On Thursday morning, the Denver Broncos announced the hiring of Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as their new head coach. Hackett had been a prime candidate to land a head coaching gig this offseason, so the news doesn’t come as a shock. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur will likely promote from within for the next Green Bay OC, and there’s no reason to worry about that.
The last time the Packers went with a hire from within plan, it was to name Maurice Drayton as the special teams coordinator last year. Drayton had been with Green Bay’s special-teams unit since 2018, and Lafleur promoted him in 2020. We all know how that went in 2021. The Packers were an embarrassment across the board in every single phase of special teams, and it ultimately cost them their season. There’s one big difference between that promotion and one that LaFleur will likely hand out to the next offensive coordinator.
Special teams has been a disaster for years now in Green Bay. It’s been a disgrace from Ron Zook to Shawn Mennenga and now to Drayton. It just so happened that the worst of those years, by far, came in 2021, with Drayton leading the show. That area of the team has been an eyesore for quite some time, though. With Drayton in charge, it elevated to unforeseen horribleness. That’s not the case with the offense.
Since LaFleur took over as the head coach three years ago, the Green Bay offense has topped the charts as one of the most prolific in the league. Aaron Rodgers is about to win back-to-back to MVPs. And despite a poor showing in the playoffs this year, the larger sample size reflects a dominant offense. Of course, a lot of the credit goes to Rodgers and LaFleur, but Hackett deserves his flowers too. The point remains that whomever LaFleur names as Hackett’s replacement doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. They just need to stick with the blueprint. A lot of that hinges on Rodgers’ return. But if No. 12 is back, that will likely be the plan. LaFleur wants Rodgers back and has said as much. He also said that it’s likely that they will choose the next offensive coordinator from the options they currently have on the staff.
“We have a lot of confidence in the guys we have on our staff. We have so many good guys. It’s not going to be an easy decision, let me tell you that,” LaFleur said.
So, who are the options?
There are two ways Green Bay could go with this.
Luke Getsy spent 2014 to 2017 with the Packers working as a wide receivers coach. He was also the offensive quality-control coach. After one year at Mississippi State, Getsy has been back with Green Bay. He’s currently the passing-game coordinator and the quarterbacks coach for the Packers. A slide up to offensive coordinator would be an obvious move.
The other candidate is Adam Stenavich, who is beloved in the locker room as the offensive line coach. The Marshfield native has been with the franchise since 2019. He was even on Green Bay’s practice squad for a brief stint in 2006. Like Getsy, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Stenavich is named the next offensive coordinator. Whomever LaFleur chooses, there’s no reason to compare it to LaFleur’s ridiculous decision to promote Drayton.
Ultimately, the worry won’t be over who LaFleur decides to hire as offensive coordinator. The transition should be seamless. However, the slight concern will be what Rodgers chooses to do this offseason. The Hackett hire has certainly dialed up the rumor mill, with many now suggesting that the Broncos hired Hackett in part to help lure Rodgers in. While it would be foolish for Denver to make a head coaching hire based on that prayer, it won’t hurt their chances if Rodgers asks to leave Green Bay. Then the offensive coordinator hire will become more critical.
For now, Hackett deserves the praise for landing a head coaching gig while the Packers start to wonder what pieces to shuffle to replace him. There’s no reason to believe LaFleur will go outside the box after his comments about how they would approach the scenario. But hiring an OC from within isn’t like the Drayton promotion. Hiring the new OC form in-house is 100% the right move for the Packers, given where they’re at and where they plan to go moving forward.
