Reports: Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy considering changes
Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Tom Clements prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports photograph
Tom Clements
Associate Head Coach/play-caller
Tom Clements has worked with quarterbacks and has been the team’s offensive coordinator for the past three seasons; leading an offensive juggernaut that last season recorded consecutive games of 50-plus points in 2014 and has helped orchestrate one of the most prolific offenses not only in franchise history, but across the league.
His promotion would be another positive step for this Packers staff.
These moves would also clearly reflect Mike McCarthy’s intent.
It would first of all, illustrate once again that he likes to promote from within, and that he really likes the guys with which he’s surrounded himself.
Most importantly, the notion that head coach Mike McCarthy would be giving up play-calling duties, or at least some control in those duties, to just anyone is unthinkable.
Clearly, McCarthy would be giving up the reins only because he would be completely comfortable in giving them to Clements.
Here is what his profile on Packers.com says about the new Associate Head Coach:
"Tom Clements, entering his 22nd season in the coaching profession, is in his ninth year with the Packers and his third as Green Bay’s offensive coordinator. Now in his 18th overall season as an NFL coach, Clements was named to his current position Feb. 2, 2012, after serving as Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach for the previous six seasons (2006-11). Having originally joined the Packers on Jan. 29, 2006, Clements also served as offensive coordinator for Buffalo (2004-05) and QBs coach for Pittsburgh (2001-03), Kansas City (2000) and New Orleans (1997-99). During his eight seasons on Green Bay’s staff, the Packers have ranked in the top 10 in scoring in seven of those seasons and in the top 10 in total offense seven times. Since Clements took over as offensive coordinator in 2012, the Packers rank No. 4 in the league in scoring (26.6 ppg), No. 6 in total offense (379.8 ypg), tied for No. 4 in giveaways (41) and No. 5 in first downs (692). In 2013, Clements helped the Packers generate 6,404 yards of total offense (No. 3 in the NFL), the second most in franchise history behind only the 6,482 yards posted in 2011. Green Bay finished in the top 10 in both rushing (No. 7) and passing (No. 6) for the first time since 2004 and ranked No. 3 in the NFL with 76 plays of 20-plus yards. Green Bay’s rushing average of 133.5 yards per game was the team’s best mark since 2003 and was the sixth-best average posted by the team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. RB Eddie Lacy rushed for 1,178 yards, the most by a rookie in team history, on his way to being selected to the Pro Bowl and being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year by The Associated Press. Eddie Lacy. Raymond T. Rivard photograph The Packers averaged 266.8 passing yards per game despite starting four different quarterbacks on the season as QB Aaron Rodgers missed seven contests due to injury. Rodgers ranked No. 5 in the NFL with a 104.9 passer rating in ’13, becoming the first QB in NFL history to register a 100-plus rating in five consecutive seasons (2009-13). WR Jordy Nelson posted career highs in receptions (85) and receiving yards (1,314) and led the league with 19 catches of 25-plus yards. In 2012, Clements coordinated an offense that ranked No. 5 in the NFL in scoring (27.1 ppg), tied for No. 2 in giveaways (16) and finished No. 3 in red-zone efficiency (68.1 percent). The 16 giveaways were tied for the second fewest in a season in franchise history, and the team’s red-zone TD percentage was the best in a season since the statistic began to be recorded in 1995. Rodgers led the NFL in passer rating (108.0) for the second straight season and also ranked No. 1 in TD/INT ratio (4.88) and No. 2 in TD passes (39). WR James Jones led the league with a career-high 14 TD catches, becoming the first Packer to do so since WR Sterling Sharpe (18) in 1994, and TE Jermichael Finley set a single-season franchise record for tight ends with 61 receptions. Aaron Rodgers blows a kiss to the crowd after the 2014 NFC Divisional playoff football game against the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field. Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports photograph As QBs coach, Clements’ extensive tutelage of Rodgers paid dividends, culminating with a 2011 campaign that saw him earn NFL Most Valuable Player honors from AP. Rodgers set an NFL single-season record with a 122.5 passer rating and franchise marks for TD passes (45), passing yards (4,643), completion percentage (68.3), yards per attempt (9.25), TD/INT ratio (7.50) and 300-yard games (eight). Clements helped Rodgers become the first QB in NFL history to register two seasons with 500-plus attempts and seven or fewer INTs (2009 and 2011). Clements also tutored QB Matt Flynn, a seventh-round choice by the club in 2008, as he set single-game franchise records in the 2011 season finale with 480 passing yards and six TDs (both later matched by Rodgers) vs. Detroit. Combined with Rodgers’ five TD passes the previous week vs. Chicago, it marked the first time in the history of the NFL that a team had two different QBs each throw five-plus TDs in consecutive games. Rodgers’ first 4,000-yard season in 2008 gave the Packers 4,000-yard passers in consecutive seasons for just the second time in team history, and for the first time in league history those back-to-back 4,000-yard passers were different QBs. The previous two seasons, in addition to tutoring Rodgers as the backup and heir apparent, Clements oversaw a mini-renaissance of Brett Favre’s career. In 2006, Favre reduced his interceptions from a career-high 29 the year before to just 18, setting the stage for a near-MVP season in 2007, when he surpassed 4,000 yards passing for the fifth time and led the Packers back to the playoffs. More from Lombardi Ave 5 things the Packers must do to win with Jordan Love Packers free agency update: All the moves Green Bay has made so far Packers: Pass rusher at No. 15 of recent PFF mock draft Packers: How has Aaron Rodgers fared against Jets’ 2023 opponents? Packers: A look back on Aaron Rodgers’ crazy moments in the media A three-year starter at Notre Dame (1972-74) under Ara Parseghian, Clements led the Irish to a 29-5 record, including an unblemished national championship season in 1973. An All-American in 1974, he finished fourth in Heisman Trophy balloting when Archie Griffin earned the award. Clements received his degree in economics from Notre Dame in 1975. A licensed attorney, Clements worked from 1988-92 for Bell, Boyd & Lloyd (now known as K&L Gates), a Chicago-based law firm. He pursued his law degree during his playing career, graduating magna cum laude from Notre Dame’s School of Law in 1986. In 1994, while on the Notre Dame coaching staff, Clements was an adjunct associate professor of law at the university’s law school, where he taught “Sports and the Law.” Clements was born June 18, 1953, in McKees Rocks, Pa. He and his wife, Kathe, live in Green Bay. The couple has two grown children: daughter, Stevie, and son, Tom."
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