Green Bay Packers: They must make changes
Changes in the coaching staff are needed
Do you know who the offensive coordinator is?
Some may be surprised that it’s not Tom Clements and it’s actually Edgar Bennett.
Somehow Edgar Bennett managed to stumble his way up the ladder from RB coach, to WR coach, now offensive coordinator. Usually a position of such prestige is given to someone who has a proven track record as a coach, but Bennett is merely relevant.
The running backs were the weak link of the Packers through most of his tenure as a RB coach and he was given the keys to one of the best units in the NFL when he was the WR coach.
While other teams have the likes of Hue Jackson, Adam Gase, and Todd Haley, we have a coordinator that will never be looked at as a potential head coaching candidate, let alone to be the coordinator at the same level elsewhere.
The Packers also have Alex Van Pelt coaching two positions on the offense (quarterback and wide receiver).
There has been a dip this year due to different reasons but one could point to the fact that one coach stretches it too thin regardless of the talent on your roster.
The Packers like to protect coaches from being plucked off the staff like Joe Philbin and Ben McAdoo, but it’s almost the most extreme measure in the NFL.
Next coach of question would be defensive coordinator Dom Capers.
Now, I’ve gone on and on about Dom in the past on here and my thoughts still remain the same.
While the defense seemed to be the glue holding the team together, it finished 15th overall. Relatively average at best.
In the last five seasons under Capers, the defense has an average ranking of 19.6. The defense is still soft in the same spots as seasons before such as against the run in which it finished 21st, the third season in a row in which it finished 20th or worse.
In fact, the run defense has only finished above 14th one time under Capers. Capers’ defense also ranks 15.8 over the last 5 seasons on points allowed, right around the average mark.
None of this speaks of a coordinator that should keep his job. In fact, Rob Ryan’s defenses have finished with a 19.8 mark in the past 5 seasons and he has been fired twice and is now on his third job in five years.
It’s also crucial to point out that the defense is responsible for both touchdowns on the first possessions of overtime in the last two seasons ending the Packers season.
The defensive coordinator spot is the only job in which you would consider the Packers hiring from the inside.
The Packers essentially blocked any team from inquiring about Winston Moss by promoting him to Associate Head Coach.
However, they have a gem in secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. who has garnered a lot of interest from teams as a future defensive coordinator, and deservingly so.
Under Whitt, the secondary has finished in the top 10 four out of 7 seasons. Whitt, 37, has the youth and pedigree that many teams are looking for and it would be a shame to lose him over something that seems so obvious.
“It’s not the coaches, it’s the players.”
That’s one of the most common retorts you hear when questioning the validity of the Packers coaching staff.
And what about upper management? What about Ted Thompson?
Let’s take a closer look …
Next: It all falls on Ted Thompson's shoulders