3 reasons Packers should fire defensive coordinator Mike Pettine

The Green Bay Packers are heading into an offseason full of changes–from a player perspective, to be sure, but possibly from a coaching perspective as well. And that conversation will surround defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.

When Matt LaFleur took over as the head coach of the Packers in 2019, he inherited Pettine on the staff and decided to keep him. After a tumultuous 2019 season on defense, LaFleur thought long and hard about whether he wanted to keep his defensive coordinator before deciding to give it another try.

It’s time for the Green Bay Packers to fire defensive coordinator Mike Pettine and let head coach Matt LaFleur bring in his own replacement.

Well, here we are after another try and it’s increasingly likely LaFleur will fire his defensive coordinator, although there’s been no official word yet. From a personal standpoint, this is a very difficult decision. However, here are three reasons from a football perspective why Pettine should be fired.

3. Lack of player development

Since Pettine has taken over as the defensive coordinator in 2018, the Packers have struggled to develop a number of their high draft picks. Here’s a list of defensive players drafted in the first four rounds since 2017 (the year before Pettine took over) that have failed to develop: Josh Jackson (second round), Josh Jones (second round), Montravius Adams (third round), Vince Biegel (fourth round), Josh Jackson (second round), and Oren Burks (third round). To be fair, that’s not all on Pettine and his staff, but it is his responsibility to develop players and that’s’ something he’s failed to consistently do.