Well thats one coach [Mennenga]

[GleefulGary]

It was a no-brainer to move on from Mennenga after the special teams (aside of Crosby) were terrible all season.



I truly hope the Packers look outside of the organization to hire a special teams coordinator. The guys currently on the staff most likely were part of the problem.

Sometimes.

They actually hired from within on the S&C staff, and since then, injuries have gone way down. Could be coincidence, might not be, I don’t know enough to say otherwise.

 

[GleefulGary]

I like that Coombs kid that the Lions fired.

With that said, I know nothing.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

We have Ervin and there's way too many options after the Draft that could be had for chump change. I'd rather wait til then.

 

[pacmaniac]

What has Drayton done to give him a strong reputation around the league? I love how our coaches are all geniuses who no one ever tries to poach from us. Let's not be cheap *** and F this up a second straight time.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

 

[El Guapo]

I'll hold my strongest feelings until the Packers actually make a ST coaching hire, but if the reports are true that they plan to hire from within, I am EXTREMELY dissapointed.

We had one of the worst ST units in the entire league. If we were going to hire from within, LeFluer should have canned Mennenga mid-season to see if his in-staff hire could do any better for the playoff run. It really couldn't have been any worse. The only logical reason to have waited would have been to bring in an outsider. To waste opportunities and field position in the playoffs just to hire someone within seems remarkably stupid.

I hope that the rumors of hiring from within are untrue. Even if they end up promoting the right coach from within, they absolutely missed the boat on doing it sooner.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

According to Tom Pelissero the Packers have promoted Maurice Drayton to special teams coordinator. That was fast.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

 

[El Guapo]

Well that's just ****ing great. If Drayton was any better, why didn't LeFluer have the stones to promote him mid-season when it was CLEAR that our special teams were a problem. At the best they didn't help us in the playoffs, at the worst they hurt us in field position. Luckily we didn't commit any turnovers.

LeFluer just went down a notch in my book. He's still up there though, generally doing a very good job.

 

[tynimiller]

Hey wait a second Drayton is African American, does this mean we get a draft pick???

 

[Mondio]

Well that's just ****ing great. If Drayton was any better, why didn't LeFluer have the stones to promote him mid-season when it was CLEAR that our special teams were a problem. At the best they didn't help us in the playoffs, at the worst they hurt us in field position. Luckily we didn't commit any turnovers.

LeFluer just went down a notch in my book. He's still up there though, generally doing a very good job.

Same feelings. I'm not one to think, just because someone worked under a fired coach they're a terrible hire. People stand on their own merits and will get to where they need to be in time. maybe Drayton is just what we need.

But I do have to wonder, if he's what we need and they identified him as the guy, why not promote in season. We clearly needed more from our special teams as they were a liability all season and were the year before too.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

My only guess is that based on the people MLF would consider, Drayton was the best option. Like I said earlier, a lot of really good ST Coordinators are becoming HCs now, most recently Joe Judge with the Giants, if he had made a splash hire there's a strong possibility that they'd be a 1 year rental as they moved on to be a HC some place else.

I just wished he had at least tried to interview somebody from the college ranks, if Drayton doesn't offer any improvement then maybe he'll try that next year or 2022.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

To me that's just not a viable excuse. The very reason we keep on having substandard special teams play is because this organization refuses to invest in top grade STCs to fix it.

I mean, I hope Drayton succeeds, but it sounds like Mark Murphy is dictating that this coaching staff position be hired on the cheap again.

 

[gonzozab]

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

 

[easyk83]

To me that's just not a viable excuse. The very reason we keep on having substandard special teams play is because this organization refuses to invest in top grade STCs to fix it.

I mean, I hope Drayton succeeds, but it sounds like Mark Murphy is dictating that this coaching staff position be hired on the cheap again.

I dont think that its about top quality STC coaches, I think its more about a refusal to invest in enough ST role players. There's a lot of guys in this league who aren't ever going to be starters and they're not even solid as reserves but they're good on special teams and so teams keep them. Back through Thompsons tenure TT never really wanted these types in favor of guys who might develop into legit starters on offense and defense. Which is why our ST pretty much suck year after year.

 

[easyk83]

I think that Wade Phillips is too old for the job and his stint in LA wasnt inspiring. We went with older established DCs in Capers and Pettine. Id like for them to go younger this time around. Someone like Kris Richards or Jim Leonhard would be my preferred pathway. Leonhard has the advantage of playing under Pettine in the past and his scheme wouldnt take too much adjustment.

 

[Poppa San]

I dont think that its about top quality STC coaches, I think its more about a refusal to invest in enough ST role players. There's a lot of guys in this league who aren't ever going to be starters and they're not even solid as reserves but they're good on special teams and so teams keep them. Back through Thompsons tenure TT never really wanted these types in favor of guys who might develop into legit starters on offense and defense. Which is why our ST pretty much suck year after year.

why was Jeff Janis on the roster for so long? It wasn't for his route running or return ability. Oren Burks is another one.

 

[easyk83]

Right my point is that GB tends to have less of these guys compared to teams with better STs. Jarrett Bush was another example, fans always want these guys cut too.

 

[pacmaniac]

Looking forward to us having a top-5 ST unit next year:

https://www.si.com/nfl/packers/news/former-colleagues-sing-draytons-praises

 

[GBkrzygrl]

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

Not sure hiring from within will change anything.

Why do they do that? The ST stank and you're going to promote someone from that same system? That's what MM used to do.

 

[GBkrzygrl]

According to Tom Pelissero the Packers have promoted Maurice Drayton to special teams coordinator. That was fast.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

Dang! Heard that too.

 

[Dantés]

Why do they do that? The ST stank and you're going to promote someone from that same system? That's what MM used to do.

Special Teams is less about X's and O's and more about motivation and instruction-- your guys have to want to play hard, and they have to be situationally smart.

I would not worry about a ST's coach based on "system." It could just be that they believe Drayton can get through to the players in ways that Mennenga or Zook could not.

I have no idea if they're right, but I also don't think any of us have a good enough grip on ST Coaching to be able to say Drayton is less likely to succeed than anyone else.

 

[Dantés]

Tom Silverstein reported that the Packers moved quickly to promote Drayton because other teams wanted to interview him for their STC jobs, and they didn't want to lose him.

Evidently teams around the league think highly of him.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I understand the concern about the Packers promoting Drayton to special teams coordinator as he was part of the coaching staff responsible for the unit struggling this season.

Let's hope it was the right decision.

 

[GleefulGary]

I understand the concern about the Packers promoting Drayton to special teams coordinator as he was part of the coaching staff responsible for the unit struggling this season.

Let's hope it was the right decision.

He was also part of two top 10 units.

I can see where this is concern, and also see where there is optimism.

From what I’ve heard and read, Drayton is a really good teacher, and motivator. Those are good qualities for a ST’s coach. It’s hard to know how much blame lies on Mennenga, how much on his assistants, or even how much lies on the roster construction, when it comes to our ST woes.

Hopefully this works. I’m not optimistic, but not pessimistic either.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

I dont think that its about top quality STC coaches, I think its more about a refusal to invest in enough ST role players. There's a lot of guys in this league who aren't ever going to be starters and they're not even solid as reserves but they're good on special teams and so teams keep them. Back through Thompsons tenure TT never really wanted these types in favor of guys who might develop into legit starters on offense and defense. Which is why our ST pretty much suck year after year.

Oh I don't discount having important quality players on special teams to boost the performance at all. And I don't say that either TT or Gute has been on top of the game in that department. But you gotta consider two things:

1. Most of the problems I see with the unit year in and year out are related to guys being undisciplined either in kick coverage, or in some cases kick returns or punt protection. Even if we swapped out all or most the players fulfilling these roles, failing to crack the whip on this stuff in practice, or for that matter failing to change the approach in practice won't change any results.

2. Who have we had coaching our ST units over the last 10-15 years or so who actually has put good results on the field with other teams? As far as I know, nobody.

I definitely think the evidence of us failing to bring in top notch ST coaches and that leading to low ranked output is overwhelming.

 

[easyk83]

Oh I don't discount having important quality players on special teams to boost the performance at all. And I don't say that either TT or Gute has been on top of the game in that department. But you gotta consider two things:

1. Most of the problems I see with the unit year in and year out are related to guys being undisciplined either in kick coverage, or in some cases kick returns or punt protection. Even if we swapped out all or most the players fulfilling these roles, failing to crack the whip on this stuff in practice, or for that matter failing to change the approach in practice won't change any results.

2. Who have we had coaching our ST units over the last 10-15 years or so who actually has put good results on the field with other teams? As far as I know, nobody.

I definitely think the evidence of us failing to bring in top notch ST coaches and that leading to low ranked output is overwhelming.

I dont care who you have in the kitchen, you cant turn **** into Sirloin. If we've had a rotating carousel of coaches without results then Id suggest that it's no coaching but a systemic trend of the way TT and Gute run their teams. With more focus on development and upside for O and D and not much left over for ST. I see guys like EQSB and others shy away from contact and Ive seen poor discipline. But sometimes a lack of cohesion occurs when your actual players are trying to compensate for the marshmellows playing next to them. Either cats like Burks Ramsay and Summers arent in on the tackle the return man might be running for a while.