to move, got his dream job, has to assemble a staff,etc, Got a raise of about 500% and he’s facing a lot of media. If he wasn’t nervous, i’d be nervous about that.
When i got promoted to management some years ago. I was so G D nervous i would have weird dreams about it. Instead of just kicking back with no worries, now i was responsible for 11 people’s sales numbers, not to mention keeping staff, hiring, firing, doing my own marketing and advertising,etc. You get the picture. So….yea, being announced as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers should make anyone nervous i’d imagine, especially their first head coaching gig.
My biggest concern for him, and i’m guessing he shares it, is that he needs to rely on Gute to get him some players or he’ll be dead in the water. I know i harp on this player acquisition issue a lot, but if this team doesn’t start getting some talent, having Rodgers and a new coach won’t matter.
I also want to add this Howard. I wanted a head coach to manage the team, and an offensive coordinator to call plays. I think our past setup cost us 1, maybe more, Super Bowl appearances.
I agree with all your points, and agree 100% about LaFleur’s nerves. I also thought the nerves were in part because he was emotional at the start of the conference about what his family sacrificed for him to get to this position, and how much time, and effort he has put in to go from where he started to being a head coach of The Packers.
I also liked that LaFleur took the risk to leave the Rams as the OC so he could call plays as the Titans OC. I really liked what LaFleur said when asked about why LaFleur wanted to change from a receiver to a QB in college.
“I love everything about being a quarterback,” LaFleur said. “The ball is in your hand at every play. You can have a huge impact on the game. It is a challenge. It is more or less about looking at the ten other guys in the huddle and knowing you are going to get the job done.”
Take that attitude and put it as a head coach looking at 63+ guys on the team.
One of the negatives only because I wanted a Head Coach in charge of all aspects of the game, Defense, STs, and offense and not just an offensive coordinator/playcaller was Lafleur’s comments about having to hire some good people around him because he would be making adjustments during change of possessions. Those aren’t his exact words, but that is what I took from the comments. In a later interview I did see that LaFleur said he is responsible for all aspects of the team not just offense.
Some may not agree with this, but I like that LaFleur worked under Mike Shanahan. Shanahan had out coached many teams with better personnel over the years, including a certain Packers team in a SuperBowl.
I can’t believe Murphy brought up complacency in the conference. Murphy just doesn’t get that he was the originating source of the complacency.
LaFleur announced he’s keeping Pettine.
Pssttt Matt?
We already knew.
I don’t think there’s any question that if LaFleur doesn’t work out, Murphy is gone, because if LaFleur doesn’t work out by then Rodgers career is largely over and the window for another Super Bowl has closed. All the chips have been moved to Matt LaFleur and Mike Pettine.
Remember, the Packers are actually SEC filing public organization and the voted on executive committee does have complete say in the who the president of the organization is. Murphy is not some protected owner.
I’m not sure what paperwork the Packers have to file with Uncle Sam but they’re not a publicly traded company like Exxon, IBM, etc. After you buy the stock from the team you can only bequeath it as part of your estate or gift it to family, but not sell it.
If Monken is still available, bring him to GB as an OC
Or WR coach
Unless something happens with the Steelers and their dumpster fire, the only way McCarthy becomes a head coach again is if a team with a revolving door for head coaches kicks the tires on him. The fact that Hue Jackson was even a consideration for any head coaching position after failing miserably twice as a head coach should buy McCarthy a clue.
No shit…who would hire him? He’s done as a HC. I mean a “Highly Successful” HC.
They owe him $9M???!!!….gulp. Murphy’s hand will be shaking writing that check. He should owe the Packers money for being a dipshit for the past 5 years.
This team is so broken, Ted moves to Texas and keeps getting paid, McCarthy gets fired but not before Murphy gifted him 9 million dollars in secret. Gute better pull off the greatest magic act and get some talent LaFleur and Rodgers aren’t winning shit.
If McCarthy is making 9 million, can you imagine how much Murphy is making? Makes me ill thinking about it.
Maybe one of these days or years, Somebody on the Board or Executive Committee will give a shit and start asking Murphy questions. How is someone who is so clearly incompetent, seemingly untouchable?
I wonder if tonight Rodger is happy or not happy he tanked games to get McCarthy fired.
That came out + that he just does what he wants on plays and the lack of creativity is really just Aaron being Aaron. And now he has a coach who may or may not let him get away wit all his crap he was getting away with. McCarthy was a jerk but is Aaron really better off now?
What’s important is that I’m happy McCarthy is gone. Whatever it took it was worth it. I wonder if Rick Spielman is happy with his $84M man?
https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/12/nfl-vikings-kirk-cousins-contract-disaster
Mike McCarty: Former Head coach of the dynasty that never was.
Sooooooo…… Fat Mike didn’t even get an interview? Wow
Kinda a bitch smack in the face from John Dorsey, Browns’ GM, to appease Mayfield. Fat Mike didn’t even get an interview with the Browns even as the Packers gave Pogano an interview. Let that sink in.
I feel kinda bad for Fat Mike. But he will be an HC again.
We don’t know if it was Big Mike or the Browns who canceled the interview and the word on the street is that they would have hired him if he agreed to keep Kitchens as OC. Also the Haslams are highly involved owners and it may have been partly their decision.
Yes he will be a “Highly Successful” HC again… in High School not the NFL.
I think John Dorsey is his own man, who will make his own decisions and do what he wants. Jackson and McCarthy were let go about the same time. McCarthy was available for Dorsey with 4 games to go before the regular season ended. The fact that Dorsey didn’t interview him in that time is telling.
Yep, something many of us knew many years ago. MM was an over-rated Buffoon who was not worthy of his position in the NFL. Furthermore, that friggin’ Mark Murphy should have rid the Packers of Ted Thompson years before he did and hired Dorsey. All of this bullshit would have NEVER happened if the Packers had a President who actually paid better attention to the football operations instead of land acquisitions and friggin’ sledding hills . . .
I don’t think Murphy wasn’t paying attention to Ted’s condition or football operations, i’m sure everyone in that building knew that Ted was losing his faculties. As a matter of fact Murphy probably knew more than most. It was the reality that Murphy wouldn’t interfere with anything Ted did, or question anything to him about his business. The problem was…..it was part of his job, and he refused to do it, and that’s where i have a big problem with Murphy. He refused to be Ted’s superior, he refused to do that part of his job, and he should have been terminated because of it for just cause.
To the astute….ever since word got out that somebody on the board had to tell Murphy to fire Ted, it’s been clear since that day, that Murphy has been emphasizing his control and power, as the decision maker. He’s still doing so to this day. He has to let everyone know every time he speaks, that he’s in charge. Matter of fact, i’m surprised that Murphy didn’t have Gute sit at a smaller table behind him. You know, like the kids table. That’s exactly how he treats Gute….Like Daddy teaching his son to ride a bike. Murphy always has to add something to what Gute says, like he had to finish the point Gute was making. The little he lets Gute speak anyway.
BROKEN
No shit hey, about Murphy constantly telling people he’s in charge. During the press conference Lafleur was saying something and Murphy insisted on butting in to add something that meant jack shit whatever was being said. Just rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe I can’t stand him because I nitpick for things not to like about him, or maybe it’s because he’s a total dolt. I have a write up I started about the press conference but haven’t finished it due to not wanting to waste my time and energy.
Funny analogy about Papa Murphy making Gute and Lafleur sit at the kids table. Unfortunately it’s spot on.
Never a McCarthy apologist, but I wonder after all that went down in the last couple of years, how interested he was in ANY position this year. He is guaranteed $9M next year to do absolutely nothing- I doubt he could have made much more were he employed elsewhere. Seems like a no-brainer to me; a fully paid one year sabbatical to do as you wish. Sign me up. He’d have been crazy to take a job.
Ted probably collected more than that last year, doing nothing.
I think when Murphy said “we take care of our own” a year ago, this is what he meant.
Isn’t it funny that at a time when everyone was getting promotions and raises, and secret contract extensions, the team was regressing. But these same people are directly responsible for the success of this team. Losing seasons and bulging bank accounts.
Welcome to the 1980’s Packers, brought to you by Mark Murphy.
Why the fuck would a non profit organization pay people to “take care of their own” when they don’t have to? That seems rather fiscally irresponsible to me. There might be a time in the not too distant future where the Packers wish they had that extra money they are wasting by “taking care of their own”.