Packers Continue Coaching Staff Shakeup
The Green Bay Packers' coaching staff is still undergoing a series of changes and adjustments as the month of January wears on.
To start the week, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the Packers are hiring Bowling Green safeties coach Ryan Downard. Downard previously served under new Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine when he was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, assisting with the defensive line in 2014 and defensive backs in 2015.
Downard's role with the Packers has yet to be made official, as the team still has plenty of vacancies along their defensive staff. The likelihood, however, is that he'll replace former defensive quality control assistant Tim McGarigle, who now resides on the Northwestern coaching staff.
Perry was one of the three in-house candidates -- along with cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr. and linebackers coach Winston Moss -- to be Dom Capers' replacement as defensive coordinator. As a result, Perry may experience the other opportunities he has on the table.
One of those opportunities is a potential role on newest Tennesee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel's defensive coaching staff.
Another staff move the Packers made on Monday was shifting assistant special teams coach Jason Simmons to assistant defensive backs coach, as reported by Sportingnews.com's Alex Marvez.
Simmons, a former player for 10 seasons, first came to Green Bay as the team's coaching administrator in 2011. He was promoted to being a special teams assistant at the end of the 2014 season after working closely with the defensive backs in 2014.
No coaching staff adjustments, including the hirings of Pettine and offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, have been made official by the team. They're likely waiting until they finish filling in every vacant spot.
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Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].
Comments (14)
Johnblood27
January 22, 2018 at 11:58 pm
I am still waiting for a call...
croatpackfan
January 23, 2018 at 01:44 am
Good one... I'll say few words to Mikes (both of them) in your favour...
Lphill
January 23, 2018 at 05:12 am
I have no problem with Pettine bringing in guys he is familiar with , nothing wrong with new blood new ideas .
Turophile
January 23, 2018 at 08:02 am
A beneficial executive shakeup that cleared out the upper end of a top-heavy group. Now execs/scouts further down the pecking order are able to begin moving up the org. Would have liked to keep Highsmith, but his loss is just fallout from the makeover. I think Wolf is better off out of Green Bay, where he can be appreciated for himself, not as a son to a famous former Packer GM.
A coaching carnage, that (imo) was well overdue. You didn't see many attempts to poach Packers coaches, unlike the top of the exec/scout tree. That rather comfortable but stale staff, has now been given a huge re-make.
I like the exec shakeup, I like the coordinator and coach changes. I like the idea of new ideas filtering in from many places, and I like the idea of a re-energised McCarthy. I'm looking forward to the 2018 season with high expectations. Exciting times, for a fan.
worztik
January 23, 2018 at 09:41 am
Well said T... I agree wholeheartedly!!!!!
DD
January 23, 2018 at 09:11 am
Bringing in new eyes, attitude, and blood is good. But, I still say they have one big problem: MM leading them. 2018 will be very telling. Hope I'm totally wrong, but MM has the final say???
Chuck Farley
January 23, 2018 at 11:18 am
I would love to see the the GM tell MM, coach the team and let the Offensive coach call plays and def coach call plays and just manage the dam game, the red flags, and the clock and quit wasting time outs.
Zimmer hates to call timeouts and expects to have at least two or all three at the end of games when they are needed most. You can do that when your not occupied with calling plays and everything else. OR just get rid of mccarthy period
Since'61
January 23, 2018 at 12:17 pm
Zimmer lost his last game 38-7 and it would not have mattered if he had 10 timeouts left. Once his team was down 21-7 he was totally clueless out there and he looked it.
Rodgers calls many of the timeouts to prevent either a delay of game penalty or a turnover if he has the wrong package or incorrect formation against a particular defense. Those are not wasted timeouts when they prevent penalties, turnovers and/or injuries. Thanks, Since '61
flackcatcher
January 23, 2018 at 07:32 pm
We take QB1 performance as normal in Green Bay. It took his backup to remind us packers fans how special he is. The good thing that came out of ARods injury(if one can call it that) is how mentally lazy the head coach had become in all aspects of the game. On the other hand, after watching the NFC championship last Sunday, I suddenly felt sorry for the Giants next year. Good HC are hard to find in the NFL.
TXCHEESE
January 23, 2018 at 02:21 pm
Amen to that '61. Holding on to timeouts for the sake of having them at the end of the half, when you can avoid a penalty or big negative play is smart football. What are you going to do with un-used timeouts? Donate them to charity? I have absolutely no issues with MM as the head coach, other than he let DC hang around about 2 or 3 years longer than he should have. I'm extremely happy about all the new staff coming in on the defensive side of the ball. There won't be any pre-conceived notions about the players. Everyone must prove their value to the coaches, as it should be every year. No hall passes for anyone.
Doug Niemczynski
January 23, 2018 at 03:06 pm
Put me on the the packers team coaching staff as a fan based personel coaching assistant where i will notice the unnoticeable things that the coaching staff refuses to notice. For example I watched the Houston Texans Seattle Seahawks game I noticed with only about 4 minutes left to play the defense of player on the Seattle Seahawks jumped over the offense lineman of the Houston Texans & hit the right knee of DeShaun Watson. That right there was an indication of a possible potential season ending injury that other coaches , players , medical staff either didn't notice or cared not to notice. But, what happened then was that Thursday in practice DeShawn Watson steps back and tears the right ACL. Boom there season is over. I would have been the person that noticed that and brought it to their attention
and saved the Houston Texan season. And only then will I stop posting on this website.
dobber
January 23, 2018 at 03:56 pm
"And only then will I stop posting on this website."
Dear Houston Texans Hiring Dude,
Please, please, PLEASE hire Doug.
Thanks,
All CHTV patrons.
Bearmeat
January 23, 2018 at 04:43 pm
LOL!
Just scroll over his stuff when you see the avatar. It's much easier. :)
Curt
January 23, 2018 at 03:07 pm
Gotta say calling a time out to save five yards and then running a play that can't possibility get a first down is one of my pet peeves. Worse is the fourth and one time out after unsuccessfully trying to draw the defense offside. Absolutely a waste of a time out and done more than once this past year.