LaFleur claims he is the only one who touches his eyebrows. It was well-received, so LaFleur instituted a new policy that vets never have to stay at the team hotel on the night before home games. The 2023 NFL draft is a wrap, as the rich continue to get richer in Philadelphia. On the special teams side, LaFleur curiously chose to promote internally from Mennenga's staff and gave Maurice Drayton the job. LaFleur has already broken former 49ers coach George Seiferts record for most wins in his first three seasons with 39. Rodgers remembers first being wowed by the McVay offense, and the stress it put on defenses, in 2018 when the Rams played the Vikings on a Thursday night. We live in this. Hes getting all this credibility for being a handsome, good-looking coach. I promise you [the other team is] colder than we are. "I think it's been a cool process from the day we drafted him to see him now, just to see how he's matured in every facet of life. And the onus will be on coaches to figure out how to help these players find success. He was one of the best NCAA players Ive ever faced., The two would play for hours, alternating between playing as Central Michigan, where their father, Denny, was an assistant, or Florida State or Notre Dame. Five months after that, hes back making fun of his coachs hair. Oops. Davante demanded so much of the ball because he was always open and if youve got a guy who is always open, you gotta give him the ball, Rodgers said. I have 100 percent trust with him. Said they are good friends and spoke Wednesday morning on the way into the office. On the postgame stage, LaFleur steps in front of the targeted and invites fire. Sometimes these lessons go the other way. LaFleur's first two teams finished 26 th and 29 th in special teams rankings, so he fired coordinator Shawn Mennenga after the 2020 campaign. Hiring Clements was a bow to Rodgers, but like a lot of what LaFleur has done, it was more than that. Rodgers talked him through it and wiggled the tooth for him. Green Bay needed someone to add depth to the quarterback spot behind Love and while Clifford may not have been the ideal selection then, the Packers see something in him that might serve him well as a backup. Now, the two former quarterbacks are reuniting in. After GM Howie Roseman made seven trades, Philadelphia finished the weekend with seven picks and more 2024 ammo. Matty Im sure knew this was a possibility, Rodgers says of the controversy. Now, theres some dispute about how much LaFleur actually knew at that time. LaFleurs approach was to lock arms with Rodgers, as much as Rodgers was willing, and he set out to blend the Shanahan system he had been a part of for eight of the previous nine years with the plays and concepts Rodgers favored. In. What Lambeau, Lombardi, McCarthy and Holmgren have that LaFleur does not are championships. Its not about me, its about everybody else. We didnt even talk about it, to tell you the truth, LaFleur says it being his quarterbacks future. He creates an environment where he gets all the fluff out of the way and all that matters is studying the tape and getting the most out of players every single day.. So he was no. A good relationshipone where each person erases the others mistakes and both make each other bettercan win you a Super Bowl. When asked about defensive coordinator Joe Barry, LaFleur revealed that he didn't anticipate making any changes to the coaching staff for the 2023 season. Despite all that was lost that day, more trust was won. (Its not.) And I get to say, Youre right. Ultimately, it was his decision.. Matt LaFleur will coach one more game this season. Congratulations, LaFleur. Nobody wants any of these guys to be miserable when theyre coming to work. But Rodgers did not love all of the motion in the offense. He didnt know everything, and that really bothered him, McDaniel said. I think most coaches, a lot of coaches tend to stay away from the truth and I think Matt has figured out the way to do it is to go straight at it, Saleh said. A group of young receiversled by fourth-round pick Romeo Doubs or second-round pick Christian Watson, who has been banged upwill have opportunities to show something this year. It was clear he was a different cat, his Ashland quarterback, Bill Cundiff, says now, mentioning the level of detail in the offense and the instant success the team experiencedeven if that pro-style, dropback system bore little resemblance to what LaFleur runs now. It wasnt until probably about the last year that [Matt] was having somebody cut his own hair other than himself, McVay said. The most recent tight end the Packers picked in the first round was Miamis Bubba Franks, who went 14th overall in 2000. Green Bay has been the center of the media circus a handful of times over the past two years: Rodgerss will-he-or-wont-he controversies about retirement and trade demands, or his positive COVID test last season which led to the revelation that Rodgers was not vaccinated. He guesses that if he called him 20 minutes before a Packers game and hes got a problem, LaFleur might skip the pregame speech. He explained that he should not have expected Love to use the same tools to deal with blitzes that Rodgers could, given the difference in their experience levels. (Larry Radloff / Icon Sportswire via Associated Press). In multiple conversations over the two days after the end of the Packers season, LaFleur made sure Rodgers knew how much he was wanted. But the team that plays the best in that three-hour window wins, he told me. A new seasonand the Wisconsin coldis coming. The West Coast offense, what he was used to, is very guy for a guy when it comes to protection. And we need to make sure that were manifesting through our words the reality we want to achieve. LaFleur is fine with the cold now. The way he does it is organic and yet purposeful. They selected Michigan outside linebacker Rashan Gary with the No. LaFleur starts an impression of a midwestern grandma: Why yes it is, and of course, the caller was disarmed. LaFleur defended his decision to kick the field goal. There was also 10-Yard Fight, an obscure video game LaFleur loved as a kid, Tecmo Bowl, and, according to his brother, a lot of EA Sports NCAA Football. Matt never told me this, I didnt find it out until years later, McDaniel said. The good news is that the offense is built for just that. What are you just going to bang your head against the wall? The reporter did not check to see whether the drug was banned by the NFL. But ahead of an all-important season, the fourth-year Packers coach knows he still has questions to answerand a big opportunity to do just that. Aaron is a great player, said Mark Murphy, the teams president and CEO. You can tell Aaron respects Matt because theres some stuff Ive never seen him do, and the offense is different from when Matt started.. And he is so damn good at it, man. I think you guys probably notice it even when you're in the locker room," LaFleur said in a press conference this past Saturday, April 29. In LaFleurs second season, the Packers were trailing the Bucs 31-23 in the NFC Championship Game with 2:09 remaining when LaFleur called for a 26-yard field goal attempt on fourth down from the 8-yard line. Others shared the sentiment. Its because when youve played for 16 years and saved your money, as Lewis has, its a matter of just wanting to continue. Now, with the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday the Packers could use the 13th pick (the reported compensation by Adam Schefter for the Aaron Rodgers trade) on another edge rusher or, at the very least, figure to pick one during Day 2. He broke Don Shulas record in the Super Bowl era for best winning percentage in his first 40 games. In June, before his first season, LaFleur threw the first pitch at the Green and Gold charity softball game at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis. His sons, Luke and Ty, were there, as was his quarterback. And hes a guy I have a special place in my heart for. He really didnt like the feeling of not knowing everything, so he made it his job to know everything., McDaniel immediately noticed that LaFleur was a quarterback specialist who was obsessed with learning run blocking and line play. And LaFleur moved past the question almost impossibly quickly. LaFleur was the Titans offensive coordinator by then, but Rodgers recalled how much he loved those concepts when LaFleurs staff first came in. And then being able to continually sell Aaron on the things that have been helpful to him playing at as high a level as anybody, arguably, in the history of the game over the last few years., Mike McDaniel, a former LaFleur colleague and now the Dolphins head coach, said a lot of football coaches copy-paste at whatever stop they make, but said LaFleur definitely did not do that. He was completely infuriated but he never let anyone know. The most common answer is obvious. There were some remarks where Im like, Is he just messing with me? He mentions Tom Clementswho just returned as the Packers quarterbacks coach and who coached him earlier in his careerand former quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, now the offensive coordinator in Cleveland, as people whove given him extremely granular tasks to improve on each day. Im in Green Bay to find out why more people dont say that. Lets find what the issue actually is and get to the root of what were talking about. But when I asked McDaniel my last questionWhats one thing I wouldnt know about LaFleur?he got far more serious. You dont always see the superstars do that, LaFleur says. He was a joy to coach, not only a great player but a great person, a great competitor and leader on our football team. Be it right, wrong or indifferent, I look at it a little different from some people regarding the whole situation. Ultimately, we were there to support David and Frankie, and I didnt want to take away from that experience.. Those rules and the trust they fostered helped the Packers to 26 regular-season victories in LaFleurs first two seasons. Tight end is an even greater need. LaFleur takes his hat and starts to sign the bill before the man asks him to sign the front. Mark Murphy 1-on-1: 'Health and safety' still a big focus for the NFL. Theres nothing he cannot do. He always says, Man, the NFL playoffs is the closest thing to March Madness, its going to be super competitive and theres always lessons you can take from your triumphs and defeatsprobably more so when you come up short.. In fact, the trend started well before the arrival of Rodgers, who is expected to get traded to the New York Jets before the start of the next season. The interview was four hours and it felt like 15 minutes, Murphy said. Which may explain, in part, why three days after the wedding, Rodgers informed LaFleur Matty, he calls him that the vows between the Packers and their passer would be renewed. He wasnt grilling T-bones. I said, You know how I feel, but I was going to let him have his space and make whatever decision he thought was best for him. Im walking around a vast, carpeted locker room in Lambeau Field in early August trying to find out why, and generally succeeding: Players are explaining in detail his widely praised management style and describing his football mind, which blends the concepts hes loved for years with those embraced by his quarterback into the best playbook in the NFL. As a leader, you have to own everything, he explains. Instead of having the entire team stay at a hotel the night before the game, which is customary for NFL teams, LaFleur allowed veterans to stay home. But it was not a favorite of Aaron Rodgers at the start. So I think a lot of people say, Oh OK, youve got a Hall of Fame quarterback. But Matts a big reason that the Hall of Fame quarterback won the MVP the last two years., A lot of people want to discredit him because he has a Hall of Fame quarterback, but the reality is hes done a phenomenal job capturing a really cool locker room in terms of star players and talent and getting them all to play at a very high level, said Jets coach Robert Saleh, a longtime friend and former coworker of LaFleurs. Ill always wish him well.. From MACtion, I learned you better have a quarterback, he said. In three seasons together, LaFleur and Rodgers have won 13 games three times and reached the NFC championship game twice. The three rules require trust because there is much left assumed with only three. I am not trying to compete with anybody else in the league. Green Bay Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy spoke with Larry McCarren at the NFL Annual Meetings in Phoenix. Good old Matty, he showed up and ate a bowl and a half of everything, Rodgers says. The Make-A-Wish visits and Tys tooth didnt get as much attention as the Packers flameout in the NFC Championship Game that season and the teams subsequent selection of Jordan Love with the 26th pick of the 2020 draft. I was learning from him, not the other way around, McVay said of LaFleur. That is what is unfolding in Green Bay. LaFleur and Rodgers operate as part millennial Vince LombardiBart Starr and part bickering old married coupleif the old married couple won 80 percent of their football games and designed an offense that combined classic Shanahan-McVay principles with Rodgerss ability to lay waste to entire Midwestern cities. Coaching is about many things, but one of the foundational, overlooked aspects is trust. July 30, 2018 by Matt Lafleur. So hes like, Whatever, Im not gonna concern myself with the trivial nature of getting mad. He just wants to know the answer.. LaFleur's. 1 seed in their respective conferences this year, but both teams were defeated at home in the divisional round. Although the Packers could take a running back in the late rounds, its not a need. Glenn Erby. In fact, its the best in NFL history. LaFleurs coaching staff has changed more than in any year since he was named head coach, with four additions and five promotions. One of the most obvious and clichd observations about pro football is also the most true: The head-coach-quarterback relationship is the most important part of the franchise. We always thought hed be a perfect fit for the scheme. Winning 13 games three seasons in a row seems like an easy proposition with Aaron Rodgers under center. But the Packers never got the ball back. The year the Packers traded Brett Favre and made Rodgers the starter, they drafted two quarterbacks, selecting Louisvilles Brian Brohm in the second round and LSUs Matt Flynn in the seventh. He believes it was evident in how the Packers played. Initially, there was some negotiation about how much freedom Rodgers would be given to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage. The flip side of that is that LaFleur empowers his assistants and wants input, Stenavich said, and lets assistants address the room in ways other coaches might not. But those undiscovered moments helped bring LaFleur and Rodgers together and keep them together through the coming turbulence. McVays viewpoint on playoff mentality is simple: The best team doesnt always win. We have a lot of conversations during the weekthats why I never want to miss a meeting. The coach-quarterback relationship ultimately helped LaFleur build trust with his entire team. After the Packers lost to the 49ers 13-10 in the divisional playoff round, LaFleur didnt speak with coded words about how Rodgers failed to capture the big moments or hint at his dissatisfaction with a special teams unit that gave up a blocked punt, a blocked field goal and had 10 men on the field for the 49ers field goal that won the game. There wasnt anything other than, This guy will work his butt off, Saleh says now. Find out more about how we use your personal data in our privacy policy and cookie policy. I asked Rodgers if theres anything hed like to do differently if they make the playoff this season. Ty, five at the time, had a loose tooth. He has some really finely kept eyebrows.. He did not. The football acumen he carries with him is pure Shanahan. Sean McVay, too. First-year coach Matt LaFleur has a chance to lead the Green Bay Packers to an NFC championship and a trip to Super Bowl 54 against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night. And, of course, how often each would pound the table for a particular concept. The group effort means personnel and schemes. But this only hardened LaFleurs resolve to not say anything. He didnt care how it affected him, he just wanted to do what he thought was right., In the beginning, there was Bill Walsh College Football. This period ended organicallya meeting here, a play there, a series of expansive Zoom calls before the 2020 season. Eberflus, 52, and LaFleur first faced off in 2017, when LaFleur ran the Rams' offense and Eberflus was the Cowboys' linebackers coach and passing-defense coordinator. Tight end Jace Sternberger (2019 third-round pick) and wide receiver Amari Rodgers (2021) left the organization within two years. For LaFleur, establishing himself as a first-time head coach in 2019 was one thing. Hourly. Who that will be, I dont know yet.. Its pretty cool. Theirs has been the most scrutinized relationship in the NFL, and it has held up under the surgical lights. The Packers took Christian Watson in the second round and Romeo Doubs in the fourth last year, but theyre the only Green Bay wideouts currently under contract who had at least 100 yards receiving last season. Under Shanahan, Matt LaFleur learned about the illusion of complexity. This was drilled into him further by McVay, who taught him the nuances of knowing how teams study tape and using it against them: Plays that start out looking the same that arent. "It's hard to lead when you're not the guy, and he knows he's the guy now. I get hired by the Texans, Im 28 years old, our offensive coordinator was my age and I was thinking, This kid cant know that much more than me. And I was blown away. LaFleur was hoping for a deeper connection. That was the backdrop to the March wedding. Is he trying to get under my skin to rile me up? I tried to play a poker face as best I could, but internally, my heart might have skipped a beat or two. LaFleur said the jokes came from multiple guests at the wedding. LaFleurs beginnings have been more successful than the beginnings of his Packers predecessor, who also inherited a Hall of Fame quarterback. Certainly, when we only score 10 points offensively, I put that all on myself.. That was the furthest thing from his mind. Stenavich, the Packers offensive coordinator, said, I think a lot of people kind of get thrown off, because hes very direct. LaFleur was a former undersized midwestern quarterback and the son of a MAC coach. I dont want to discredit the fact that hes a perfect fit for any scheme, but we would literally talk about that amongst each other, LaFleur said. Its why he was a Packer in 2021. What I put on film yesterday and what I want to put on film today.. Weve seen that throughout society, throughout this locker room. All rights reserved. When LaFleur worked for Dan Quinn on the Falcons in 2015 and 16, Quinn had three rules. COVID toe is a condition in which toes swell and turn blue or purple. He replaced Mike Sherman, who departed for Texas A&M and took with him a Texans quality control coach, which created an opening on staff. I want to be held accountable, Rodgers says. Aaron Jones and A.J. He was apprehensive, as he had not yet lost a tooth. An NFL coach having three rules and only three rules is not ground-breaking. Aaron set me straight, LaFleur said. McVay said he looks for a handful of things in an assistant: character, capacity to learn, communication skills, and knowledge of the game from an all-22 perspectivemeaning every position. All in all, the Packers have retooled their roster to better fit Love's skill sets and it will only be a matter of time before that manifests into something big. They are grown men. LaFleur remembers sitting in Washington and seeing the natural throwing motion and athleticism of Rodgers and realizing that theres nothing he cant do. Well, I dont know how productive it really is. (McVay noted that the teams two-back sets are impressive. LaFleur acknowledges it took a minute for him and Rodgers to get on the same page. More than 48,000 people died by suicide in the US in 2021 . I dont need to sit there and babysit them. Adams is an impossible player to replace, someone capable of lining up in the slot or out wide, and catching passes all over the fieldlast season he had double-digit receptions behind the line of scrimmage, within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, 10-19 yards deep, and then 20-plus yards deep; and according to Pro Football Focus, over the past two seasons, when Adams was in single coverage, passes to him registered a 129.6 passer rating. First of all, he's earned the respect of his actionsthe way he worksfrom all his teammates, I would say. Whatever is going to help them be their best, thats what we want. LaFleur was intrigued by him because of Rodgers praise. He was just very humble and such a perfectionist at that point in his career that it made him really mad when he didnt know things. The pro game, McDaniel said, was a specific world compared to other levels of football, and the other staff members in Houston were deeply rooted in it. Though I . Matt LaFleur is one of the youngest coaches to lead an NFL team, and he put together an impressive season in 2020! There should be many more opportunities for the 42-year-old LaFleur, with or without the 38-year-old Rodgers. He is one of 49 members on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors board and one of nine members on the Seniors Committee. But what if youre playing against a defense that says all right and is gonna load up the box? He is a bottom-line guy. He wanted to give Rodgers time and space. Talk to any former Shanahan assistant and youll get the same response. The credentials, or the journey to get the credentials, though, are important. Were still trying to figure everything out. Were talking in the middle of training camp, after all. Josiah Deguara, who had 13 catches for 114 yards last season, is the top tight end under contract. The Packers must find a quarterback to back up Love. Winning 13 games three seasons in a row seems like an easy proposition with Aaron Rodgers under center. His response reflected rule No. Matt LaFleur, the new head coach for the Green Bay Packers, is married to wife BreAnne, is the father of two boys, and has a brother who is also involved in the National Football League. The play takes a lot of trust, and its virtually a blind throw, a favorite of nearly everyone in LaFleurs coaching circle. Matt LaFleur said he has entertained the idea of Nathaniel Hackett returning to the Packers' staff. Dillon. He said he needs to remind himself constantly that for all the facts of the game to work together, you cant just pass on every play. Citing the Packers traditional reluctance to take a pass catcher in the first round and the lack of safety prospects worth selecting that early, McShay suggested Green Bay might take a pass rusher at No. Theyre always the most important. He also learned how everything ties together: Sometimes, he said, youll trade in a 3-yard pass in order to set up an explosive pass. You might see them greet them, but this was legitimately asking them questions, spending time with them.. video Total Packers with Matt. In the resurfaced article, Robert Saleh told Demovsky that on one occasion in the mid-2000s, Kelly then the head coach at Central Michigan invited him and fellow graduate assistant coach Matt LaFleur to what they thought was a party at Kelly's house.
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