Matt LaFleur has made one of the fastest starts to a head coaching career in NFL history, leading the Green Bay Packers to the postseason five times in six years. He successfully navigated the team through a painful transition from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love.
General manager Brian Gutekunst drafted Love, fleeced the New York Jets in the Rodgers trade, and has built a regular contender year after year.
Now, both enter the 2025 season effectively on the hot seat. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, new Packers president Ed Policy is "up in the air" about the futures of his head coach and general manager.
"I spoke to someone recently and was told [Policy] is truly up in the air about the futures of Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst," Schneidman told The Pat McAfee Show. "If the Packers don't make the playoffs this year, which I don't think happens, but it's a possibility, I could certainly see Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst, and I don't think this is hyperbole, both getting fired after this year."
"He would like to make a decision one way or another after this season," Schneidman added.
Packers' new president Ed Policy is taking a baffling stance on Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst
It's bizarre. Baffling. Ridiculous. Ludicrous. I could go on all day.
Neither LaFleur nor Gutekunst belongs anywhere near the hot seat. Policy had already hinted at changing the Packers' structure if necessary, but there's zero reason to even consider making a switch at head coach or general manager. Sure, anything can happen, and a 0-17 season would shift the narrative, but to enter this year "up in the air" about their futures?
It makes zero sense.
LaFleur inherited a playoff-less team in disarray with a former MVP quarterback looking well beyond his prime. Under his watch, the Packers rediscovered their magic and reached new heights. LaFleur's Packers have gone 67-33, made five playoff appearances, and reached the doorstep of the Super Bowl.
He became the first head coach to win 13 games in three straight years. According to Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated, LaFleur's .670 win percentage ranks 13th all-time for coaches with at least 50 games, while eight coaches ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame.
LaFleur went 33-7 in his first 40 games, the best record of any head coach in the Super Bowl era.
Rodgers doubled his MVP tally under LaFleur's leadership. Then Love arrived, and the Packers still made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
We could go on. To even mention LaFleur's name in a hot seat conversation is disrespectful.
And the same goes for Gutekunst. While often harshly judged by the fan base, he had the vision to draft Love and set up years of sustained success near the end of the Rodgers era. Where would the Packers be now if they hadn't drafted Rodgers' replacement?
Gutekunst has built a deep and talented roster.
Love. Xavier McKinney. Josh Jacobs. Edgerrin Cooper. Tucker Kraft. Zach Tom. The list goes on. Gutekunst brought them all to Green Bay either via the draft or by spending big in free agency, something the Packers traditionally don't do. Hot seat? Not even close.
The Packers will likely make the playoffs and put an end to any debate over their future, but it shouldn't even be a conversation.
Policy understandably wants to do things his way as he replaces Mark Murphy, but placing doubt over one of the best GM-HC duos in the NFL isn't the way to start that process.