#252 Packers Unscripted: Change at the top

the Green May Packers. And I'd like to focus our show today on that. I know there's other news swirling around out there about the coaching staff and some things that may be going on there, but this change at GM. Ted Thompson a thirteen year ten year hired in two thousand five to take over the Packers football operations, Packers undergoing a search now for a new leader at the top of the football chain for the first time in

a long time. Yeah, And and Mark Murphy when they sat down and discussed it, this is something he mentioned that him and Ted, they've been talking about this for a number of years. Every year they'd sit down after the season's over have a conversation, and in those really were fluid things and kind of seeing where you know, Thompson sort of saw his future. And and and one of the most reoccurring themes in that Mike was, you know, he's a scout and at the end of the day,

he's always going to be a scout at heart. So looking at this position, a lot of things yet to be decided about how exactly you know, the job, responsibilities and what he'll you know, what he'll be looked for. But as Murphy said, the number one thing is it's gonna allow him to probably still be a part of the process and a guy he'll be, you know, almost like a special assistant to the GM as he said.

As Murphy said, I mean just invaluable. The amount of resources and experience that Thompson as, Um, you know, some of that could be based in Green Bay, some of that might allow to travel. We'll wait and see. But at the end of the day, Uh, the reason why I think this is going to be such a coveted job is really goes back to what Ron Wolf did, what Ted Thompson did to put the Packers in this position.

Now six years later, Um, it comes back to being able to uphold that standard, and that's something that Thompson did for thirteen years. Yeah, you'll have a new GM coming in here who has a franchise quarterback in place, thanks to Ted Thompson as he made the transition as rocky as it was at the time, but he got the Packers through it successfully, the transition from one Hall of Fame quarterback to another, Brett Farve to Aaron Rodgers.

This is a very attractive job. And one thing I thought was interesting that Mark Murphy said is he's not necessarily going to limit himself in terms of uh the search for Ted Thompson's successor. There are certainly some candidates in house here in Green Bay. Elliott Wolf, Brian Gudicun, Salonzo Highsmith, senior personnel executives with long, impressive resumes. You have Russ Ball, who has been managing the Packers salary cap probably as well as anybody in the league over

the last several years, alongside Ted Thompson. But Mark Murphy said there will be outside candidates as well. A consultant will be will be brought in to help with the search to help identify potential candidates. There's going to be a lot going on. It sounds like something could happen fairly quickly. Mark Murphy is not going to sit around and wait. This is not something that UM that you just put on the back burner. You get going on it, and he's going to make sure that he hires the

right person. But one thing we do know for sure, and that is that the head coach of the team will be Mike McCarthy. The new the new GM who whoever it is that takes over, we'll have Mike McCarthy as his head coach. In Yeah, Ted Thompson actually one of the things he did this past season was actually extending McCarthy through two thousand nineteen now, given him a

one year extension, so that stability is there. It's in place for McCarthy now as he goes about figuring out his coaching staff and in all those things that go along with that. UM And as Murphy said to McCarthy has been a part of a lot of winning ways and a lot of tradition and success here. He hopes that that's something that continues to come. UM. But looking more towards Thompson's side of things and where they go

as far as the GM position. Murphy said, they will have a search form that will be involved with this, but at the end of the day, it ultimately is going to be his decision on what and who's gonna be handling that job. And realistically, I think it is the right approach kind of keeping things open, you know, going through all the avenues, whether it's internal candidates, whether it's in you know, scouting backgrounds, different types of backgrounds,

looking at guys across the league. Um, the branch and the tree of of Ron Wolfe has spread throughout the entire NFL, and there's a number of guys that have already been in general manager spots. There's other personal people around the league that have been tied to Wolfe UM

that that came through Green Bay. So I think when you look at those abundance of resources and and executives that have sprouted from Green Bay, Wisconsin over the last twenty five years, it's one of the reasons why you can see why Mark Murphy's talking about why he believes this is a coveted job and why they think they'll end up with a really strong candidate. Yeah, and as much as this is a major change for the Packers,

organization for the first time in a long time. It's important to stress here that overall the structure of how things are going to operate in football is not going to change. The general manager is going to have final say on football operations. Mark Murphy was asked, well, are you going to encourage the general manager to use free agency more, maybe to do some things that Ted Thompson didn't do as often as other gms in the league, And Mark Murphy said, that's going to be the general

manager's call. That that guy is going to run the football operations, just as the decisions with regards to the coaching staff will be Mike McCarthy's call. That's how it's operated here really since Ron Wolf was brought in and hired Mike Holmgren. That's how things have been run here for the last quarter century, and that part is not

going to be changed. Yeah. That chain of command from you know, president CEO to general manager down to head coach and so on and so forth is something that Murphy says is really benefit of this organization when you really break it down and look at it and how they got to this point in time. It's been through that process and that's something he definitely doesn't want to

firstsake through this. Uh. And I think really you look at that that bond that can be built between a GM and a head coach, um, you know, working hand in hand together. I think that's important because we've seen sometimes when people try to overextend themselves a little bit, how that can throw a wrench into the whole thing. And with Thompson and McCarthy was one of the most successful duos in NFL history when you look at a

personnel executive and a head coach. And now we'll just have to wait and see what the next step is going to be. Yeah, for sure with that we will toss to a break back with more and Packers Unscripted right after this h Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford in this chair, Wes Hodkowitz in that one in West. Getting back to some more of Mark Murphy's comments with

regards to the transition ahead. Here at the top of the Packers football organization, Ted Thompson's tenure thirteen years, half a dozen. I believe it is division championships, the eight straight playoff appearances, uh, nine playoff appearances overall. If I'm not mistaken one Super Bowl Championship, obviously multiple trips to the NFC Championship game. Mark Murphy acknowledged Ted Thompson has been a lightning rod amongst fans. He receives takes a

lot of criticism. It's part of the territory. Anybody in his position is going to have to deal with that. But at the end of the day, history is going to look back fondly on this GMS tenure. I believe Mark, Mark Murphy believes, I know you do too. There aren't too many who can a hold the job that long and maintain that level of success that long, and Ted Thompson deserves a lot of credit for what he's done.

Here here's the thing, Mike, I put Ted Chompson truthfully, I put him in a mount rushmore of general managers the NFL. I know that's high praise, but here's one of the reasons why I do that. He had to make for my money, and I'm sure San Francisco to some extent went through this back in the nineties, but he had to make the most difficult decision I think

in the modern era of the NFL. In Brett Favre retiring wanting to come back and having to tell a future Pro Football Hall of Famer that we've basically moved on with our organization and we are going to hitch our car here to an unknown former first round draft pick, but a relatively unknown Aaron Rodgers. At that point, he really staked his career on that move. Everything could have ended.

If Aaron Rodgers didn't work out, that would have been on the end of the road for everybody, and it would have been something that I think would have been talked about forever. So for this, this narrative about the Lightning rod the Packers, in my opinion, could have not

won another game after two thousand ten. And I think Ted Thompson is in a really elite class of personnel executives because that takes confidence in your scouting ability, it takes confidence in your coaching staff, and honestly, it takes confidence in a young guy that nobody knew a heck of a lot about at that time, in Aaron Rodgers. He made that call and it's set up the franchise for the next ten to fifteen years. Yeah, I think, uh, I think his legacy in this organization will fall just

short of his mentors. Ron Wolf, And I say that in the most complimentary You're comparing, like, you know, talking about a Pro Football Hall of Famer and Ron Wolf, who brought the Packers back from the depths of despair and made the trade that brought Brett Farve to Green Bay, brought Reggie White, brought Mike Holmgren, all of that that

that sent the Packers back to prominence. And it took somebody pretty special and Ted Thompson to maintain that level of success, to go from one Hall of Fame quarterback to another, to win another Super Bowl with a completely different roster and in and a different head coach at different regime, the whole, the whole thing. I know, gms, more than anything else, are evaluated on how they draft. And you can't say Aaron Rodgers, But other than Aaron Rodgers,

who do you think was Ted Thompson's best draft pick? Oh, this is tough, because Rogers, Aaron Rodgers, I mean, I mean, there's so many. I mean, I think you can make an argument his his best pick other than Rodgers was his next pick with Nick Cole. That's exactly what I was going to say. I think that was I think that was his next best one after Collins plays his entire NFL career, he may have actually picked his first two picks at the Packers drum Mener might have both

been Pro Football of Famers. I know, I know, it's incredible, but the list goes on and on. Mike, I know, drive Marvin nuts upstairs in our production. But Clay Matthews, Um, you look at a guy like David Bok tr might there was what ten different offensive lineman taking before him in two thousand and thirteen, he might. Him and Lane Johnson are obviously the best ones. And in box tr is actually a left tackle actually playing a position that people put a lot of, you know, prominence on. That

was a heck of a draft pick. I mean Charles Woodson getting signed as far as the free agency moved back in two thousand six, that was just his second year on the job, and he brought in another guy who was gonna who is very soon going to be in the Hall of Fame. So it's one thing to be able to find Aaron Rodgers in the draft to Nick coins and I have a couple of good years, but how he was able to sustain that, And as Ron Wolfe said, from day one, you get so many

bites at the apple in these drafts. You're not gonna hit on every single one of these guys. But Ted Thompson's batting average with that and how he was able to really build a foundation, build a super Bowl team. Um, coming from where it was in two thousand five and five years later having them in that game, it's it's the ultimate testament to how he was able to turn

this thing around. Yeah, when I look back at Ted Thompson's drafts, aside from the first two picks, we discussed Rogers and Collins back to back right off the bat. I think what I will remember about Ted Thompson's drafts the pick of Clay Matthews where he traded back up into the first round to get a second first round pick in two thousand and nine, and uh and draft a guy who became that Lynchpin pass rusher in the defense, and uh um, we all know how things have gone

from there. But the other thing is to me, it's it's for his drafts, it's been about receivers in the second round and offensive lineman in the mid to late rounds.

Because he drafted Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobbin Davante Adams all in the second round, throwing James Jones in the third round just for good measure, and you mentioned Box tr in the fourth round, Josh Sitton, T J. Lang, also fourth rounders Corey Lindsley who just got a new contract extension of fifth rounder J. C. Trader in there is a fourth rounder, although he ended signing his second

contract elsewhere. Those are those are the trends, you know, sort of the things that that you hang your hat on in a sense when you look at the tenure as a whole. Gonna be hard to forget some of those picks. Yeah, and then also to throw it in there too. Sometimes it's forget about this, but b J. Rogie, I mean, the Packers might not win the Super Bowl in two thousand and ten if it wasn't for that pick up b J. Rogers as well, the highest pick that he had aside from a J Hawk when he

picked a Hawk fifth in two thousand and six. And and just to touch on briefly with Jordy Nelson, you're absolutely right, I mean looking at him and a guy that was a converted safety, a walk on player at Kansas State. We'll talk about that shortly, But I mean, how he really invested into guys who are relative unknowns. I think it's probably one of the things that really

underscores his resume in green Back. Yeah, let's talk a little bit about that more when we come back after this on Packers on script Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford here, West hodkoit's over there, and Wes. You mentioned at the end of our last segment the thought of some of these unheralded guys that Ted Thompson brought into the Green Bay Packers and who have gone on

to play some big roles over the years. I mean, one of the first ones that comes to mind for me is Sam Shields, a guy who converted from wide receiver to defensive back his final year in college, comes to Green Bay as an undrafted rookie, intercepts two passes in the NFC Championship game and and helps the Packers win a Super Bowl, and uh becomes a tremendous cornerback, a top flight cornerback in this league before unfortunately, the concussions caught up to him and he had to cut

things short. But you talked to a couple of guys in the current locker room who are forever thankful to a GM like Ted Hobson for taking a look and giving him a shot. Um some interesting comments there that you find. Yeah, And and the one thing is I think if you look back and certainly Aaron Rodgers, Nick Collins, claim Matthews, those type of players, multiple time Pro Bowlers, all pro type players are always going to be the

guys that you associate coaches with GMS with. But I think sometimes it's the guys that aren't necessarily the higher round draft picks or guys that are gonna necessarily, you know, command all that attention. The Sam Shields, the Tremon Williams of the world comes into the practice squad player and then you know, getting a chance to talk to some guys in the locker room during the final media available

on Tuesday. You know Lane Taylor, a guy that forty one offensive linemen were taken in two thousand thirteen, a record number. Lane Taylor wasn't one of them. He was a four year starting right guard at Oklahoma State. Nobody cared, nobody noticed, and he had two offers. He could go to Green Bay, you could have went to Cincinnati and him and his agent, Matt Steagle, sat down and they said, you know what, Green Bay, there's been a lot of opportunity for guys who are undrafted that have had a

chance to prove themselves. He had to wait three full seasons, but then he gets in the starting lineup last year and then this year ends up signing an extension. In talking with Lucas Patrick, the Packers reserve offensive lineman, also on Tuesday, I mean, you can make a case that Lane Taylor's in the top ten of guards now in the NFL with the way he's able to develop his game and how stout he has become as a run blocker in addition to what he does as a pass blocker.

Those are the type of players that make a difference. And then also to throw out there, guy like Justin McCrae, who a year ago on New Year's Eve was working at a as a bellman at a hotel in Orlando, trying to find a way to get back into the NFL.

He catches the eye of the Packers at the u c F Pro day after him and his brother beg to get an opportunity to work out for them comes the Green Bay ends up starting eight games for the Packers this year, And as he said, I mean Ted Thompson, the Green Met Packers gave him a shot when nobody else did. And I think that is probably the ultimate sign of what Thompson really meant two guys in that locker room. Is he end up opportunities. He created opportunities

and and allowed guys to take advantage of it. Yeah. I think of some of the other moves as well. You talk about claiming guys on waivers early in Thompson's tenure, a guy like Jared Bush who ends up being a tremendous special teams player for a number of years, and then he's thrown into action in the Super Bowl and gets an interception against Ben Roethlisberger that helps the Packers win a championship. Um, you've got a guy like uh yeah, that was the next one I was gonna say. The

waiver claimed John Cooney's claimed from Pittsburgh goes on. I mean, he becomes a you know, not just a cult hero, but an incredibly productive member of the offense and a very valued member of in the meeting room, in the locker room, in the huddle, all of that, And who could ever forget obviously the block on Julius Peppers in

regular season finale. Even I'll throw out a guy like Frank Zombo, you know, undrafted playing a reserve depth role as a as a rookie, gets a sack in the second half of the Super Bowl to help the Packers win that game. His career are is continuous, still continuing in Kansas City, had some injuries that contributed to him moving on and finding success elsewhere. But Ted Thompson and his personnel staff unearthed a guy like that and help

the Packers win a championship. Those are the types of things that that that you remember about a guy like Yeah. And so many times people will always ask about, well, you know, signing free agents or you know bringing in you know so and so gets cut, why don't they sign them? Because they see these guys, They see justin McCrae, they see the put the work he put in since April.

And you know, after you spend that much time with these young guys, Uh, if you feel like they can make a difference for you once you get to training camp, well then yeah, you want to see them playing a game. You want to throw him in that fire. You want to see how they respond. That's how they found Lane Taylor. That's how they found t J. Lane. Even if you want to, you know, even look at guys like Sam

Shields and and uh, you know, Trumont Williams. All those guys didn't just walk in as undrafted free agents and just start now. They had to prove themselves. And that investment and into that is I think one of the things that not only helped the Packers win a Super Bowl, but stay in that conversation for as long as they did, as long as they have, yeah, no question about it. With that, we'll toss to a breakback with more and Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted.

Mike Spofford next to West, hod Kowits and West. Quickly before we go, it's worth touching on again what actually is going to go down? As I guess, one of Ted Thompson's last official orders of business as the general manager of the Packers, and that was the contract extensions that were signed by Davante Adams and Corey Lindsley late last week before the regular season finale. And we heard from Adams for the first time since uh well since the big hit from Thomas Davis and Carolina that put

it in the concussion protocol. And and then also since he signed the contract obviously, and I don't know what you thought of of his conversation with reporters, but he struck me as a guy who is not wandering off into the offseason to celebrate his big new contract. He's looking at what's ahead and what he still wants to do to help this team win. That's that's where his energies are focused. Yeah, there's still so much out there for him to achieve, you know, as you wrote your

story on Packers dot Com as well. I mean, it looked like he was on his way for a thousand yards season a year after he came three are shy of his first one, uh, and then that you had to hit from Thomas Davis happened and that basically ended his season at that point. Does pass the concussion protocol and now has an opportunity to go into the off season healthy. He's not concerned about the long term impact

of those injuries. He thinks it's gonna, you know, ultimately end up being okay, very quick turnaround on most on really all three of them. So it doesn't believe there'll be any lasting effects of that. Uh. The biggest thing I thought in terms of his you know, mindset, is just the role he assumed he is looking forward to taking on with this team. He understands when you get that second contract, you're gonna be looked at as a veteran, You're gonna be looked at as a leader. Uh, And

he definitely embraces that role. He hopes that Jordy Nelson and Randall Cover are with him a lot of things to be sorted out with all those um, you know, transactions and whatnot this offseason, but likes what they've built here, likes the development he has, likes the relationship he's developed with Aaron Rodgers, and hopes to continue it on. Yeah.

And with regards to uh Adams, we've seen him over the last couple of years, and if there were any questions about what he accomplished in when he finally got healthy again after a very injury, riddle you look at what he did in seventeen playing half the season without Aaron Rodgers. The production, it just confirmed his value and as I said in my story, it spiked his value to this team. It did. And now they can look forward to it. It's only twenty five years old, a

long way to go. Yeah. Absolutely with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our verdge of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter, He's at west Hod, I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time. H