Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur met with the media for the first time since the end of the 2025 season on Monday morning, and there was certainly a lot to discuss.
Between a bevy of coaching changes and a late-year crash and burn, LaFleur got asked some tough questions, some of which you’ll find analyzed here.
The New Staff
The biggest changes for the Green Bay Packers this offseason have taken place on the coaching staff, and this morning’s NFC coaches breakfast gave us our first bits of insight into what that means for the team in 2026.
Jonathan Gannon was brought on as the new defensive coordinator earlier this offseason,, and head coach Matt LaFleur was quick to point out Gannon’s experience as one of the key parts of his hire.
That desire for experience seemed to only extend to the other hires the team made as well, with many of the Packers’ new assistants having significant prior resumes.
LaFleur also touched on the switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 scheme under Gannon, noting that the Packers played in a lot of odd fronts in 2025, which resulted in a significant amount of 3-4 principles being utilized, even under the umbrella of a 4-3.
That observation seems to indicate that the Packers should be able to operate without much issue as they move on from new Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley, and with the talent that is at Jonathan Gannon’s disposal, including Micah Parsons, I’m not too concerned.
In regard to the hire of new special teams coordinator Cam Achord, LaFleur mentioned that Achord was among a list of potential candidates that came directly from his predecessor, Rich Bisaccia.
Whether or not that means much is yet to be seen, but personally, it lowers my hopes for the hire.
The Packers were already lacking options due to Bisaccia’s late exit, which LaFleur again claimed to be blind to, and frankly, I’m not sure I want another similarly-minded coach at the head of that unit.
We also received confirmation from new Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur, Matt LaFleur’s brother, that the Packers and Cardinals will be having joint practices in training camp, pending the league’s approval.
Mentality and Clarity
One of the other topics that LaFleur touched on during his availability was the Green Bay Packers’ overall mentality and their continued struggle to finish close games.
Unprompted, LaFleur mentioned that several players were unhappy in their roles last season, and he believed that that had something to do with the Packers’ decline on the annual NFLPA report card.
That report card, which my fellow writer Kaylie Wittwer covered at the beginning of March, had Green Bay fall from seventh in overall player satisfaction to twenty-first.
Considering that the players were surveyed prior to the Packers’ end of season collapse, the real perception in the building is likely even worse.
This morning, Coach LaFleur emphasized that his staff needed to create better clarity in regard to player roles in 2026 to help aid in a mutual respect between the roster and the coaches, and that the end-of-season skid was a result of the team’s mentality.
In my opinion, mentality isn’t something that should have to be taught to the right players, and miscommunications between them and staff shouldn’t be as prevalent as they’ve been.
The Green Bay Packers have been one of the NFL’s youngest teams for several seasons now, but that can no longer be an excuse when it comes to results.
In an attempt to combat this, the team has made some changes to its roster following the first wave of free agency, including the signing of several veteran presences, but coach LaFleur declined to specify if any of 2025’s disgruntled players were still on the team.
Regardless, concerns in this regard only continue to point to a bigger issue going on behind the scenes, and although several key contributors came out in support of an extension for coach LaFleur this offseason, the early results in course correction have been a mixed bag.
I’m not usually one to doom and gloom, but something about the way that these issues are continuing to be addressed by leadership absolutely reeks.
Breaking the Cycle
Although it’s too soon to jump the gun in regard to what all of this means for the Green Bay Packers in 2026, I think there’s reason to be cautious as fans.
A lot of the team’s continued struggles are being met with the same generic answers, and we’ll have to wait until the players are on the field to know if any real changes are going to come to fruition.
When asked why he didn’t tear down his coaching staff following last season, head coach Matt LaFleur commented that it would’ve felt like year one all over again.
At the very least, his willingness to do so this offseason seems to indicate a commitment to breaking out of the team’s frustrating patterns.
With the NFL Draft just around the corner, it’s time to turn a new leaf.
