How enticing would Packers defensive coordinator job be?
By Paul Bretl
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur made it very clear on Monday when speaking with reporters that he has no plans of moving on from defensive coordinator Joe Barry at this time.
"“We’re not going to go down that road,” LaFleur said via Packers Wire. “Again, if I thought there was an issue there, then I would make the change, but we work as a staff, and collectively, we’re in this sucker together.”"
However, as a I wrote recently, changes are likely to coming once the season comes to an end. When a defense has expectations as high as the Packers did and underachieves this much, there are very few moves that are going to be off-limits, and often, change begins with the coordinator.
So if, or when, that time comes, LaFleur will again be searching for his next defensive coordinator–a task he completed not that long ago as he hired Barry prior to the 2021 season. Of course, there are only 32 of these jobs at the NFL level in the entire world, so I’m sure LaFleur will have plenty of options. But when it comes to the top candidates, the individuals who have options, how enticing is this Packers opening going to be?
Sure, this is the Green Bay Packers, a storied franchise that has had Super Bowl aspirations basically every season for over 25 years now. That in itself makes the role enticing—not to mention that I’m sure each coordinator candidate, as they should, believes that they can be the one to turn this Packers defense around.
But at 4-8 currently, this Packers team faces a lot of unknowns in the offseason, beginning with Aaron Rodgers’ future. His departure will likely lead to some form of a rebuild — the extent to which is unknown — but even if Rodgers does return, as we’ve learned this season, this roster is lacking playmakers, and it’s possible that Green Bay’s Super Bowl window has already closed.
That Super Bowl potential, however, is what I imagine would excite most defensive coordinator candidates about the opportunity. But this is going to be a defense in-flux in the offseason. Along with Barry moving on, so should every defensive position coach.
There will also be roster turnover that takes place as well, and in terms of cap space, the Packers again will have limited resources to fill those holes. Adrian Amos, Jarran Reed, and Dean Lowry set to be free agents along with the Packers having the possibility of moving on from Preston Smith and Rasul Douglas if they are willing to take on those dead cap hits.
Admittedly, none of the things just discussed may even be deterrents, let alone strong ones, for defensive coordinator candidates to stay away. If a team is looking for a new coordinator, obviously something has gone wrong and conditions are going to be less than ideal. But when it comes to the top candidates, the Packers recent history with this coaching position doesn’t do them any favors.
Under LaFleur, Mike Pettine lasted only two seasons. Now it’s looking like Joe Barry is going to only last two seasons as well. In addition to that, LaFleur is already on his third special teams coordinator as well. The hiring of coordinators has not gone well for him up to this point.
Not that either Pettine or Barry is without criticism for the defense’s performance during their tenures — they are the ones in charge, after all — but when things don’t go quite right in Green Bay, it is always the defensive coordinator who ends up as the scape goat. When a defensive coordinator joins the Packers, that coaching seat already feels hot from their first day on the job.
That isn’t exactly a good thing either, when the unit being taken over is going through turnover, and the team overall may still have Super Bowl aspirations, even thought truthfully, they may not be good enough to get there. The scenario just described likely ends in disappointment.
Again, there’s only a few of these jobs available each year. It’s not as if the Packers aren’t going to have any candidates, and of course, my perception of the situation could be way off. But with that said, each NFL organization is run like its own company, and if one particular company continues to hire the same position every few years because of failures, the top candidates are likely taking notice.