GREEN BAY, Wis. — It took a while, but when coach Matt LaFleur finally announced his full coaching staff for the upcoming season last week, it shed some light on how the Green Bay Packers could be different than they were last season.
In some cases — at receiver for example — that could be reason for optimism.
In others — mostly on the defensive side of the ball — more questions need to be answered.
And then there’s special teams, where the Packers have struggled no matter who was in charge.
Here’s a look at how the changes to LaFleur’s coaching staff could impact each phase:
Offense
Perhaps the biggest surprise was that both offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich and offensive line coach Luke Butkus returned considering the issues the Packers had up front. They started eight different offensive line combinations in part because of injury and in part because of poor performance.
The two major changes both impacted the passing game. LaFleur lost quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion, who became the Eagles’ offensive coordinator after just one season coaching Jordan Love and Malik Willis. Receivers coach Ryan Mahaffey joined Mannion in Philadelphia.
Not only did LaFleur make Luke Getsy his quarterbacks coach — a job he held from 2019 to 2021 before he became an offensive coordinator with the Bears and Raiders — but he also named him assistant coach/offense. That position did not exist. Getsy was Love’s first quarterbacks coach in Green Bay and played a role in developing him while also helping Aaron Rodgers win two MVPs.
Perhaps the most intriguing addition was Noah Pauley as receivers coach. Pauley coached Packers receiver Christian Watson at North Dakota State. Watson is coming off a productive half-season after he returned from ACL surgery. After his return in Week 8, he led the NFL with an average of 17.5 yards per catch. Of his 35 catches, 17 were explosive gains (16 yards or more). With Pauley in charge, it could mean even more opportunities for his prized protégé.
Pauley’s biggest task will be Matthew Golden. Last year’s first-round pick was not a major part of the offense, but with Romeo Doubs gone in free agency, the Packers will need more from Golden. Rob Grasso was promoted to assistant receivers coach after serving as a quality control assistant.
Defense
The biggest question about new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was whether he would run a 4-3 or 3-4 based system. He has done both in his past as Eagles defensive coordinator and Cardinals head coach.
The fact that the coaching staff now includes an outside linebackers coach is an indication that it will be a 3-4 base. DeMarcus Covington, who coached the defensive line last season, has moved to outside linebackers coach and added the title of assistant head coach/defense, which is also a position that did not exist.
What that means for Micah Parsons remains to be seen, but he’s likely to be considered more of an outside linebacker than a defensive end, meaning he could move around even more and rush from a two-point stance more often than he did last season. Neither Gannon nor LaFleur has taken questions since the hire was made on Jan. 25. That’s expected to be a major topic when LaFleur meets with reporters next week at the NFL annual meetings in Phoenix.
Assistant defensive line coach Vince Oghobaase was promoted to lead the defensive line, which will be primarily the defensive tackles.
Gannon and LaFleur brought in new position coaches for the secondary (Bobby Babich, who also is the defensive pass game coordinator), cornerbacks (Daniel Bullocks) and linebackers (Sam Siefkes). Covington, Babich and Siefkes have all been defense coordinators either in the NFL or in college before, giving Gannon a highly experienced staff.
Special teams
The surprise wasn’t that Rich Bisaccia did not return but rather than it took more than a month after the season for that to be determined. It was portrayed as Bisaccia’s decision to leave the NFL, but questions persist about why he waited so long to make the move.
Bisaccia also held the title of assistant coach; LaFleur split that into two positions with Getsy on offense and Covington on defense.
The Packers’ special teams breakdowns predated Bisaccia and LaFleur, but there was optimism that with Bisaccia’s wealth of experience things might change. The Packers ranked 24th in ESPN’s FPI special teams rankings. They were ninth in 2024 after ranking tied for 29th in 2023.
LaFleur turned to former Patriots special teams coordinator Cam Achord to replace Bisaccia. Achord spent the previous two seasons as the Giants assistant special teams coordinator. During his four years in charge of New England’s special teams, the Patriots ranked first in ESPN’s FPI in 2020 followed by tied for second in 2021, 26th in 2022 and tied for 29th (with the Packers) in 2023.
