#264 Packers Unscripted: New-look coaching staff

the details here. And I want to start with defensive coordinator Mike Patton because he's probably, you know, as far as his level of position, a more unfamiliar face to h two Packers fans and Um. He made quite a first impression in his opening news conference. I thought Um showed a little bit of sense of humor, but also showed that he is very much a no nonsense football guy. And I think this is going to be an interesting defensive coordinator for pack for the Packers and for Packers

fans to get to know. Yeah, Mike, and we're gonna have months, weeks, all this time ahead between this day and the start of training camp to start the regular season to talk about his scheme, but I want to start off with Mark Mike Petton the individual, and let's let's be honest here, Mike, he has big shoes to fill. From a media obligation standpoint, dom Caper's is one of the best there is in the business in terms of dealing with on a day in and day out basis.

My good friend Darren Gant, who covered him during his time with the Carolina Panthers as the head coach. Darren doesn't say anything nice about anybody. He loves dom Capers because he's just a true gentleman. So from that perspective, I think there actually was some big shoes for him for Mike Petton to walk into that auditorium and to become the new face of the defense, and I thought he hit it absolutely out of the park. You had so a great comment about this afterwards too, and we

were talking. He managed to hit on all the big points, the big questions that you knew that were coming, complicated scheme, you know, revigorating the defense, and he was able to provide answers without making them sound like something you get off a stock quote sheet. Yeah. Uh. He was very personable. There's a human aspect to him and I just thought over those fifteen minutes, I said this an insider inbox

on on Thursday. I just felt he won the press conference because he gave you an idea of who he is as an individual, where he comes from. And also, I think, based on just hearing him talk for fifteen minutes, a good idea of why players have gravitated towards him. And he's been successful in this league. Yeah, he's certainly been plenty successful. He's had a handful of top five defenses, coaching both the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills.

He was obviously the head coach for the Cleveland Browns for a couple of years in a really difficult situation with the whole Johnny Menzel thing and a lot of stuff that he had to deal with. There wasn't really put in a position to succeed, just be honest, um,

but took a couple of years off. Was involved in kind of a consulting gig for Seahawks coach Pete Carroll last year, kind of working from home but staying in touch with NFL film and evaluating players and and evaluating teams and schemes, and decided to to jump back into the fray here, and I know I expected him to say the whole three four or four three thing really doesn't matter. I saw that one coming, and I think that makes a lot of sense, especially in this day

and age in the NFL. What really impressed me about what he talked about with his scheme that I think is going to be very interesting to watch going forward and how it manifests itself on the field, as he talked about wanting to be multiple, to look complicated to an offense, but to not be complicated for his players on defense. And I know that's a it's a fancy line, it sounds good. I'm sure it's easier said than done, but I'm really interested to see exactly how that takes shape.

Lot of it is the pre snap is what it comes back to Mike McCarthy when he addressed the media as well on Wednesday, saying they need to start winning the pre snap battle. That was an area that really did hamper the Packers. I agree with that in two thousand and sixteen, now you get Mike pett in here.

It's about presenting different looks pre snap, but also not overwhelming your players either, you know, trying to make sure that the quarterback doesn't have everything figured out by the time he snaps the ball, that things are going to surprise him and he and you know, Petton hit it. You know he faced it, that question right on, because I'm sure he knew it was comic in terms of

the complicatedness of the scheme. I think that became more of a narrative after the time in Cleveland than even it was before that when he was with the New York Jets. Even going back to Rex Ryan's defense with the Baltimore Ravens and understanding exactly what you're trying to accomplish as a unit. I mean, you could just sense the excitement he has when he looks at this roster.

He said, the cupboard is not bear. From a defensive standpoint, you have veterans Clay Matthews, one of them most versatile pass rushers in the NFL. He looks forward to taking those talent, taking that those players and finding a way

to make it work within his scheme. And just one other further point, Mike, when he did say the four three three four debate, I think the Holly Louis heard from the back was me because this is a question that I've said this is a question we get constantly an insider in box, Well, the Packers be better off if they go to a four three. Petton said, they're playing base defense ten twelve snaps a game. It's not a league where you're playing seven hundred defensive snaps anymore

out of your base defense. It's it's a sub package league. And in this new environment after the most recent CBA, with the restrictions you have, I think Petton has proved that his scheme can succeed in this environment, and it's one of the reasons why Mike McCarthy brought him in

as a new defensive coordinator. And one quick point too before we go to a break, when he talked about, you know, you have your outside linebackers, you can sort of have that three four concept, but then you can take one of them, put his hand in the dirt and sort of then you have more of a four three. Look to me, that has Nick Perry written all over it. He's the guy. He's he's the guy. He's he's big. You know, he's got that big lower body. He can

play defensive end. He can also play stand up outside linebacker. He's done it. I really think and obviously Nick Perry needs to stay healthy. We all know about that. I think Nick Perry might be one of the guys that Mike Petton is most excited about in this defense. Yeah, it's a great point, Mike, because there is a lot of guys in this defense with a hybrid mentality that they have, whether it's defensive backs, whether it's linebackers, guys that can fit different types of schemes and trying to

maximize their ability. You're absolutely right, Perry has to stay healthy. But that's one of the reasons why they did extend him last year coming off that eleven sex season, and no doubt with that, we'll throw it to a break back with more and Packers Unscripted right after this, Welcome back to Packers Unscripted, Mike Spofford in this chair, Wes Hodkowitz and that one and west shifting gears to the

offensive coordinator position. As unfamiliar as Mike Petton is to Packers fans, Joe Philbin a very familiar face, obviously returning as offensive coordinator. He was in that position for five seasons from two thousand and seven to two thousand eleven. Began actually coaching with the Packers on the offensive line in two thousand three, before Mike McCarthy even arrived during the Mike Sherman era. And um, you know, certainly a

guy he's happy to be back in Green Bay. You could tell Mike McCarthy is very happy to have Joe Philbin back after his four years as a head coach in Miami and then a couple of years as an associate head coach and offensive line coach. Kind of getting back to his coaching roots with the offensive line with the Indianapolis Colts the last two years. But Joe Philbin is back, and uh, and I think there's a lot of excitement because it's sure sounds like number twelve Aaron

Rodgers is excited to have him back as well. Yeah. I mean you talk about a guy that that fits what the Packers do here. Joe Philbin is is that and then some both as a coach also just as a human being. I go back to a conversation I had, I would say, this was the first time the Packers played Philbin's Dolphins. I think that was two thou and I remember talking to Josh Sitton, former Packers guard now with the Bears about Joe Philbin, and you know how

Sitting is. He's gruff, he's he's sometimes kurt. But he had such an interesting insight into what it was like playing for Philban because he mentioned, you know, when he first came there out of UCF, those two really butted heads a lot. But by the time Philman had moved on to his next opportunity, there was really nobody that's Sitting respected more. And it just seemed like there's a

folksy sort of aspect to Philbin. He he's really self deprecating, mentioning that he's starting to get up there in age and he's along with some of these older people that that he sometimes likes to reference. But at the same time he really can clamp down in coach hard and knowing that balance is difficult because you get the players coach thing, you get the guys that are are sort of these um you know, sometimes can be divisive and

how confrontational they are. It just seems to me that that Philbin has just such a great pulse for where he needs to be in what he needs to do to get the most out of his players. And as his biggest quote, I thought in my takeaway, and I

know you wrote about on packers dot Com. The fact that his job being an offensive coordinator his four seasons with the Dolphins really opened his eyes to the challenge that Mike McCarthy has weekend and week out, and now that his Now that he's back, his two main goals is to help the offense score points and make Mike McCarthy look like the smartest play caller in the NFL. And he's ready to do that again here. Yeah, this is a guy who is a coach through and through.

And I don't care what position if you're calling him an offensive line coach, calling an offensive coordinator, a head coach, and associate head coach, He's a coach through and through because the one we hear from Mike McCarthy, probably more than anything else about Joe Philbin when it comes to coaching, is he's a teacher. And and that's why I think that's what players gravitate toward in a sense, because they know this guy is going to show me how to do it. Then it's up to me just to execute

it and do it. But I know that this guy knows how to get it done, so I need to learn it and figure it out. And the other thing that, uh that you know bears mentioning with Philbin as well, because he was asked about this if he had any reservations whatsoever about coming back to Green Bay. And for

the fans who aren't necessarily familiar with the story. Back at the end of the two thousand eleven season, the Packers were fifteen and one, had a first round by getting ready to play the Giants in the Divisional round of the playoffs at lambeau Field. In just a few days before that game, one of Joe Philbin's adult sons, Michael, tragically drowned in an accident in the Fox River and lost one of his I believe six children. Um, just

a tragic thing. And UM, not long after that, you know, the Miami Dolphins came calling, wanted him to be a head coach. It was a big family decision and everything, and they decided to to make that leap as a

family to go to South Florida. So obviously you could understand, and he even said it's very, very emotional to come back to Green Bay, but he also balanced that with all the people that he knows here that he cares about, that care about him and his family, and that remember him from the time here, and he just felt like

the timing was right to come back. It may not have been right at other other times to to try to come back to Green Bay, the timing is right now, and he sounds like a guy who's pretty excited to move forward. Yeah, Mike, and obviously your father, I'm now a father. Um. I just I go back to two thousand eleven and I remember seeing Philbin during that day. I was just a little quote taker at the press box,

just working game days, doing the home locker room. I remember seeing Philibin and just thinking, Oh my god, what this man must be going through right now. I could I couldn't. I couldn't even imagine it at the time. Tragic situation. But the one thing that I took away from that, and you referenced it a little bit when we were discussing this at the press conference, how his family really pulled together at that time and you know,

this is all going on. The Packers are in the playoffs, the Miami Dolphins are potentially knocking on his door as a head coach, and how they really grab you know, they gravitated towards each other and they leaned at each other during that time and now, as Philbin said, every decisions he's made, he's taken to his family into account, whether it was going to Miami, whether it was going back to Indianapolis, and now coming back to Green Bay.

I think And Mike McCarthy said that the first thing he asked was him and his wife if if they're going to be comfortable with that aspect of it. And I still I think there's an element. I don't want to put words in Joe Philipin's mouth, but I just feel like this is they're thinking, and this is that this is where we need to be, and this is you know, like the connection that they feel with Green Bay. In some ways, it's almost kind of tranquil in a way that that they're coming back and now having an

opportunity to finish what he started with the Packers. Yeah, and he even mentioned that, you know, he asked his water of all of his children, he has just one who's still at home. She has one year of high school left to go. And he said, you know, if my daughter had said, Dad, I really want to finish high school in Indianapolis. I don't want to move again right now, he said, he probably wouldn't have come to

Green Bay that that. You know, they're all in as a family wherever they go, you know, with with regards to uh, job decisions, to other family decisions, and uh, you know, but um, his daughter was on board, his wife was on board, and uh and you know, green Bay is is glad to welcome Joe Philbin back as well as his entire family. And the tip of the cap to his daughter. I don't know her name offhand, but I mean that's as he said, that's her third high school in four years. That's not easy for a kid.

But it just again shows you how tight knit that family is and how much I'm sure she realizes to what this team in this community means to her father. All Right, with that, we're going to throw it to a break back with more on Packers Unscripted right after this Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford here, Wes Hodkowitz over there, and west quickly kind of an overview of the rest of Mike McCarthy staff as it stands

right now. We've talked about the offensive and defensive coordinators, but a new structure to things in the sense that on both sides of the ball. Mike McCarthy now has a run game coordinator and a pass game coordinator for both the offense and the defense. On offense, your run game coordinator is James Campon, who will also continue to coach the offensive line. Your pass game coordinator is Jim Hostler, who worked with Joe Philbin on the offensive staff in

Indianapolis over the last couple of years. On the defensive side, Joe Witt Jr. Is your pass game coordinator. The Packers cornerbacks coach for a number of years. He actually interviewed for the defensive coordinator job, but Mike McCarthy to decided to go with Mike Petton and then run game coordinator on defense is Patrick Graham, who was also going to

coach the inside linebackers. Worked on Ben mcadoo's staff with the New York Giants the last couple of years, and before that was on the New England Patriots defensive staff, coaching both defensive linemen and linebackers at some different times there. So, from a structural standpoint, what do you make of this? With these titles? The thing I enjoyed the most about this because I had basically a chance to ask everybody about it, and I know you talked to Patrick Graham.

I didn't get over to him, but it was interesting to me that the coaches who are returning the guy, you know, James Camping and Joe Witt had a very clear idea of what this is gonna mean and what this is going to accomplish. Jim Hustler was a little bit more Okay, we gotta wait and see, you know, in terms of things. But I'll say this, Joe Wit knows exactly what he wants to do in this role.

And and he did say, you know, he was disappointed that he didn't initially get the defensive coordinator job, but Mike McCarthy went out of his way during the news conference to really praise him for the job he did. Uh and and kind of checking all the boxes that what McCarthy was looking for, but going with a little bit more experience with Mike Petton and enjoy Wait agrees

it's the right move. And the thing that really sold him on that is the fact that he and Petton both put their playbooks down and he saw so much synergy between the two of them, uh, in terms of what their core philosophies are and what they look to accomplish with past defense. Patton emphasizes past defense and his his scheme and to some ways, you can make a case that it's almost the opposite of what dom capers want to accomplish with a run for you know, stop

the run first mentality. UM. I don't think either one is right or wrong, but it really fits to what what is looking for. And basically the biggest aspect of that is going to be tying the cornerbacks, the secondary and those coverage linebackers together under one voice, with one vision and in hopes of improving communication at the end of the day with all these positions. I think that's

what it comes down to. Yeah, it is. It's about having It's about having communication within the structure so that all levels of your offense, your defense. UM, guys don't just go into their into their side loads, into their individual position meeting rooms and learn things a certain way and then you get out on the practice field or out on game day and you know, maybe not everybody's

quite on the same page. Not to say that people are playing the game differently, but it's all about trying to develop more cohesiveness and Mike McCarthy even said on the offensive side, you know, he and Joe Philbin are working on essentially rewriting the playbook, almost starting over from scratch, like he's a first year head coach again back in two thousand six and and really building things from the

ground up. And uh. And on the defensive side, we've seen, we've seen, you know what lack of communication can lead to on game days, you know, missed assignments and all it takes in this league is being a half a step behind, a half a step slow in a certain reaction because the communication isn't quite there, where the understanding isn't quite there, and then big plays happen, and so the Packers are trying to trying to shore all those

things up. Also, just to to touch on some of the others um new coaches coming in Frank Signetti Um, whose relationship with Mike McCarthy actually goes way back to the late nineteen eighties at the University of Pittsburgh is when they first met one another, at least somewhere back in that in that timeframe. He is the new quarterbacks coach. David rye Um, who has been an offensive perimeter coach,

is now specifically the wide receiver's coach. Jason Simmons, who has been here as an assistant special teams coach, is now actually a secondary coach on defense, and then his assistant special team's position has been he's been replaced by Maurice Drayton, if I have that name correct, um. And then also Jerry Montgomery, who we thought was leaving for Texas A and m has decided to come back and be the defensive line coach in place of Mike Turgovac, who is now with the Oakland Raiders. So I don't

know if that covered everything. I probably missed somebody on that, but uh um, But yeah, a lot of changes. There hasn't been this much change on Mike McCarthy's coaching staff since he got here. There hasn't. But the thing I like about it, Mike, is it brings in some new perspectives. It's not like they just overhauled the entire coaching staff. Defensive wise, there's still a lot of same guys offensively. James Campin has been there for fifteen years now, so

it's just bringing new ideas together. And even though there are new people coming in like Signetian Hustler, all their webs kind of tie together a little bit too in terms of how they've come across this thing. So I think for the Packers will really benefit from it. All Right. With that, we're going to go to a break back with more and Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted Mike Spofford alongside Wes Hodkowitz and West

Before we go. Another thing to touch on. We heard from Mike McCarthy for the first time since the whole restructuring at the top with with Mark Murphy essentially being the individual that russ Ball as executive VP of Football Operations, Brian Gudak instas general manager or and Mike McCarthy as

head coach, they will all report to him. McCarthy kind of jokingly, although maybe he wasn't totally joking, but said in the last three weeks he's talked to Mark Murphy more than maybe he did in his first twelve seasons here, and we know from Mike McCarthy he loves having more open lines of communication. I think this is something that he really likes. He likes the way the structure is

set up. He's not going to tell Brian goodakoin's to him to draft, but I think he feels like he will have a little bit more input, just in a general sense in terms of how the roster is put together and the players that he will be in charge of coaching over the last decade. Mike, who are the most visible portions of the organization. It's Mark Murphy, Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy. With Ted Thompson taking a step back, I think that means that you want to have a

more pronounced impact from Mark Murphy. And this isn't just a fancy tagline and it's not a power grab. I think I really wish fans could see what I think you and I have seen over the last month that when McCarthy said that didn't surprise me at all. I mean, Murphy was down in the locker room during the introduction of the coaches, going around talking to Murray straight and talking to all these guys. He's made a point to be more involved in football, and I think that's a

smart approach for this. And I'll say this too, as Mike McCarthy said, this is exactly if you're head coach, don't you You want to have more communication and to me. Listen to McCarthy during his you know, time at the podium, he just sounds like a guy who's very excited now

about this arrangement. Yeah, and I think we and I don't want to mischaracterize this, but we have to remember too, it's not as though when Mark Murphy came in here in two thousand and eight that everything was all hunky dory. They had to deal with the Brett Farve thing with Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy and far but Mark Murphy had to get involved in that. That's a rough start to a relationship at the top for anybody who's involved. And uh, I think the Packers organization now is going

to benefit go. Yeah, they've gone through adversity before and it's made them better. Yeah. With that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot Com. Him 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 m hm.