Out With The Old, In With The New: Packers’ Coaches Get Fired and Hired

Now that the Packers’ season is over, there have a been a lot of changes in management and coaching. One of the biggest changes was the demotion of General Manager Ted Thompson to adviser, and the hiring former Packers scout Brian Gutekunst as the new GM. Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers and Offensive Coordinator Edgar Bennett were also fired.

According to several sources, Capers was fired because he failed to consistently coach solid defense throughout his years with the Packers. He’s coached here since 2009.

“Thompson should have been fired a lot earlier,” said freshman Brett Shumway. “His defense was too complex for our players resulting in weak coverage. The defense was not locked down, which was our biggest problem.”

At first, Capers worked well with the defense, finishing atop the conference in defense in his first two seasons. The Packers won Super Bowl XLV in 2011. However, the following year the Packers were voted one of NFL’s worst defenses, according to Sbnation.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer, Michael Cohen, covers the Packers and feels that the defense had a lot of problems.

“There were times when the Packers had too many men on the field and others when they didn’t have enough. There were blown coverages in which receivers ran free and others when two defenders followed the same target,” Cohen said. “Veterans had to redirect rookies before the ball was snapped. Coaches disagreed with one another over whose players were at fault for certain touchdowns.”

Freshman Sarah Iselin and Briahna Lynch agree with Cohen.

“I think that Capers should’ve been fired before the end of the season because his defense was not successful throughout the year. They didn’t stop the offense effectively enough,” Iselin said.

“The defense was the weakest part of the Packers. There were often gaps in the defense allowing for too many yards to be run by the other team,” Lynch said.

In the meantime, Gutekunst was chosen over Russ Ball and Elliot Wolf for the open General Manager position. Head Coach, Mike McCarthy, is pleased with Mark Murphy’s decision in hiring Gutekunst as the new GM.

“One of the things McCarthy said in his end-of-season press conference is he stressed the new General Manager has to “fit” into what the team wants to do moving forward. With Gutekunst working for the Packers for 19 seasons, he should have no issues working with McCarthy to get the Packers back on track,” said Brian Jones from 247sports.com.

In 1995, Gutekunst assisted the New Orleans Saints’ coaching staff with the offensive line during training camp as his first NFL experience. He was a scouting intern with the Packers in 1997, and was originally hired full time as a college scout in 1998. In 2012, Gutekunst got promoted to director of college scouting. Finally, in 2016, he was promoted again to director of player personnel.

News writer, Pete Dougherty, from Packersnews.com, states, “There’s a lot to being a GM, but in the end his most important duties are drafting and signing players. If you don’t get that part right, the rest doesn’t matter. So the Packers’ GM really should be a scout above all.”

Former Packers President, Bob Harlan, believes that Gutekunst was fit for the position.

“Outstanding hire. Brian has risen through the ranks, and has certainly earned his promotion. I couldn’t be happier for him. He’s a low-key intense person. Very talented,” Harlan explained. “Very thorough in his evaluations. And the thing that got to me most of all was Ron Wolf had great faith in him . I thought that was a great compliment to him. He’s got a little bit of Ron Wolf in him as far as that intensity and great work ethic. I just think he’s a wonderful choice.”

Former Browns Coach, Mike Pettine, has been hired as the new Defensive Coordinator, and former assistant Joe Philbin is expected rejoin the Packers as the Offensive Coordinator.

Pettine coached some of the top NFL defenses. In 2009-2012, the Jets ranked 1st, 3rd, 5th and 8th. In 2013, when Pettine coached for the Bills, they ranked 10th in defense.