Green Bay Packers 10 Keys to success: #2 The New Sheriff In Town

Mike McCarthy is out. Matt LaFleur is in. If the Green Bay Packers are going to win big, they need him to be the correct choice as the team’s successor at head coach.

December 2, 2018 is a day that will live in infamy for the Green Bay Packers.

For the first time in franchise history, the Packers fired their Head Coach in the middle of the season. After an embarrassing loss at home to the worst team in the NFL, Mark Murphy and Brian Gutekunst didn’t waste any time for what many felt was a formality once the season ended.

Mike McCarthy was fired as the team’s Head Coach effective immediately.

Anyone who was paying attention for the last two seasons would not have been surprised. The Green Bay Packers were set to miss the playoffs for back-to-back seasons for the first time since the Mike Sherman era.

McCarthy’s exit signaled a search for a new Head Coach. It became clear the team’s objective was to get their offense, most notably, their quarterback, back to their dynamic ways.

Many thought New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was an obvious choice since he has the pedigree of working with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. McDaniels did interview for the job, but ultimately he was passed over.

In the end, the choice was Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Matt LaFluer.

At the press conference introducing LaFleur, Mark Murphy said that LaFleur was a consensus top candidate among those that conducted the interviews. The Packers would give LaFleur a 4-year contract, which ironically or not, coincides with the end of Aaron Rodgers’ contract with the team.

It’s clear that LaFleur’s mission is to get the Green Bay Packers offense back into the top half of the NFL.

Much will be made of his relationship with Aaron Rodgers, but that is fodder for the shock jocks and hot-take artists. However, LaFleur’s real job is to get the most out of some of the talented players in the offense that were either underutilized or underperforming.

Aaron Jones taking the reigns as the primary running back should be one of the first changes he makes. In addition, there’s some youth at wide receiver that needs to be developed. This includes Marquez Valdes-Scantling who should see significant playing time and will need things made a little easier for him.

While Jimmy Graham and Robert Tonyan at tight end need to be put in better positions to succeed than they were a season ago.

By the sounds of almost anything the players have said since the day LaFleur took over, they are excited about this new offense. This is the NFL, however, and honeymoons can wear off quickly if the team does not win.

LaFleur’s other job is to restore the culture that appears to have been lacking in the last season or two under McCarthy. Murphy said when he consulted players about what their desire was in the new Head Coach they said they wanted someone to hold players accountable.

David Bakhtiari talked about it openly more than once that he believed the team needed more accountability. That the standards were lacking in the last season or two.

While it’s been a short amount of time, LaFleur appears to have those standards clear for everybody. He has kicked players out of practice for underperforming, or for insubordination.

One of the first days of practice, Josh Jones was thrown out of practice for fighting. He did not return for the remainder of the day. It’s something small, but it was a message sent to his team that his rules are to be followed. Listening to those rules is not optional.

That’s a positive development for a team that was once a proud franchise that has frankly embarrassed themselves each of the last two years.

The Green Bay Packers need to get out of the TMZ portion of the NFL and back into the win column. Silence is golden in some of these matters and the easiest way to silence critics is to win.

That’s what LaFleur was hired to do and that’s what he needs to do, immediately.