January 9th, 2019, the day Green Bay Packers announced Matt LaFleur as the 15th Head Coach in the team’s illustrious history. I am already hearing pessimistic fans who have moved from blaming Rodgers for getting McCarthy fired, to questioning the Packer’s Head Coach hire. These fans are doubting the ability of Mark Murphy and the involvement of GM Brian Gutekunst in the hiring of LaFleur. The National Media being skeptical I can understand, given their propensity to being negative where Rodgers and the Packers are concerned. But Packer fans being this negative, this early in the process, is beyond belief. The ink isn’t even dry on a 4 Year with 1 Optional year Contract.
The Packer’s President Mark Murphy, GM Brian Gutekunst, and EVP Russ Ball have covered many miles during their 10 interviews. They conducted a few of their interviews in Green Bay and subsequently traveled far and wide to the rest. One last potential interview was cancelled once they realized they already had their man. The Packer’s leaders began their search immediately following McCarthy’s departure. As I understand, they even formed a player’s council to develop qualities they expected to see in the new coach. More was happening behind the scenes at 1265 than the public knew and rightly so. A great poker player never, ever shows his hand. I realize this type of secrecy defies media logic, except in business where research is meant to be private. We can easily tell the Packer’s open position was the most appealing, because it was the first to close, with the others falling in behind. It appeared the other teams were waiting to see who the Packer’s chose as their coach before they made a move (although they would never admit it).
Matt LaFleur has the coaching pedigree that the Packers coveted. He possesses the eagerness and energy of his youth and creativeness he learned along his journey. LaFleur is also a family man, a quality which is very important to the Green Bay Packers and it’s fan base. Any coach, player or employee of the Packers must love the city, and the culture of the Green n Gold. Lambeau truly is a special place, I feel it every time I’m there.
Matt learned from some of the best offensive minds in the NFL, Gary Kubiak, Mike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan, and Sean McVay as well as Brian Kelly at Notre Dame (where Deshone Kizer was a Red=Shirt Freshman). While at Tennessee this past season he called the Offensive plays to further develop his skills. Due to the Titan’s injuries, Matt had to learn how to plan to his players strengths and be creative with the Offense. He developed a Top 10 Run Game at Tennessee, a Top Rated Scoring Offense in LA and worked with an MVP QB in Atlanta. I believe all those experiences will make him a player and fan favorite very quickly.
Packer fans UNITE, get behind the 2019 Green Bay Packers ASAP, check your pessimism at the door. Get in line, cheer them on, starting with the Free Agency, through the Draft, Training Camp and onto the Season!……Go Pack Go!
PackerGreg Veteran/Go Army @DrGTP on Twitter
3 responses to “Green Bay Packers Fans – Unite!”
Packer fans are and always have been united win or lose. How about the management and team united to give Rodgers the best team possible on both sides of the ball?
In other words…reinvigorate the blind optimism before you even see who they draft,FA signing, resign,release,establish a coaching staff because none of it matters when it comes to blind optimism. you know, those very things you’ve cheered blindly for the since 2013.
Keep your eyes open and don’t be afraid to disagree and call out bad moves etc by the team. .
“These fans are doubting the ability of Mark Murphy…” Of course we are, d’oh.
This is the fella who let Ted Thompson waste six years of Aaron Rodgers youth with his wacky draft-develop-refuse to pick up fifth year option-let your best players go to your opponents- strategy.
This is the fella who let Ted Thompson avoid free agency to protect cap space even when it meant losing games.
This is the fella who saw games and seasons lost to injuries that could have been avoided but never insisted the training and med staff perform or be replaced.
This is the fella who let Mike McCarthy go six weeks too late to save this season.
While I am satisfied with the choice of LaFleur and very pleased they are retaining Pettine, having Murphy still holding the reins gives me pause. His success in developing the Titletown District should not overshadow the gross failures of staff on his watch.
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