For the first time since the inglorious NFC Championship game exit at the hands of the Tampa Bay Bucaneers in January, Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur went before the zoom camera at Lambeau Field today.
Matt LaFleur introduces his new D.C.
He along with his three coordinators, two of them new, fielded questions for 15 to 20 minutes. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett is the only holdover with Maurice Drayton stepping up from assistant to Special Teams coordinator, replacing his old boss Shawn Mennenga.
The feature introduction was for LaFleur’s new Defensive Coordinator, 50 year old Joe Barry, his choice to succeed Mike Pettine.
Barry is a 30 year NFL coaching veteran who has coordinated two defenses previously. Neither stop in Detroit for 2 years and Washington for a pair, were statistically impressive. His then Redskins defense finished 28th in yards allowed both years and both seasons with the Lions had the NFL’s most porous units. The past four years in Los Angeles helped re-build that resume, serving as Sean McVay’s assistant head coach and linebackers coach, helping the Rams to finish number one nearly across the board in 2020.
The Pack’s new leader on D – Joe Barry
Barry fielded only a handful of questions during his media session as he went into great detail on each, beginning with his reunion with LaFleur, his acclimation to Green Bay and his hopes for the Packer defense.
Hackett was his usual jovial self who is anxious to find out if he’ll have to install his offensive concepts virtually for a second straight off-season. He directed the NFL’s highest scoring offense in 2020, a unit that also ranked among the league’s best on third down and in the red zone but Hackett said he’s charged with making the offense even more productive and more importantly, more consistent this fall.
Drayton brought a crisp, no nonsense approach to his job. He’s been the lead special teams assistant for the past three years under two coordinators. He knows a lot went wrong last fall but believes issues can be fixed with attention to detail.
