GREEN BAY, Wis. — At his core, Matt LaFleur is a quarterback.
Perhaps not one who many individuals noticed play, until they have been being attentive to NCAA Division II soccer within the early 2000s or have been followers of the Omaha Beef or Billings Outlaws within the early years of the Nationwide Indoor Soccer League.
However that is how the Inexperienced Bay Packers coach sees soccer — via the eyes of a quarterback.
Maybe that is why LaFleur, as he oversaw the transition from four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers to first-year starter Jordan Love this season, started the one approach he knew how.
“It is the identical strategy we do, I might say, yearly,” the fifth-year coach defined as he ready Love and the Packers for Saturday’s NFC divisional spherical playoff sport on the San Francisco 49ers (8:15 p.m. ET, Fox).
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Eight months later, that strategy not solely has Love taking part in in addition to — if not higher than — any quarterback within the NFL, but it surely has additionally fueled the Packers’ late-season run that has them on the verge of doing the as soon as unimaginable: hitting on and growing a 3rd straight franchise quarterback, persevering with a run of excellence that dates to Corridor of Famer Brett Favre’s emergence in 1992.
If anybody thought LaFleur’s success in his first three years — which included back-to-back-to-back 13-win seasons and two NFC Championship Recreation appearances — was merely a journey on Rodgers’ coattails, then what he has completed with Love this season ought to dispel that notion.
“That is silly,” stated former NFL MVP quarterback Wealthy Gannon, who calls video games for CBS Sports activities and SiriusXM NFL Radio. “I simply suppose Matt’s completed an important job with this child.”
A vice chairman of participant personnel for an additional playoff crew agreed.
“I imply, the proof is within the work,” he stated.
One other longtime NFL scout used only one phrase to explain the job LaFleur has completed this season: “Unimaginable.”
The scout, nonetheless, was fast to credit score common supervisor Brian Gutekunst and his employees for not solely having the foresight to make Love a first-round decide in 2020 (after Rodgers had led the Packers to the convention championship sport in 2019), however to construct the younger roster round him — forming the youngest crew to achieve the playoffs since 1974.
“It has been elite evaluating and drafting,” the scout stated. “It is all of the group. They do issues the suitable approach, and that crew is younger sufficient to go as much as San Francisco and win.”
The checklist of coaches who’ve gained large after a Corridor of Fame quarterback left the crew begins with Invoice Walsh, whose 49ers groups went seamlessly from Joe Montana to Steve Younger. The fashionable-era checklist would possibly finish there.
“It helps if the brand new quarterback is there with the outdated one and might see the way you do issues,” stated former Packers head coach Mike Holmgren, who labored with each Montana and Younger as an assistant with the 49ers.
“The problem is the second participant is rarely fairly the identical participant. They’re totally different they usually have distinctive expertise. You train them the identical approach and you’ve got your requirements set the identical approach, which is essential, however then as a coach it’s important to alter to that participant’s explicit skills as a result of it is not going to be the identical.”
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Holmgren discovered that when he arrived in Inexperienced Bay in 1992 and started to work with the gunslinging Favre.
“Coming from Joe Montana, who did every little thing virtually good, to Brett — and I attempted to show him the identical approach,” Holmgren stated. “However then after some time, I’m going, ‘OK, I do know he is attempting and I am attempting, but it surely’s not working. It is not the identical. He isn’t the identical. So let’s try to determine sure issues, let him play whereas nonetheless being disciplined.'”
From afar, Holmgren stated it is truthful to imagine LaFleur has made the identical sorts of changes going from Rodgers to Love.
“I believe it is actually showcased the sort of instructor that Matt is as a result of I believe you’ve got seen regular development from Jordan all through the complete yr,” stated former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who performed two seasons (2015-16) in Atlanta with LaFleur as his place coach. “Should you simply have a look at the numbers from Week 11 on, it is simply extremely spectacular.
“They went via the rising pains of beginning for the primary time, and I believe Matt took his time and did not give Jordan an excessive amount of too rapidly and let him play into it.”
Like Holmgren and most offensive gurus, LaFleur lives by the small print. Ryan discovered that straight away from LaFleur.
“Matt’s bought this factor referred to as a ‘Quarterback Pack’ that had each learn and development and what the footwork was,” stated Ryan, who now serves as an analyst for CBS Sports activities. “And it was for each play, each protection that you just undergo, and he would do it each week.”
Even with the LaFleur-Love pairing in its infancy, the early returns recommend the coach has not less than one thing to do with the success.
Over the ultimate eight regular-season video games, Love accomplished 70.3% of his passes (third greatest over that stretch) and was second in landing passes (18, one behind Dallas’ Dak Prescott) with just one interception. For the complete 17-game season, Love completed second within the NFL with 32 landing passes (Prescott had 36).
“Jordan coming in right here in 2020, sitting behind Aaron, getting one begin in these three years, and you may simply inform he discovered a lot and actually [got] ingrained into Matt’s system,” stated Packers guard Jon Runyan, who got here to the Packers in the identical draft class as Love.
“Matt’s a quarterback. [Love] simply took it and ran with with the ability to be taught from Matt and taking this entire offense on himself.”
LaFleur and Love did not have a lot of a base to lean on after they started making ready for this season. Love had one profession begin, a 13-7 loss at Kansas Metropolis in 2021 when COVID-19 sidelined Rodgers for the week. Love went 19-of-34 for 190 yards, one landing, one interception and a 33.1 QBR.
LaFleur has admitted again and again that he and the teaching employees left Love ill-prepared for the stress bundle the Chiefs delivered that evening.
In order that’s the place LaFleur and his offensive assistants started.
It led them to a key second in Sunday’s 48-32 wild-card playoff win on the Dallas Cowboys. The Packers have been up 14-0 late within the second quarter, and Love suspected the blitz was approaching third-and-7 from the Dallas 20-yard line. He made positive rookie tight finish Tucker Kraft knew to remain in and block, which helped give him simply sufficient time to throw off his again foot and hit rookie receiver Dontayvion Wicks on a publish route for a landing.
“That zero blitz is a main instance of one thing that, going into the yr … we made a powerful emphasis to make it possible for we had solutions for when individuals wished to all-out us,” LaFleur defined this week.
“It is time spent, worth acquired, so you bought to guage how a lot time you wish to put into that. … A matter of some seconds to get Tuck to remain in on a safety and to hold in there once you bought a free runner at you. I simply thought that was so spectacular, and I believe that is only a nice instance of what he’s, the expansion that is transpired with him.”
It is a idea LaFleur might need glossed over with the veteran Rodgers, however for a quarterback who had little expertise, the teaching employees knew they might not take shortcuts this time round.
“Matt taught him, ‘Should you do not perceive protections, we’re simply going to get heated up,'” Gannon stated. “I believe he is gotten higher with that because the season’s gone alongside.
“There’s plenty of examples because the season has gone alongside, and also you see a man who clearly understands protections, is aware of the place his hots are, is aware of the place the quick-answer throws are, understands the place he can drift to create an additional cut up second, maintain the soccer, how to attract the frenzy.”
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Mentioned LaFleur: “It is a credit score to the gamers, as a result of not each participant can try this — I have been round plenty of quarterbacks that do not ever wish to change the safety or simply battle with it, fairly frankly — simply the quantity of labor that he is put in.”
LaFleur additionally credited quarterbacks coach Tom Clements — the one individual to educate Favre, Rodgers and Love — for aiding in Love’s growth. Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich and passing sport coordinator Jason Vrable are additionally amongst those that have labored intently with Love.
“Clearly with Aaron, simply how a lot information he has of the sport, he is capable of perceive issues and get to sure seems to be that he would possibly need, the place I haven’t got as a lot information in that space,” Love stated this week. “However I believe Matt offers you all the data you want, all of the keys to achieve success, and it is sort of on you to make it occur once you get on the market on the sector.
“However I believe that is the important thing — with Matt, with Tom, with Steno — is that they coach everyone the identical approach, provide you with all the data it’s essential to achieve success and sort of put it on you to go on the market and achieve success.”
None of these three assistant coaches was in his present function in the beginning of LaFleur’s time. The truth that LaFleur misplaced offensive coaches like Nathaniel Hackett, Justin Outten and Luke Getsy from his authentic employees and nonetheless pulled this off ought to say one thing about him as a head coach.
It did not occur in a single day, but it surely did occur in some uncommon locations, in accordance with Packers assistant head coach/particular groups coordinator Wealthy Bisaccia.
“I consider he has an important working relationship with Jordan,” Bisaccia stated not too long ago. “They speak on the bus a bunch earlier than video games. They speak a bunch on Bus 1 after video games. [In] his crew conferences, he is to the purpose [and] he is precise.”
