HEADLINES

Tom Clements

Packers Announce Coaching Changes

February 12th, 2015 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

12:05pm: McCarthy confirmed at his press conference that Clements will call the offensive plays for the Packers in 2015, tweets Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

11:58am: The Packers have confirmed a handful of previously reported coaching changes, announcing today in a press release that the team has made changes on both sides of the ball, and named a pair of new special teams assistants as well. The new titles on Mike McCarthy‘s staff are as follows:

  • Tom Clements: Associate head coach/offense
  • Edgar Bennett: Offensive coordinator
  • Alex Van Pelt: Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach
  • Mike Solari: Assistant offensive line coach
  • Jerry Montgomery: Defensive front assistant
  • Ron Zook: Special teams coordinator
  • Jason Simmons: Assistant special teams coach

While the press release doesn’t mention anything about the Packers’ offensive play calls, McCarthy is expected to hand over the reins on play-calling to Clements as part of his promotion. Clements had previously been Green Bay’s offensive coordinator, while McCarthy called the plays, and now it appears that Bennett will be the OC while Clements calls plays.

McCarthy will speak to local reporters at the top of the hour to confirm the changes.

Packers To Make OC Change

February 8th, 2015 at 7:20pm CST by Dallas Robinson

7:20pm: The Packers have decided to shake up their offensive staff, elevating Clements to associate head coach and moving Bennett to replace him at offensive coordinator, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports.

The most notable change from this reshuffling: Clements will accept the play-calling reins from McCarthy. These increased roles could make it easier for Packers assistants to receive head-coaching interviews, Rapoport tweeted  Sunday after McCarthy questioned why his top staffers were never the “hot candidates,” in a January Rapoport account.

A former running back in Green Bay, Bennett coached the receivers the past four years after presiding over the running backs in the previous six seasons. The Packers have continued to produce top-flight receiving corps despite losses of key homegrown cogs Donald Driver (retirement), Greg Jennings (signed with the Vikings in 2013) and James Jones (UFA-Vikings in 2014).

Homegrown talents Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb combined for 25 receiving scores this season, and both landed on Pro Bowl rosters.

4:36 pm: The Packers 2014 season was a successful one by most standards, as the club won 12 games and finished first in the NFC North. A devastating loss to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game looms over Green Bay, however, and the team is now reportedly considering changes to its coaching staff. Sources tell Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com that head coach Mike McCarthy is “looking at different possibilities” with regards to altering his staff’s responsibilities, with once such scenario entailing him relinquishing play-calling duties.

Radio station 104.5 The Fan in Green Bay reported (Twitter link) that offensive coordinator Tom Clements is set to be promoted to associate head coach and will be handed the job of calling plays, while current receivers coach Edgar Bennett would shift to OC. Demovsky couldn’t confirm that exact structural change, and added that nothing has been finalized yet. Still, sources tell the ESPN scribe that McCarthy has privately noted the difficulty of managing the day-to-day operations of the team while also tending to play-calling, so the staff changes shouldn’t come as a surprise.

McCarthy, the Packers’ HC since 2006, has called the offensive plays for the duration of his reign in Green Bay. The offensive unit has been consistently above-average, finishing no lower than 11th in DVOA since 2007, including two No. 1 finishes (2011 and 2014). Clements has been on the Packers’ coaching staff since 2006, as well, acting as the QB coach from ’06-’12, then taking over as OC in 2013 following the departure of Joe Philbin. He was the play-caller for the Bills from 2004-05.

Sam Robinson contributed to this report.

North Notes: Browns, Martz, Packers, Vikes

January 20th, 2015 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams

The Browns‘ search for an offensive coordinator appears to have been one of the league’s more expansive hunts so far, with nearly a dozen candidates linked to the position at some point, though many have since found other jobs. Still, perhaps no name among Cleveland’s candidates is more surprising than the one Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets today. According to Rapoport, former Rams head coach Mike Martz recently interviewed with the Browns for their OC job. A source tells Alex Marvez of Fox Sports (Twitter link) that Martz is indeed interested in returning to coaching after essentially being retired since leaving the Bears after the 2011 season.

Here’s more on the Browns and a few other teams from out of the NFL’s two North divisions:

  • It’s not clear if the Browns have requested permission to interview him at this point, but Packers offensive coordinator Tom Clements is on the club’s radar, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. While a move to Cleveland’s offensive coordinator job would technically be a lateral move for Clements, he doesn’t currently call the plays in Green Bay, with head coach Mike McCarthy handling that role.
  • In the wake of the Packers’ loss to the Seahawks on Sunday, right tackle Bryan Bulaga wasn’t ready on Monday to speculate about whether or not he’ll be back in Green Bay next season, as Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. “Right now, I’m really not even thinking about it to be honest with you. That’s really the last thing on my mind,” Bulaga said. “It’s a ‘we’ll see what happens’ kind of deal. This just ended yesterday. It’s kind of hard to look at it right now.”
  • With 14 players, including Bulaga, eligible for free agency this offseason, the Packers almost certainly won’t be able to retain everyone, but the “dream scenario” is to re-sign as many of those potential FAs as they can, says Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin.com.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap takes a look at some of the notable upcoming offseason decisions facing the Vikings, identifying Greg Jennings‘ deal as one worth restructuring, and Adrian Peterson and Chad Greenway as likely cap casualties.
  • In addition to working out Shawn Lemon, who signed a contract, and Delvin Breaux, whose tryout was previously reported, the Steelers also auditioned offensive linemen Brett Jones and Erle Ladson, punter Kasey Redfern, and kicker Jake Rogers, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.