Packers hire Titans' OC Matt LaFleur as their HC

[XPack]

Janis will be brought back to Green Bay as well

Guaranteed SB then. Let's tell the teams to enjoy a season long break and not show up at all. Yay!

 

[Eduardo Valadares]

So much better than McDaniels! I like it a lot

 

[AmishMafia]

Pros
Very smart
Innovative - I think it is what Rodgers needs - to get shaken out of his comfort zone.


Cons
Job jumper. Why did he switch jobs so often?
Lack of coordinator or HC experience. The big thing about that has more to do with managing a staff of coaches, planning, organizing and scheming.


I wasnt in the interview, so how can I know what the FO knows? Wasnt my first choice, but he looks like an interesting choice. I will adopt a wait and see approach and wish him the best.

Welcome Matt LaFeur!

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Pros
Very smart
Innovative - I think it is what Rodgers needs - to get shaken out of his comfort zone.


Cons
Job jumper. Why did he switch jobs so often?
Lack of coordinator or HC experience. The big thing about that has more to do with managing a staff of coaches, planning, organizing and scheming.


I wasnt in the interview, so how can I know what the FO knows? Wasnt my first choice, but he looks like an interesting choice. I will adopt a wait and see approach and wish him the best.

Welcome Matt LaFeur!

I would also add that a pro (for Mark Murphy) is that he doesn't risk taking any power away from Gute or Murphy; McDaniels, if successful in a year, might have started demanding more power. Lafleur doesn't risk that, so Murphy doesn't really risk any power shifts in the front office.

Overall I'm excited about the prospect of a new coach but this hire is really just the Packers hoping that some of the magic pixie dust from Shanahan and McVay is on Lafleur; his performance with the Titans wasn't really that conclusive because of the injuries last year.

Finally, an additional pro to the hire are the wealth of Dodgeball memes we'll all get to enjoy.

 

[Stanger37]

I just spent the first 45 minutes of my work day reading the first 9 pages of these posts. Not a lot of grey area, all black and white. good or bad. Reading the majority of these posts, there clearly cannot be ANY possibilities that McDaniels just wasn't a culture fit and that maybe his ideas for the team were bullish. Maybe he is just meant to ride the coattails of great coaches, Saban and Belichick. Maybe his vision isn't all that, we put this guy on a pedestal and if anything, there are more reasons why he WOULDN'T work out as HC than Lafleur currently has. His losing record and shadiness. Maybe Lafleur had a great vision and impressed them and didn't want him interviewing with another team. And I am pretty certain Packer players on defense came out and said that they absolutely love playing for Pettine, so why throw sticks in those spokes after 1 year? The defense kept them in every game this season, even the 2 games they lost by 14 were closer than the final. And they were 3 erroneous calls against Clay from 2 more victories. The defense ain't broke, they're just injured and have no depth. The only fixing is getting rid of Zook and Whitt. If he can come in and connect with all the young WRs (because they're all young aside from the TEs) and help them create separation and route running, that alone would be huge. McDaniels would be coming from a team that is older vets, maybe his connection with the younger guys isn't there and before they were all on the same page, Rodgers is another year or two older. But if I learned anything from the first 9 pages, being optimistic and thinking rationally that it may be ok, is NOT ok.

 

[Cheese Headed Monster]

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[shockerx]

Pros
Very smart
Innovative - I think it is what Rodgers needs - to get shaken out of his comfort zone.


Cons
Job jumper. Why did he switch jobs so often?
Lack of coordinator or HC experience. The big thing about that has more to do with managing a staff of coaches, planning, organizing and scheming.


I wasnt in the interview, so how can I know what the FO knows? Wasnt my first choice, but he looks like an interesting choice. I will adopt a wait and see approach and wish him the best.

Welcome Matt LaFeur!

Lafluer jumped from Rams OC to Tenn OC, because he interviewed for the Rams HC spot...and got beat out by Mcvey. I think its pretty good reason to move on, you dont want to see the guy everyday you tried to beat on job interview.

 

[AmishMafia]

I believe the unusual pattern is interesting. It seems to me we were casting a wide net, interviewing a variety of options. I'm surprised we didnt have 2nd interviews with anyone. My thinking is that LaFluer blew them away in the interview and they realized this is their guy. According to reports, no other teams had requested an interview, so it's not like they were concerned he would get snapped up by another team.

This gives me a bit of a boost in my confidence in this pick.

 

[shockerx]

yes, once these young guns reach the OC spot , their eyeball is already looking for the HC sweet spot. I not sure why but i have a good feeling about the hire...just gut. i think keeping our DC is a good move, the D will be in its second year, verse a new D scheme changing for the third time in three years. and zook is HX, everyone knows that.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Lafluer jumped from Rams OC to Tenn OC, because he interviewed for the Rams HC spot...and got beat out by Mcvey. I think its pretty good reason to move on, you dont want to see the guy everyday you tried to beat on job interview.

I don't think the Rams interviewed LaFleur for their head coaching vacancy before hiring McVay.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

The Packers have made it official, signing LaFleur to a four-year contract with a fifth-year option.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

I just spent the first 45 minutes of my work day reading the first 9 pages of these posts. Not a lot of grey area, all black and white. good or bad. Reading the majority of these posts, there clearly cannot be ANY possibilities that McDaniels just wasn't a culture fit and that maybe his ideas for the team were bullish. Maybe he is just meant to ride the coattails of great coaches, Saban and Belichick. Maybe his vision isn't all that, we put this guy on a pedestal and if anything, there are more reasons why he WOULDN'T work out as HC than Lafleur currently has. His losing record and shadiness. Maybe Lafleur had a great vision and impressed them and didn't want him interviewing with another team. And I am pretty certain Packer players on defense came out and said that they absolutely love playing for Pettine, so why throw sticks in those spokes after 1 year? The defense kept them in every game this season, even the 2 games they lost by 14 were closer than the final. And they were 3 erroneous calls against Clay from 2 more victories. The defense ain't broke, they're just injured and have no depth. The only fixing is getting rid of Zook and Whitt. If he can come in and connect with all the young WRs (because they're all young aside from the TEs) and help them create separation and route running, that alone would be huge. McDaniels would be coming from a team that is older vets, maybe his connection with the younger guys isn't there and before they were all on the same page, Rodgers is another year or two older. But if I learned anything from the first 9 pages, being optimistic and thinking rationally that it may be ok, is NOT ok.

I would go on record as saying I am optimistic and am glad it is not McDaniels. Cleveland will probably end up hiring him and in doing so probably ruin their chances to turn a good roster into a Superbowl contender team.

I do think amidst the optimism that he might bring in some of the new RPO offensive flavors to this team and get things going, some concern about the coaching staff is warranted. A young guy with or without Murphy's marching orders who doesn't know this current staff could mistakenly think retaining them would mean good continuity for the players without understanding that they are underachievers and have put out subpar results.

You also just have to understand there's good reasons why fans are fuming at Murphy too for not clearing the deck once the season ended, or at least at a bare minimum kicking Ron Zook out. I know people keep saying he's as good as gone, but if that's the case why was he even allowed to wait around here? Even allowing him to stay to wait for the next HC to replace him is rewarding failure with kindness. Awful.

 

[rodell330]

The Packers have made it official, signing LaFleur to a four-year contract with a fifth-year option.

Woohoo!

 

[PackAttack12]

Those bashing the LaFleur hire in saying that he didn't produce great numbers with the Titans would be the equivalent to people bashing Pettine for not producing numbers with the personnel he had to work with on the Packers defense.

Most everyone agrees that Pettine did an admirable job given what he had to work with. Well I could make the argument that LaFleur had very little to work with in Tennessee with a completely healthy roster, let alone injuries to Mariota, Walker, and others.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

The Packers have offered TE coach Brian Angelichio to stay with the team.

 

[C-Lee]

Press conference will be tomorrow

 

[Dblbogey]

McDaniels was the guy for the job ..but he wanted his own staff. Murphy and Gute wanted to retain certain guys from the McCarthy staff and McDaniels wasn’t on board with that. This new guy is perfect. He won’t ask a lot of questions because he will be excited to have his first HC job all while being controlled like a puppet by Murphy and Gute. Who’s already basically controlling who the hell the guy should hire. Packers will finish third in the NFC North next season mark my words. Wouldn’t shock me if Rodgers has a big year (38 tds 4 ints) and the rest of the team struggles. 7-9 8-8 at best . And please mark this thread because I will eat Crow if I’m...wrong yet again.

Why would we mark your thread? You are rarely right. Still pushing your McDaniels theory to try and save face I see.

 

[rmontro]

Job jumper. Why did he switch jobs so often?

Ambition, it sounds like. I know he went from Rams OC to Titans OC so that he could call the plays. Clearly he was on a trajectory where he wanted to be a head coach someday.

I have no doubt that he impressed on his interview. I'm sure he has a lot of ideas on how to run the offense and was able to articulate them. He's worked under a lot of good coaches, so I'm sure he's learned a lot of things under them. We'll see how it turns out.

By the way, even if you thought McDaniels would have been successful here, doesn't mean LeFleur can't be successful here also. If we have a good organization, we will win. Nobody does it alone.

 

[ls1bob]

I have no opinion either way on McDaniels,I think he is a good OC. At the same time I had a bad feeling that the football Gods would have not been kind to us if we hired him. We have had enough bad ju ju for one year.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Pros
Very smart
Innovative - I think it is what Rodgers needs - to get shaken out of his comfort zone.


Cons
Job jumper. Why did he switch jobs so often?
Lack of coordinator or HC experience. The big thing about that has more to do with managing a staff of coaches, planning, organizing and scheming.


I wasnt in the interview, so how can I know what the FO knows? Wasnt my first choice, but he looks like an interesting choice. I will adopt a wait and see approach and wish him the best.

Welcome Matt LaFeur!

I have no idea if he'll be any good but with a reported 4 year contract with a 5th. year option we'll have a lot of time to find out.

Some factual corrections are in order.

"Lack of coordinator experience"? He was OC for the Rams in 2017 and the Titans in 2018. He was not the play caller in LA. He was the play caller for the Titans which is an advancement.

Why a job jumper? First, here's his professional coaching experience:

• Saginaw Valley State (2003)
  Offensive assistant
• Central Michigan (2004–2005)
  Offensive assistant
• Northern Michigan (2006)
  Quarterbacks coach & wide receivers coach
• Ashland (2007)
  Offensive coordinator
• Houston Texans (2008–2009)
  Offensive quality control coach
• Washington Redskins (2010–2013)
  Quarterbacks coach
• Notre Dame (2014)
  Quarterbacks coach
• Atlanta Falcons (2015–2016)
  Quarterbacks coach
• Los Angeles Rams (2017)
  Offensive coordinator
• Tennessee Titans (2018)
  Offensive coordinator
• Green Bay Packers (2019–present)
  (Head coach)

He jumped jobs to take steady increases in responsibility. The only step back along the way was going from the Skins QB coach in 2013 to Notre Dame QB coach in 2014. He got fired from Washington when they cleaned house with the dumping of Mike Shanahan. That's a fairly common outcome when in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

By the way, even if you thought McDaniels would have been successful here, doesn't mean LeFleur can't be successful here also. If we have a good organization, we will win. Nobody does it alone.

Vice versa more like too because even if (god forbid) LaFleur fails, that most certainly doesn't mean JMcD would have succeeded either.


Now, may I just make it clear I don't buy into too much of rodell's insider information. His narratives have had a lot of conflicts in them, and there's definitely no way he knows that the make or break part of McDaniels's interview was the coaching staff thing unless he has McDaniels phone number, and I'm certain he doesn't. I will say though that this next part will be telling. Pettine staying is good, but apart from that I truly do believe there has to be meaningful change in this coaching staff.

LaFleur will and should be given a chance before he is written off, but he's definitely going to have to get his coaching staff moves right to get off on the right foot.

 

[rmontro]

Vice versa more like too because even if (god forbid) LaFleur fails, that most certainly doesn't mean JMcD would have succeeded either.

True enough.

I don't know if Rodell's information was good or not. This turn of events doesn't really refute what he said fully - his sources were supposedly from McDaniels' side, and that may have been the way things appeared to him. Also, Cleveland apparently started to show interest in him late in the game, and that is supposedly the job McDaniels wants. Green Bay might have liked McDaniels, but perhaps didn't like that they weren't his #1 choice, and didn't want to risk waiting another week or more on him, only to lose him to Cleveland, when they had another guy they liked in LeFleur.

By the way, I watched the sports shows this morning, and Cowherd and Bayless were the two who were crapping on this hire the most. So for those who say those guys are complete idiots, you can take that as a positive sign.

 

[HardRightEdge]

LaFleur QBs:

2010 - 2013, QB coach, Redskins: McNabb, Rex Grossman, RGIII, Cousins
2014, QB Coach, Notre Dame: Everett Golson, Kizer (redshirt)
2015 - 2016, QB Coach, Atlanta: Ryan
2017, Rams, OC: Goff, Sean Mannion
2018, Titans, OC: Mariota, Gabbert

 

[AmishMafia]

I have no idea if he'll be any good but with a reported 4 year contract with a 5th. year option we'll have a lot of time to find out.

Some factual corrections are in order.

"Lack of coordinator experience"? He was OC for the Rams in 2017 and the Titans in 2018. He was not the play caller in LA. He was the play caller for the Titans which is an advancement.

Why a job jumper? First, here's his professional coaching experience:

• Saginaw Valley State (2003)
  Offensive assistant
• Central Michigan (2004–2005)
  Offensive assistant
• Northern Michigan (2006)
  Quarterbacks coach & wide receivers coach
• Ashland (2007)
  Offensive coordinator
• Houston Texans (2008–2009)
  Offensive quality control coach
• Washington Redskins (2010–2013)
  Quarterbacks coach
• Notre Dame (2014)
  Quarterbacks coach
• Atlanta Falcons (2015–2016)
  Quarterbacks coach
• Los Angeles Rams (2017)
  Offensive coordinator
• Tennessee Titans (2018)
  Offensive coordinator
• Green Bay Packers (2019–present)
  (Head coach)

He jumped jobs to take steady increases in responsibility. The only step back along the way was going from the Skins QB coach in 2013 to Notre Dame QB coach in 2014. He got fired from Washington when they cleaned house with the dumping of Mike Shanahan. That's a fairly common outcome when in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I dont think 2 years for 2 teams constitutes much experience as a coordinator.

I consider 11 jobs in 16 years as not being in a position for very long. Whether you are promoted or not, it seems you would want to see something through once you start it.

I am warming to the selection. I dont know really how any of the candidates would have turned out and I was open to most of them. This is a roll of the dice and I trust Murphy and Gute's collective guts on this call.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

True enough.

I don't know if Rodell's information was good or not. This turn of events doesn't really refute what he said fully - his sources were supposedly from McDaniels' side, and that may have been the way things appeared to him. Also, Cleveland apparently started to show interest in him late in the game, and that is supposedly the job McDaniels wants. Green Bay might have liked McDaniels, but perhaps didn't like that they weren't his #1 choice, and didn't want to risk waiting another week or more on him, only to lose him to Cleveland, when they had another guy they liked in LeFleur.

By the way, I watched the sports shows this morning, and Cowherd and Bayless were the two who were crapping on this hire the most. So for those who say those guys are complete idiots, you can take that as a positive sign.

Hence why I don't bother offering those two clowns any attention. They were going to manufacture dirt on anyone the Packers hired and put their spin on it cuz that's what paid actors do.