lets get it right this time !!!!

NO STALEY PLEASE!

Jubilation in Packerland!

Now the concern is who will Lafleur appoint as the next DC. He whiffed on Mennenga, Drayton and Barry so his track record is not stellar when selecting staff. If he gets a good one, the Packers could be serious contenders next year.

I am hoping for Evero, but he would have to be made an Associate Head Coach as Carolina is blocking lateral moves for Evero. I would settle for Leonhard if Evero isn't available. There are others like Martindale or Belichick (highly doubtful he would accept a DC position), but I would prefer a younger guy to match up to this young roster better.

I haven't seen or read anything but the headline just yet, but let me say this,

HALLELUJAH !!!!!

OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its 9 AM - but time for a drink (or two)!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so afraid that LMF was going to give him one more try.

No matter who's the next coach, we need a stud S first and another ILB & DT.

Premium job! Young up and coming team, tons of premium talent. (Allegedly?)

Exciting to think GB could get an innovative young DC who can make the D perform BETTER than the sum of its eight first round parts!

Get a guy can game plan and scheme for each game. And motivate people. IT IS TIME.

Ding Dong! The Witch is dead

Really hoping Mike Vrabel end up being the DC!

I wish JB the best and now hope we can get the best! It's been a while since we have had a consistently good defense.

The Big Moment is here for Matt LaFleur. I don't love most of the big names who are being mentioned, and I would like to see him go with an up-and-coming defensive coach. But LaFleur will be making this decision with WAY more information than I have. Remember that LaFeur himself was not a big name when the Packers hired him.

Thank you! The first step is made. That is a big one for LaFleur. Maybe a sign he is becoming a HC. Accepting that the D isn’t good enough and needs to be better and that personal relationships shouldn’t factor once that realization has been made is a critical ability for a leader.

So half done, but a hard step for LaFleur I believe. Now, what I hope for is a replacement that runs a different system and is more focused on talent than scheme and more adaptive to opponents strengths and calling and sees defense as a way to win not avoid losing.

We have the capital to adjust this year and that was why we needed to decide if Barry was the DC to draft for. Let’s hope LaFleur has the ability to identify and recruit the right guy and a willingness to take on a more assertive personality and new ideas.

A good day. Barry isn’t a bad guy, but the D wasn’t the answer and this had to come. Teams have to try to get better off the field as well as on. Let’s hope it works, but the status quo wasn’t and now we aren’t going to waste a year, one with a lot of draft capital, confirming that yet again. We just took the first step in changing that and LaFleur possibly took a big one for his personal growth. I hope so.

Look peeps Bill Belicheck is NOT taking a DC job. The guy won 5 Super Bowls.

Ron Rivera would be awesome.

Leanord would work.

Vrabel?

Good. I hope his replacement is creative enough, and willing, to adjust their schemes to the strengths of their players. That shouldn't have been an issue in the first place, but here we are. If the cap space allows, it'd be great if the FO aids the new hire with a couple free agent pickups at S, DL, and ILB, with a focus on rush defense, and solid tacklers over pure athletes.

MLF continues to impress! He righted the ship when this rookie team was sinking. Then he did the unthinkable and coached this young team to the playoffs. Now he has made the tough decision and fired his friend and DC.

I thought MLF was the right guy at the right time for AR12's career but I wasn't convinced MLF was the right guy for such a young team.

Now I think it's safe to say these young Packers are in very good hands!

Chris Hewitt. Love the way Baltimore plays defense.

Good. It's already been a successful offseason.

My must have for the next DC.

- They must be versatile/multiple however you want to call it. They have to be able to make adjustments, changes from week to week, and in game. They need someone that can adjust to what is happening on the field. And when they find something that is working, exploit the offense with it.

- They must be aggressive! They have some guys who can get after the QB. They need to do things to allow them to get to the QB. One of those things is not having DB's playing 10 yards off the ball. They need to be aggressive and get in players faces and to be playing downhill!

- They need to be able to put players in the best positions to succeed. I think of Savage as an example. It felt like he was misused under Barry. He was much better playing closer to the LOS then farther off. He was better with Pettine, then Barry.

So with saying that stuff the guy I want is Jim Leonhard. I wanted him 3 years ago, I want him now. I'm a Badger's fan so I watched him coach his entire time at Wisconsin. That is not why I want him. I want him because of what he did as a coach. He had one of the top defenses every year that he was there. And he didn't have the top talent in the league.
This is where his defense ranked every year he was there.
2017- 3
2018 - 35
2019 - 10
2020 - 10
2021 - 4
2022 - 17
This is the number of defensive players drafted since 2017 from Wisconsin and the round they were taken.
2017 - TJ Watt (1), Vinee Biegel (4)
2018 - Nick Nelson (4), Natrell Jamerson (5), Jack Cichy (6)
2019 - Ryan Connelly (5), Andrew Van Ginkel (5)
2020 - Zack Baun (3)
2021 - Isaiahh Loudermilk (5), Rachad Wildgoose (6)
2022 - Leo Chenal (3), Matt Henningsen (6), Faion Hicks (7)
2023 - Keeanu Benton (2), Nick Herbig (4)

To break this down, he has had 1- 1st round pick. 1- 2nd round pick. 2- 3rd round picks. 3- 4th round picks. 4- 5th round picks. 3- 6th round picks. 1- 7th round pick.

There was a not a ton of top NFL talent taken in the years he was there. But he also had one of the best defenses routinely every year. That tells me that what he was doing was working really good, and he didn't rely on the players talents.
The other reason why I like Leonhard. He adjusts to what is happening on the field. There was a game where he sent Chenel on a blitz up the middle over the C. He realized that the C couldn't match Chenel's power and speed, so what did he do. He kept sending him down after down. I think he had like 3 sacks and 5 tackles for a loss that game.

I know people will say he ran the same type of scheme as Pettine. Yes they were in the same types of schemes. But its the person running it that is the difference.

Something else is the energy that he brings. He is a high energy guy and knows how to motivate guys. And yes in the NFL some guy still need the motivation. It shouldn't be that way but it is.

For me my top choice is Leonhard. It was 3 years ago and it is today.

I dont know whether we want an ex head coach to return as a DC - know that a bunch of them are doing well. But just look at what Patricia has done - zilch - two firings in a row. Now Bill B's coaching tree is littered with more failures that successes. Now maybe a young and up and comer? Dont know if that is what is needed.
But I do know that retreads dont work - Capers and keeping them in too long Barry Pettine doesnt work either. But we do need a person who will motivate and get results and has the Ravens approach to defense and it will be up to Gute to get those types of guys drafted as we improve over the long haul all the while producing with the talent that we currently have on the roster.

Jim Leonhard wasn't even a coach in 2023. He was a senior football analyst for the U of Illinois. Now, he's at a lower job than he was at with the Wisconsin Badgers, so today it's a different circumstance.

The Packers had reached the elite 8. This was definitely Barry's ceiling as a DC. Still need to level-up if the team is to reach the pinnacle. So the next DC should at least be an A-lister.

Frankly, I was surprised that management did not squander this timely opportunity to potentially make the team better. It seems that Jordan Love's meteoric rise has positively affected others within Murphy's management structure.

Normally I would never celebrate someone losing their job. Been there done that and it hurts. HOWEVER, I'm making and exception this time and will probably have large volumns of alcohol tonight more out of shock that they actually did this. Never thought they would get rid of this guy. The team is already vastly improved over this season.
Good job packer org!

I wish I had a dollar for each Packers fan who just said "It's about DAMN time!" I would be rich.

Wonder if the Packers pulling the trigger quickly means they have someone in mind and don’t want him to get away? Curious to see if they go with an ex- head coach, a current DC or an up and comer?
Vrabel, Reich, Rivera, Staley, Belichick are all out there.
Guess I’m hoping for young and aggressive.

Find a coach who insists on fundamentals, proper tackling, etc., with high character & high football IQ.
BTW, I think Vrabel is too intense for MLF, personally.

I think many DC's would jump @ the chance to coach an ascending team with a HC like Matt LaFleur.

Finally!!! Now it's a mater of who is selected to replace Barry. I hope the Packers due their due diligence and don't hire someone after one interview. Also they should not be scared off from a good selection because of price. Just identify and hire the most qualified candidate. Thanks, Since '61

As a starting reference point for the new DC - management should check the Ravens-Texans playoff game. With only a few minutes left in the game, and up by 24 points, Baltimore's D continued to press Houston's offense. None of this prevent defense - soft zone befuddlement - that caused the Packers to bring back their cooled-off starters within a 5 minute span during the Cowboys game. So someone from that coaching line.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! Breaking into my best Handel’s Messiah.

Now the Packers need to find the RIGHT guy. Won’t be easy but this wasn’t working. Go find him Gute!

RIP Joe Berry. RIP = Retire In Peace

It's a sadness to see Barry go; but at the same time, and most of all, what a relief!
Barry may have a lot of knowledge about NFL defenses that can serve him well in some capacity in the league, but he doesn't seem to have the knack for coordinating a defense to bring out the best in its players, and to make adjustments during a game.
That's the way life is, the disappointment of finding out what our limitations are, but also appreciating what we are able to do well, and finding our niche.
May Joe Barry have a great career, and a great life.
***
The goal for the Packers has to be a dominating defense.
It seems that involves a significant increase in aggressiveness.
Over so many years, the defenses of Capers, Pettine, and Barry have been seemingly too passive, at times to the severe distress of us fans watching helplessly as opposing offenses picked us apart.
It's time for our defense to stop backpedaling so much and to take the initiative going forward.
It's time for our defense to be more proactive and less reactive.
It's time for our defense to go on the offensive at times.
It's time for some dash and daring, and our defense dictating the terms on the field.