Never struck me a a smart policy.
To me, that's leadership 101. The best leaders I've had all have had a very positive impact on my development as an employee and as a leader.
The Ringer with an article on MLF
About time the dude gets some credit for what he's done in Titletown
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/...-coach-aaron-rodgers
" I put it to nearly everyone I spoke with for this story: Why doesn’t LaFleur get as many plaudits as he should? The most common answer is obvious. “Aaron is a great player,” said Mark Murphy, the team’s president and CEO. “So I think a lot of people say, ‘Oh OK, you’ve got a Hall of Fame quarterback.’ But Matt’s a big reason that the Hall of Fame quarterback won the MVP the last two years.”
“A lot of people want to discredit him because he has a Hall of Fame quarterback, but the reality is he’s done a phenomenal job capturing a really cool locker room in terms of star players and talent and getting them all to play at a very high level,” said Jets coach Robert Saleh, a longtime friend and former coworker of LaFleur’s. “That’s artwork to me.”
“His success,” said Bengals coach Zac Taylor, who was on the 2017 Rams staff with LaFleur, “it is so hard to do in this league. To win consistently the way he has is not appreciated enough.”
.
Tight end Marcedes Lewis said if he didn’t have La Fleur as his coach, he might not be in the league—and not necessarily because La Fleur uses his skill set perfectly (though he does, letting Lewis be a dominant blocker and catch passes off those blocks).
It’s because when you’ve played for 16 years and saved your money, as Lewis has, it’s a matter of just wanting to continue. “Matt is a big part of that puzzle of why to get up every morning,” Lewis said.
De’Vondre Campbell, a linebacker who broke out for the Packers last season, said that something as simple as LaFleur letting players sleep in their own bed the night before a home game—something Campbell has never seen at the NFL level—gives him freedom he’s never experienced in the league.
“You want to earn that trust, and then you want to keep it,” Campbell said.
"something as simple as LaFleur letting players sleep in their own bed the night before a home game—something Campbell has never seen at the NFL level—gives him freedom he’s never experienced in the league. "
That's nearly incomprehensible to me. Adult professionals don't need to be monitored 24/7 like they were high schoolers on their first overnight trip. The guys who don't feel the responsibility will have shown it long before.
"...Five coaches in the 2019 hiring cycle have already departed their teams.
La Fleur, barring a Bengals dynasty for Taylor or a surprising uptick for Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona, is almost certainly going to end up being the best hire of the entire group."
@grignon posted:"something as simple as LaFleur letting players sleep in their own bed the night before a home game—something Campbell has never seen at the NFL level—gives him freedom he’s never experienced in the league. "
That's nearly incomprehensible to me. Adult professionals don't need to be monitored 24/7 like they were high schoolers on their first overnight trip. The guys who don't feel the responsibility will have shown it long before.
Max McGee agrees.
Easy target for criticism, but he nailed the hire.
Except he wanted the dope from Nortwestern.
@Dr._Bob posted:Max McGee agrees.
Even Hall of Famers like Paul Hornung would agree.
MLF was and is a great hire. With one exception, almost every decision that he's made that is in the questionable category is one you there were arguments or on either side of the decision. Example - kicking the FG in the Bucs title game looks like a gutsy and genius move if they get the ball back and have a chance to win (but the Kevin King hold happens).
The one exception is the special teams disaster that was the biggest factor in ending their season last year. When MLF goes into the pregame meeting with Aikman and Buck and tells them he knows our special teams suck and that he hopes they are good enough to not cost them the game that's an enormous black mark against him. It had been a problem for months and it appeared from the outside that nothing had changed. They just kept doing the same things and expecting it to work. And then a punt block TD completely changes the outcome of an elimination game.
@grignon posted:"something as simple as LaFleur letting players sleep in their own bed the night before a home game—something Campbell has never seen at the NFL level—gives him freedom he’s never experienced in the league. "
That's nearly incomprehensible to me. Adult professionals don't need to be monitored 24/7 like they were high schoolers on their first overnight trip. The guys who don't feel the responsibility will have shown it long before.
I remember Rodgers complaining about this a couple of years ago. I wonder when they changed the policy and if Rodgers was part of that.
Some of the guys cherished the night in the hotel before a game because they have young kids at home - with middle-of-the-night needs.
Other guys were 20 going on 16 and needed the guidance on how to be a Pro and how to prepare like a Pro...especially pre-game
And still others wanted to crash in their own beds. Moving away from making it a requirement - but still offering a room to those who want one seems like the way reasonable way to go.
MLF is a damn good head coach, leader of men and a dude who questions everything about how a team is managed.
We're so damn lucky to have him in Titletown
Never heard of this either. It was always "everyone in the team hotel" the night before a game whether home or away. I like that he treats them like professionals. Now, I imagine if there's a guy who is notorious for being late or whatever, I imagine (hope?) there are different rules for that guy.
@Satori posted:MLF is a damn good head coach, leader of men and a dude who questions everything about how a team is managed.
We're so damn lucky to have him in Titletown
He's the opposite of an old school authoritarian "Pittsburgh Macho," type of HC.
That works in college, it's a different game dealing with 18-22 year olds, but grown men want to be treated as grown men. As peers more than as minions. If you're successful, it's jeenyus, if you're not, you will be criticized for it.
MLF's success doesn't leave much room for criticism...3 years, 3 legit shots to get into the Superb Owl.
@Satori posted:Some of the guys cherished the night in the hotel before a game because they have young kids at home - with middle-of-the-night needs.
Other guys were 20 going on 16 and needed the guidance on how to be a Pro and how to prepare like a Pro...especially pre-game
And still others wanted to crash in their own beds. Moving away from making it a requirement - but still offering a room to those who want one seems like the way reasonable way to go.
MLF is a damn good head coach, leader of men and a dude who questions everything about how a team is managed.
We're so damn lucky to have him in Titletown
You got that right.
@MichiganPacker posted:MLF was and is a great hire. With one exception, almost every decision that he's made that is in the questionable category is one you there were arguments or on either side of the decision. Example - kicking the FG in the Bucs title game looks like a gutsy and genius move if they get the ball back and have a chance to win (but the Kevin King hold happens).
The one exception is the special teams disaster that was the biggest factor in ending their season last year. When MLF goes into the pregame meeting with Aikman and Buck and tells them he knows our special teams suck and that he hopes they are good enough to not cost them the game that's an enormous black mark against him. It had been a problem for months and it appeared from the outside that nothing had changed. They just kept doing the same things and expecting it to work. And then a punt block TD completely changes the outcome of an elimination game.
It's tough letting go of coaches, and as the head coach, I'm sure he wanted to give Mo every opportunity to succeed. I'm sure looking back, he would probably agree he held onto Mo too long. As far as game-time decisions, no coach is perfect. We'll find calls he makes this year questionable. That's just the way it is. But overall, Satori captured it perfectly, we're really damned lucky to have him, and he doesn't get nearly the recognition he deserves. We have AR, OK. The Bulls had Jordan and Pippen. But it was Jackson who figured out how to build the chemistry of the team, hence the nickname The Zen Master. MILF's doing the same. Just because you have some superstars, doesn't mean you're going to win anything.
I think the Phil Jackson comparison is quite apt.
Get back to me when MLF has 11 rings….and two as a player. Right now I would say he is more Marty Shottenheimer or Marv Levy. Which is pretty good company to be in.
@YATittle posted:I think the Phil Jackson comparison is quite apt.
Now if that leads to 6 NFL championships, it'll be even more apt.
Not a huge fan of PK, mainly due to his perpetual Belichick/Brady Ball-Washing...but Kevin Clark is a good writer. Good stuff about MLF...
MLF largely been given a pass for the bed-shitting in the playoffs, but the team is now officially in crisis mode.
Saleh sharing his halftime speech in which he told the team that if you keep punching the Packers in the mouth, they'll quit (he was right). Responding to adversity by buckling he been a pretty consistent issue with the team.
@michiganjoe posted:MLF largely been given a pass for the bed-shitting in the playoffs, but the team is now officially in crisis mode.
Saleh sharing his halftime speech in which he told the team that if you keep punching the Packers in the mouth, they'll quit (he was right). Responding to adversity by buckling he been a pretty consistent issue with the team.
Whoa!
Sounds like the typical BS halftime speech a coach would give against any team.
“keep hitting them, impose your will, blah blah blah!”
Rodgers Said something like LaFleur‘s baseline anxiety level is 7, and it would be up during Jets week.
@michiganjoe posted:MLF largely been given a pass for the bed-shitting in the playoffs, but the team is now officially in crisis mode.
Saleh sharing his halftime speech in which he told the team that if you keep punching the Packers in the mouth, they'll quit (he was right). Responding to adversity by buckling he been a pretty consistent issue with the team.
There are a ton of similarities between MLF and MM.
Both came into the job with a Hall of Fame QB already on the team that had tuned out the previous coach (Sherman for MM and MM for MLF). They did a great job of re-engaging that HOF QB and turning things around the first year).
Their schematic creativity was probably overrated because having an experienced HOF QB covers up a lot warts. MM gets some credit for developing Rodgers as well. I'm not sure MLF can develop talent in the same way. He seems like a guy who may be better as an OC or QB coach as he has really struggled to hire a decent staff (ST coaches, Barry, etc.).
Behind a paywall from JSO, by Silverstein:
What LaFleur does to keep the Packers from going into a freefall as they approach mathematical elimination from the playoffs will be the true test of his coaching ability. Players can sense when a coach has no answers and soon their play reflects a lack of confidence in what they’re being asked to do.
Defensive coordinator Joe Barry faces the prospect – if he hasn’t already – of losing his players after a three-game stretch in which the defense has allowed 95 points and 1,329 yards. The Packers have dropped from sixth to 16th in total yards allowed and 26th to 31st in rushing yards allowed.
They have dropped from 15th to 22nd in points allowed per game.
The numbers are particularly telling because the past three games have been must-wins, and yet the defense has allowed the opposition to score in eight straight periods and 10 of 13 total (one was overtime). The Philadelphia Eagles' 40-point, 500-yard incineration of the defense Sunday night couldn’t have hurt more because the offense and special teams kept the Packers in the game until the end.
It’s commendable that LaFleur doesn’t want to make Barry the scapegoat for all that has gone wrong defensively, but that doesn’t make him a better coach. His players are looking to him to do something instead of blaming them as he mostly did when pointing out all the missed tackles and blown assignments the past two weeks.
Something is wrong when your very best players – nose tackle Kenny Clark, cornerback Jaire Alexander, cornerback Rasul Douglas and linebacker De’Vondre Campbell – are having considerably worse seasons than they did the year before.
Losing outside linebacker Rashan Gary and Campbell to knee injuries certainly hurt, but Gary had made some costly mistakes in run containment and Campbell had no sacks, one interception and six missed tackles before hurting his knee against Buffalo (he had three missed tackles all last season).
LaFleur’s unwillingness to make changes already has hurt the team and you would think he would have learned from his hesitation to move in two critical areas.
He stuck with Amari Rodgers as the main returner for 10 weeks before finally turning to Keisean Nixon to handle both kickoff and punt return duties. Nixon returned five kickoffs for 172 yards against the Eagles, so one can only imagine the impact he could have made if given the duties earlier.
LaFleur or Barry or general manager Brian Gutekunst or all three stuck with Darnell Savage at safety for two months before finally moving him to nickel corner and then it was only because Eric Stokes’ season-ending injury at Detroit forced Douglas to move outside. LaFleur and Barry have resisted moving Douglas to safety even though he played there some in training camp and the personnel department views him as a potential starter there.
In Week 12, they finally benched Savage and relegated him to the slot in the dime package.
If there’s one thing players pay attention to, it’s accountability. If the coaches are going to continually stick with players who routinely blow coverages or fumble punt returns or run the wrong routes, they’re going to lose faith in the concept.
If the coaches can’t come up with something that makes their very best players look good and blame failures on player performance, it’s not going to sit well in the locker room. If the head coach doesn’t do anything dramatic to address the systemic problems, then the doubt is going to creep to his doorstep.
Snip=
As far as his offense, no one knows if quarterback Aaron Rodgers informed LaFleur that he was going to play this week, but from a public standpoint it doesn’t look good that Rodgers announced it on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday without mentioning that he had discussed it with his head coach or the medical staff.
It’s not LaFleur’s fault that he must tread lightly with a quarterback who runs the place because the ownership for that belongs to Murphy and Gutekunst, who gave Rodgers the keys to the franchise instead of trading him last offseason. LaFleur is in a no-win situation if he thinks it would be in the franchise’s best interest for Rodgers to sit another week rather than play with a broken thumb and a rib injury
Matt LaFleur hopes to get Green Bay Packers on track vs. Chicago Bears (jsonline.com)
There's more in that article, but you get the jist of what Silverstein is pointing out above.
MLF has to be really careful about the messages he's sending. Right now, it looks like the defense has zero faith in Barry, that Rodgers is the boss and is running this team and making the decisions, and that MLF is just there, deer in the headlights and blinking..not knowing what to do and can't make decisions (such as Amari) until it's so painfully obvious, he has no other option.
That's not how you lead a team. But that's very much how you lose a locker room
From Tom's piece:
It’s not LaFleur’s fault that he must tread lightly with a quarterback who runs the place because the ownership for that belongs to Murphy and Gutekunst, who gave Rodgers the keys to the franchise instead of trading him last offseason.
A problem of the organization's own creation.
i agree that MLF isn’t responsible for creating the rodgers monster but the barry debacle is 100 percent on him. his refusal to take action on that front is malpractice
@packerboi posted:There's more in that article, but you get the jist of what Silverstein is pointing out above.
MLF has to be really careful about the messages he's sending. Right now, it looks like the defense has zero faith in Barry, that Rodgers is the boss and is running this team and making the decisions, and that MLF is just there, deer in the headlights and blinking..not knowing what to do and can't make decisions (such as Amari) until it's so painfully obvious, he has no other option.
That's not how you lead a team. But that's very much how you lose a locker room
MLF has always come across as wanting to be everyone's friend...that is a role fit for a coordinator...the good cop to the HC's bad cop.
Everyone thought it was genius when he was winning 13 games. Now at 4-8, likely headed for 5-12 or 6-11, it's a problem.
It was always a problem, but winning is the ultimate deodorant. I've said it from the get-go, I questioned whether or not MLF had enough asshole in him to be an effective HC. That may be a bigger impediment to hiring a better DC than Russ Balls not wanting to spend the money on it.
Time for MLF to man-up and start making decisions to show he wants to keep this job beyond a couple more years.
In his presser today MLF was asked about Innis Gaines .... he said "who"? The reporter said "Innis"...MLF laughed and said "thump"? .... said "that's what we call him" Some of his older staff members need to pull him aside and tell him that he can't be "one of the guys".
@Jessie Clark posted:i agree that MLF isn’t responsible for creating the rodgers monster but the barry debacle is 100 percent on him. his refusal to take action on that front is malpractice
How do you/we know that MLF had talks or is in talks about hiring a new dc? For all we know, he could be talking to JL as I’m typing this. We don’t know what is being said or being done inside the walls of 1265. Some like to think they do.
@michiganjoe posted:From Tom's piece:
It’s not LaFleur’s fault that he must tread lightly with a quarterback who runs the place because the ownership for that belongs to Murphy and Gutekunst, who gave Rodgers the keys to the franchise instead of trading him last offseason.
A problem of the organization's own creation.
I'd actually be fine with Gutekunst being the one to make the decision about whether to trade Rodgers. That's his job - to put the best team on the field this year while still maintaining some focus on what the future will look like. He should then inform Russ Ball what he's going to do and then it's Russ Ball's job to execute that plan.
The real issue is whether Gutekunst made the decision to trade Rodgers and got overruled by Murphy.
@FLPACKER posted:In his presser today MLF was asked about Innis Gaines .... he said "who"? The reporter said "Innis"...MLF laughed and said "thump"? .... said "that's what we call him" Some of his older staff members need to pull him aside and tell him that he can't be "one of the guys".
Yes. I'm not a fan of it in any situation, but a guy like Andy Reid who has decades of success and is in his 60s has some leeway to do it. Everyone knows he's in charge.
MLF is 43 years old and, at times, could pass for being in his early 30s. Even when they were winning, he would come across as the young kid who was just excited to be there. It's crucial for him to establish he's the leader and present the image that he's in charge. All of the previous Packers coaches in the post-Wolf era other than Rhodes had some degree of success. I don't remember Holmgren, Sherman, or McCarthy every coming across as not be in charge or trying to be one of the guys.