Let’s pat ourselves on the back. Total Packers readers, commenters, and writers knew long before – we’re talking years here – that the leadership of the Green Bay Packers, after being in decline for several years, was nearing the point of utter stagnation.
After years of rising impatience and indignation, most TP readers had arrived at a consensus that this team required massive changes – not so much on the field, as at the top. Administrators and coaches had become predictable, non-innovative, non-inspiring, risk-adverse, and non-accountable. TP led the cry for the regime change we are now witnessing.
Nowhere else were the calls for an administrative and coaching upheaval made more passionately and persistently than right here. The change we’re seeing now should have happened two years ago, but we’ll settle for what we’re seeing in the first hours of this new year: new Green Bay Packers leadership!
First we learned of the departure of defensive coordinator Dom Capers. Then a couple assistant coaches were canned – more might be forthcoming. Finally, the news that general manager Ted Thompson had been “reassigned” came down. We didn’t expect coach Mike McCarthy to lose his job, and doubt that he will as part of the current purge, but what’s just happened is reason enough to be gleeful.
Finally, the leaders of the Packers are being held accountable for their job performance. The players have always known they must perform at a high level and at long last the same standard is being applied to the coaches and administrators. Pro sports is a demanding business.
We eagerly await their replacements. We’ll certainly debate the choices, and we’ll report honestly on how well they are performing as the 2018 season unwinds.
Let’s bear in mind that it took years to take this great franchise from the heights down to what we saw at Lambeau Field against the Baltimore Ravens on November 19, against the Minnesota Vikings on December 23, and finally against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on December 31. So it might take a matter of years to build the team back up to being a consistent Super Bowl contender.
But the gears of progress are finally turning. We’ve got some great news to celebrate as we begin the New Year. Here’s a toast to starting a new streak of football excellence in Green Bay!