Confessions of a Polluted Mindset - No More Over-Promotion?
The Weekly Packers Brain Drain from Jersey Al.
By JerseyAl
The Seahawks are the NFL champions as the babysitter's (John Schneider) team came out on top of the kid's (Eliot Wolf) team on Sunday evening. Schneider's transformation of his team, highlighted by the bold move of trading away their Super Bowl Champ QB Russell Wilson, makes one wistfully long for the Packers having enjoyed the same success after parting ways with Aaron Rodgers. But they haven't. To their credit, the Packers deftly navigated a rebuild that hardly seemed like one, but they haven't been able to get over the hump from being a "really good" team to one that makes it to the Super Bowl. You can point the finger of blame in many different directions. The Packers have not hit on their early draft picks like the Seahawks have. The Packers coaching staff have not created the "killer instinct" ethos the Seahawks apparently have. Finally the players have not produced when it mattered the most.
Despite all of this, the 2026 Packers had a team capable of competing for the ultimate prize had injuries not put some of their highest impact players in street clothes watching from the sidelines. You can call that coping, you can call that making excuses, call it whatever you want. I call it being realistic and factual.
But now we look forward to 2026, which will bring much change, some of it having already occurred with the coaching staff. Eight coaches from the 2025 staff (plus Nathaniel Hackett) have taken jobs elsewhere, either joining Hafley in Miami or moving onto the Eagles' or Cowboys' staffs. The Packers have filled five of those positions so far and here's the good news - not a single one has been an internal promotion. I understand that you can "develop" coaches like you do players and it's something you want to do if you think you have a diamond in the rough with a particular young assistant. But there are two counterpoints to that.
When you have turnover on a staff, especially when a coordinator leaves, those rising star coaches are the ones that get picked off by other teams. There is no better way to discern how a team's assistants are viewed by the rest of the NFL than by paying attention to who gets pursued, and just as importantly, who doesn't. It's fair to assume that eight of the Packers' best assistants have been the objects of other teams' desires. So do you then just promote from who's left within and bring in new junior-level assistants? My answer is, it depends.
My second counterpoint to promoting from within is that I'm not a fan of coaches moving into higher-level spots for entirely different position groups than they have had experience in. That's fine for junior-level assistants, but your top assistants should have considerable experience with the position group they have been picked to lead. The recent example I go back to is Ryan Mahaffey, who was an assistant offensive line coach with Green Bay for two years and then promoted to wide receivers coach. Could this be why drops have been such an issue among Packers receivers - because they catch like offensive linemen? (that's a joke).
But seriously, looking at the coaches that have been hired so far, one word stands out - EXPERIENCE. And not just experience in years, but experience coaching the position group and/or doing the job they will have with the Packers. Here's a quick look.
Johnathan Gannon - Seven years as a defensive backs coach, two years as a DC and three years as a head coach.
Sam Siefkes - Eight years as a linebackers coach including college DC experience.
Bobby Babich - 12 years as a defensive backs coach including college & Pro DC experience.
Daniel Bullocks - 13 years coaching defensive backs, the last nine with the 49ers.
Noah Pauley - 10 years coaching wide receivers, all at the college level.
I hope this new approach is intentional and strategic, but whether it is or isn't, I like it so far!
Go Pack Go!
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"Jersey Al" Bracco is the Editor-In-Chief, part owner and wearer of various hats for CheeseheadTV.com and PackersTalk.com. He's a lifetime Packers fan living in the land of the Giants (and Jets). Follow Al on twitter at @JerseyalGBP.
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Comments (48)
T7Steve
February 11, 2026 at 06:22 am
Al, weather we use the excuse of injuries or not, there's no escaping the elephant in the room. The O-line wasn't up to standards (at least Packer standards) to start the season and then it started getting hurt and shuffled around. At their best could you have seen them looking any better than the 49ers or the Patriots against Seatle?
New contracts and deals are nice, and I hope the best for all the young players, but something needs to be done to build this team starting at the O-line. Maybe the D-line next to help the DBs that I don't know what to do about, but they'll look much beter with a D-line that's not getting pushed around.
golfpacker61
February 11, 2026 at 10:07 am
Yeah T7, this years areas to shore up are compounded by the fact the GB FO ignored the 2 biggest needs CB & DT, and surprise surprise, they are still the 2 biggest needs this year. Add OL depth almost as critical. I guess drafting 2 WRs in our top 3 picks wasn't such a good Idea since there were better than what we have now CBs still available in the 3rd round.
Any free agents are going to have to be reasonable. And we could take the pressure off the draft by trying to sign a Gannon player, Calais Campbell. He is a 1-2 year bridge but he is better than any interior lineman we have. He can stop the run and had 6.5 sacks last year, and cheao at $4-$5 million.
Another option is to call the Titans and see if the rumors are true about trading T'Vondre Sweat.
T7Steve
February 11, 2026 at 10:15 am
Doesn't this conversation keep happening every year lately? Are we the only ones (CHTV) that can see this or is it actually that hard to get the people needed?
Starrbrite
February 14, 2026 at 12:41 am
Calais Campbell is a great idea.
Cheezehead72
February 11, 2026 at 06:23 am
Al good article and good points but may I remind you that yeas ago the Packers had Edgar Bennett as one of those positional coaches. He was a RB that was the Packers WRs coach. Now I will admit going from being an RB to WR coach is not the same as going from OL coach to WR coach. After all RBs run routes and catch balls and he did help the Packers improve with their YACs.
Maybe part of the problem with caoch development is that MLF is a HC playcaller. If he was not the OC and HC maybe he would have more time to develop coaches.
Houndog
February 11, 2026 at 06:54 am
Cheezhead,
"maybe he would have more time to develop coaches"? Really?
They just had 8 coaches poached, other teams obviously think their assistants are up to par or better. And obviously, those assistants saw better opportunities elsewhere.
Maybe the problem IS that the HC playcaller is the one that needs developing!
T7Steve
February 11, 2026 at 07:04 am
I see most of them poached were on the defensive side of the ball, so your point is valid.
GregC
February 11, 2026 at 07:10 am
Two were poached from the offense. That's not nuthin'. What is your standard?
T7Steve
February 11, 2026 at 07:28 am
I'm below standards.
dobber
February 11, 2026 at 08:14 am
Virtually all the assistants went with Hafley or were hired by Sirianni or McCarthy, which sounds like familiarity bias. They have to believe that those guys were good for their job, but is it because they are looking for the best candidates, or choosing the best of what their circle offers?...isn't that part of how the Packers ended up with Joe Barry?
WestCoastPackerBacker
February 12, 2026 at 11:22 am
I’m so tired of the “familiarity bias” or “nepotism “ tropes that fans constantly cite. If you work in any industry where you move around a lot from organization to organization or location to location, you get to work with a lot of people. When it’s your turn to hire someone and you know someone who was good at their job when you or a colleague worked with them, then you know more about them than if you only know them from an interview.
I used to be a park ranger and I would jump at the chance to hire someone I’d worked with before if I knew they were good. Otherwise you can end up with someone who is just good in an interview.
It’s ridiculous to assume it’s a negative when MLF does this, especially since the rest of the league does it as well.
golfpacker61
February 11, 2026 at 10:09 am
Maybe there should be a comp pick rule if the coach that is poached is a coordinator.
dblbogey
February 11, 2026 at 10:37 am
"Many NFL head coaches, especially those with offensive backgrounds (like Shanahan/McVay types), call their own plays, often making up over half the league in recent years (around 15-20 out of 32)"
WestCoastPackerBacker
February 12, 2026 at 11:23 am
It’s literally what he was hired to do. He was known as a great offensive mind and a guy who got the most out of his QBs.
Savage57
February 11, 2026 at 06:53 am
The best succession plans find production from potential, whether internal promotion or external hires.
That blend is what you're after, not one method or the other. Have the Packers found that mix of continuity and cross-pollination?
As Berman was fond of saying, "And THAT'S why they play the games!" That along with making a shit ton of money.
GregC
February 11, 2026 at 07:17 am
I generally avoid the assistant coach debates. It's impossible to judge these guys when we never see them in action. It seems to me like you wouldn't want someone to coach a position group that he's never played or coached before, but it happens. Do the Packers do this more than most NFL teams? And is it a bad thing if they do? I honestly have no idea.
T7Steve
February 11, 2026 at 07:31 am
Maybe a good litmus test would be how many offensive coaches Hafley poached because he knew and worked with them here and probably other places before.
Cheezehead72
February 11, 2026 at 07:36 am
Does a coach poach assistant coaches because they are better coaches or they know their untapped potential.
You are right it is both.
GregC
February 11, 2026 at 07:49 am
So they had two offensive assistants poached, but they don't count because they weren't poached by Hafley. Nice job moving the goalposts on that one.
T7Steve
February 11, 2026 at 08:06 am
No. I was saying that if he trusted and wanted them, it would tell us something wouldn't it? I wasn't concerned with special teams at the time, so I don't care where the goal posts are.
dobber
February 11, 2026 at 08:12 am
I like the idea of drawing coaches from the college ranks. Those positions used to be all about teaching fundamentals and growing kids...maybe not so much, now, but I like the idea of having guys with a growth mindset in those places.
"Do the Packers do this more than most NFL teams?"
Remember not too long ago there was an article out there that talked about teams and experience coaching (specifically at the NFL level) prior to taking on their current assistant job and the Packers were at the bottom of the list. Part of that was hiring young guys and promoting from within (starting at QC guys) and part of it was supposed to point to the Packers no paying their assistants competitively. I think I'm butchering this explanation and someone else can fix it, but certainly the perception has been that the Packers do janky things with their assistants in hiring and filling jobs.
GregC
February 11, 2026 at 10:53 am
That was the Justis Mosqueda article on acmepackingcompany.com. He compared the experience outside of the organization for the coaching staffs that were in the playoffs and found that the Packers had the least amount. People made a big deal out this article, but all it suggested was that the Packers hire more from within than most other teams. That's something we already knew, or thought we knew. A deeper study would be needed to actually prove it. Justis assumed that coaches hired from within are paid less than coaches that are brought in from outside the organization, but we don't know that because the salaries of assistant coaches are not made public by any team. So the article was really a big nothingburger, but it struck a chord with fans who were angry about how the season ended and were looking for explanations. It fit the popular narrative that the Packer organization is not really interested in winning.
dobber
February 11, 2026 at 12:18 pm
That's what I meant. ;)
Thanks, Greg.
egbertsouse
February 11, 2026 at 07:37 am
I agree they had a lot of turnover in assistants, however, the ones that needed to go (Bissacia, Stenavich, Butkus) are still around preventing the team from improving.
T7Steve
February 11, 2026 at 07:48 am
At least we'll have a little continuity.
TXCHEESE
February 11, 2026 at 08:09 am
Completely agree. The OL has not been near as solid and deep, as in years past. And this has been 3 years running. Whether is not lining up correctly, to false starts, the OL has way too may unforced errors. This is a coaching issue.
Richy B. is obviously Gute and MLD's man crush, but he really hasn't been the savant he was made out to be.
So run it back again, and HPH (hope Pack hope)
dobber
February 11, 2026 at 12:24 pm
Cleveland just hired away the Packers' asst. STs coach to be their STs coordinator. That sends a cross-message to us as fans. If anything this backs up the positions of those who say that the Packers aren't buying the help that Bisaccia needs.
Since'61
February 11, 2026 at 08:07 am
This is what the NFL has become. Revolving doors of coaches and free agents. It is at least part of the reason why some teams can turn things around in a season or two while others languish in mediocrity until they find the right combination of coaches and players.
For the Packers they will need Gannon and his assistants on defense to have an immediate impact in 2026 if the Packers are going to reach the playoffs and hopefully have a deep playoff run. That could be an unreasonable expectation but we'll see.
Most importantly the Packers need to improve their OL and with Stenavich and Butkus not chosen to be poached by other teams I don't know if we can expect much improvement from them. What is obvious is that the OL did not play well during the 2025 season. Plus the Packers lost Micah Parsons and they lost their pass rush for the remainder of the season and the CBs were exposed as a weak link of the defense.
Can the new defensive assistants improve the CB room? Too early to tell. As for the OL the Packers may be able to improve that position group via the draft. At. the least the Packers need to add some quality depth to the OL and hopefully select a legitimate starting Center to improve the IOL. I would be fine if Gute selected a Center with the Packers first pick at #52. Especially if Rhyan leaves in FA. Even if he stays picking a starting Center could anchor the interior OL for the long term. Thanks, Since '61
golfpacker61
February 11, 2026 at 10:17 am
" I would be fine if Gute selected a Center with the Packers first pick at #52."
I really don't see any dominant, game changing center in this draft 61. Nothing close to Creed Humphrey, or even as good a Jackson Powers-Johnson 2 years ago. Maybe the Raiders would take a 4th rounder for him, they do have a new Front office situation and that usually leads to purging of previous regime picks.
The center prospect I like most is Trey Zuhn Tex A&M, 6-6 315 and was All-SEC playing OC/OT/OG. And probably a late 4th-5th rounder.
dobber
February 11, 2026 at 10:40 am
"The center prospect I like most is Trey Zuhn Tex A&M, 6-6 315 and was All-SEC playing OC/OT/OG."
This is the kind of path that sounds like the Packers. I don't know anything about his measurables, but someone who can narrow down to C and contribute at G creates a lot of game day flexibility (if he's not starting).
Since'61
February 11, 2026 at 10:48 am
I appreciate the feedback golfpacker and Dobber. I don't follow college football so I really have no idea who the Packers should select. My post is just based upon what I think the Packers need the most at this point and I think that they need to start fixing the OL at the Center position. I'll accept the suggestion of Trey Zuhn from Texas A&M. I agree that Rhyan will probably be gone in FA so the Packers need to do something. Thanks, Since '61
ThunderFromDownunder
February 12, 2026 at 12:06 am
I don`t know if you watched this vid ( its very interesting ) but my fear is he`s to big for the Packers to draft him .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBBb6eQzoH4
jannesbjornson
February 11, 2026 at 11:34 am
I believe Zuhn stays at one of the tackle positions. A guy who could back up Zach Tom, or the LT.
He played some fill-in snaps along the line, but primarily was the guy on the edge.
ThunderFromDownunder
February 12, 2026 at 12:18 am
Parker Brailsford at 6-2 290 might be more in the Packers size range .
dobber
February 11, 2026 at 10:30 am
"Can the new defensive assistants improve the CB room?"
They need to, because there's only so much they can hide behind an aggressive front 7--which is what they're going to need to use until Parsons gets back (and I hope they keep using after he does). Brian Flores' defense showed that you can hide so-so DB play and look pretty good with an aggressive plan at the LOS. I think the Packers have the depth at DE and athleticism at LB to make it go.
" I don't know if we can expect much improvement from them. What is obvious is that the OL did not play well during the 2025 season. "
I don't think Walker will be a tremendous loss at LT aside from his durability. He looked like he was mailing it in at times later in the season. Hopefully Morgan can step in and play at least as well. He looked good last preseason and decent against the Vikings in his lone LT start. I don't think the Packers have "ruined him". Belton should be better with an offseason to get stronger and focus on G (or whatever position they choose to line him up at). They'll get Tom back. If they bring Rhyan back, a chance to focus on C and the line calls will likely make him better in '26. IOL (C in particular, and G if they move Belton) and depth are the key pieces. They should be better, but I don't know how much better.
Unless Monk is a star in waiting, I think the Packers sign a low-money C whether they draft one or not...if they don't sign Rhyan (and I think his asking price will go up as other FA centers get re-upped by their teams and the market thins) they'll sign someone to hold down the fort for a year or two until they can draft a successor.
SinceLombardi
February 11, 2026 at 08:32 am
Don’t forget that two point conversion miracle the Seahawks had against the Rams. It gave them the division.
Conversely the Packers had the Romeo Doubs disaster on the onside kickoff that basically ended the season.
Never factor out the bounce of the ball. It hasn’t bounced GB’s way since 2014.
Bitternotsour
February 11, 2026 at 09:34 am
well said.
Swisch
February 11, 2026 at 08:34 am
The Seahawks got a lot more for Wilson than the Packers did for Rodgers, because the Packers hung on to Rodgers too long. The Seahawks got a truckload, the Packers only enough to fill the back seat of a compact car.
My impression is that Rodgers was holding the Packers hostage. He was the de facto head coach and general manager. He was arrogantly undermining the team while at the same time overthrowing it as the top player.
That's why Aaron Rodgers was the fault line around which the Packers did indeed crumble in times of stress and tumult -- such as against the 49ers (Lazard wide open across the middle) and the Bucs (first-and-goal from the 8).
Rodgers was fool's gold.
He'll glitter at times, winning some individual awards and more than a few games; but when it really counts, he'll be exposed as a fake. The rest of the team won't rally around an artificial leader.
Never again should the Packers allow any player to push them around, no matter how talented. It's demeaning and ultimately self-defeating.
P.S. I'm truly rooting for Rodgers as a player and a person; but, it seems, the best thing a friend could do for him would be to kick him in the pants.
BuckyBadger
February 11, 2026 at 09:47 am
I was pushing to trade Rodgers that same year and EVERYONE said I was nuts. You don't trade an MVP I was told. I saw enough during the SF name to know Rodgers was headed the wrong way and will never run the offense the way it should be.
TarynsEyes
February 11, 2026 at 09:24 am
So, the number of asst coaches being pursued and taken is a representation of how good they are. By that measure, it proves the players on this team aren't and couldn't be coached up. Or, it says that other teams believe MLF couldn't get the best from the asst coaches. Which makes one believe that it's all an HC issue.
BuckyBadger
February 11, 2026 at 09:46 am
If others thought MLF was a bad coach they wouldn't be touching his staff. Talk about bending yourself into a pretzel to make something positive a negative on MLF.
TarynsEyes
February 11, 2026 at 10:10 am
It appears you're of the MLF has to be considered great ilk.
Posing scenarios and/or looking for answers is not bending oneself into a pretzel, but perhaps those who don't pose scenarios and/or ask questions are the bent pretzels.
dblbogey
February 11, 2026 at 10:40 am
Your high opinion of yourself is unwarranted.
Lphill
February 11, 2026 at 11:49 am
I'm not sorry to see Hafley go , his defense couldn't function after losing Parsons, blew leads in I think 5 games ?
dobber
February 11, 2026 at 12:22 pm
I think the jump we saw in '24 had as much to do with Campanile as it did Hafley.
GregC
February 11, 2026 at 01:29 pm
I think it had even more to do with Xavier McKinney, Edgerrin Cooper, and Evan Williams. Can anyone even remember the names of the safeties in 2023? There was that guy who was married to Simone Biles, and there was that other guy. Atari Bigby? No, not Atari Bigby. Some guy who was kind of like him but without the catchy name.
dobber
February 11, 2026 at 06:46 pm
Owens and Rudy Ford.
PhantomII
February 11, 2026 at 08:59 pm
LOL...GB lost the last 5 games in a row.....The Coaches are not all that....a lot of the players are not all that. They could poach every coach we have and I would be okay with it. The OL is subpar, the game calling is also...the ST will probably always be...The defense was also subpar. We need an infusion of talent on the OL / Vet TE2. Defense needs more...Vet DL /Vet DE / Vet CB...as well as draft picks at all those positions...Also field goal kicker. In order for the coaches to be more effective we need a Veteran posse infused in key areas and show the pups the way and cut where needed especially DE....GPG