LaFleur Keeps Mishiring

Mike Holmgren didn’t fire a single position coach or coordinator in his seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers. That’s because he believed it was his failure if an assistant was struggling, and it was his responsibility to make things better.

Matt LaFleur, on the other hand, has already moved on from three coordinators. That’s an alarmingly high number in just three-plus years, and it probably says as much about the head coach as it does about the men who are no longer around.

There are many reasons why the Packers are one of the league’s most disappointing teams this season, two of the most prominent being offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich and defensive coordinator Joe Barry. The former was promoted last February, and the latter was hired a year earlier. Both moves were unexpected and neither appears to be working out.




The following is a look at LaFleur’s biggest mishires since replacing Mike McCarthy on January 8, 2019 (from bad to worst):

ADAM STENAVICH PROMOTED TO OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

It’s impossible to know just how much Stenavich is to blame for this season’s woeful offense, but it’s fair to say he’s part of the problem. That’s not a huge surprise. Very few former O-line coaches become coordinators, and even fewer make the upward move so quickly. Stenavich had been in his previous job for only three years. While not promoting the Marshfield native might’ve meant losing him to Denver and Nathaniel Hackett, would that have been the worst thing? LaFleur could’ve hired Brian Johnson, a rising star who was the offensive coordinator at Florida from ’18 through ’20 and has worked wonders with Jalen Hurts in Philly. Johnson was interviewed for the position but only to satisfy the league’s Rooney Rule.

SHAWN MENNENGA NAMED SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR

Mennenga was a disaster, but at least LaFleur had a legitimate excuse. He wanted to hire Darren Rizzi – one of the top special teams coordinators in the NFL – but a deal couldn’t be reached. Money was reportedly the big issue, so blame team president Mark Murphy and/or director of football operations Russ Ball. Still, LaFleur could’ve come up with a better Plan B than Mennenga, whose only prior experience as a coordinator was one nondescript season at Vanderbilt. He could’ve gone with a known and available commodity like Danny Crossman or an up-and-coming assistant like New England’s Cameron Achord but instead relied on the recommendation of a staff member who had previously worked alongside Mennenga.

MIKE PETTINE RETAINED AS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

Again, there were mitigating circumstances. While Murphy and GM Brian Gutekunst insisted at the time that Pettine wasn’t forced on LaFleur, it’s safe to say his retention was very strongly suggested. The former Browns head coach had just finished the first year of a lucrative three-year contract signed while Mike McCarthy was still around, and Murphy, who wouldn’t meet Rizzi’s asking price, had little desire to eat $6 million. If you want to point the finger at LaFleur, blame him for keeping Pettine in 2020. The two never seemed like a good match, and coming off a 13-3 first season and a trip to the NFC title game, LaFleur could’ve flexed his newfound muscle and moved on from Pettine – something he wound up doing just 12 months later.

MAURICE DRAYTON PROMOTED TO SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR

Here’s where things get really bad. After firing Mennenga in January 2021, LaFleur quickly promoted Drayton, who had been on the Packers’ coaching staff for the prior three seasons. He assisted Ron Zook in 2018 and then Mennenga in 2019 and 2020. Honestly, that particular resume should get a person a job at McDonald’s, not a promotion from an NFL team. Drayton was a disaster from day one. His units couldn’t cover kicks, return kicks, snap for field goals, block for field goals, or make field goals. Instead of replacing Drayton during the season, LaFleur inexplicably stuck with him until one final mistake – a blocked punt returned for a TD – knocked Green Bay out of the playoffs and finally precipitated a long overdue change.

JOE BARRY NAMED DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse than Drayton… along came Barry just a few weeks later. The 50-year-old hadn’t been a candidate for any coordinator jobs in years; heck, even his former team, the Rams, passed on him twice when looking for somebody to run their defense. But after missing out on Jim Leonhard, LaFleur turned to Barry, whom he worked with in Los Angeles in 2017. Adding insult to stupidity, the other finalist was former Packers quality control coach Ejiro Evero, an up-and-comer at the time who’s currently doing a great job in Denver. Meanwhile, Barry is doing less with more in Green Bay, and barring a dramatic turnaround by the defense over the next nine games, he’ll likely be fired after the season.




To be fair, LaFleur has made some good hires. Hackett, Stenavich (offensive line), former quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy, running backs coach Ben Sirmans, wide receivers coach Jason Vrable, inside linebackers coach Kirk Olividatti, defensive backs coach Jerry Gray, and former outside linebackers coach Mike Smith were smart choices. So was new special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, who, by the way, got a lot more money than Rizzi requested. But that doesn’t make up for Drayton and Barry. Those hirings were so misguided that even the usual cheerleaders in the media were skeptical.

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