A solid reorganization for the Pack. I am intrigued to see how changes impact our next two seasons. GO PACK GO!!

As soon as I saw Cleveland Browns attached to his name it was like oh no not again, more I read article sounds like he might be the guy. They need someone to break down the defense to the simplest form. Bright I would say not for this group, they need to be just a little better than average and they can compete, the last 5-6 yrs this group has been horrible can't get off the field on 3rd down too many time dbacks pointing at each other palms up like duh? was not my guy. Lets get a stud def to go along with AR for a few yrs and watch the success.

Can he make chicken salad?
Can he make a silk purse?

(BTW: Love that last paragraph!)

Well I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little excited just for the fact that the Packers will have some new blood at DC that will actually be on the sideline and not in the coaches box with a stupid rug on his head. I’m a little worried about the words “single high safety” as they relate to HHCD who was always late getting to the ball carrier or play this past season but hopefully that was an outlier and we get more of the 2015 (his best season in my book) version.

Pettine talks about a sponge, we needed a sponge to soak up the tears watching Dom's defense. This looks like a great choice for DC on paper, now get the players we need. Great point about the top, to high-to-mid level picks that are doing great else where. We all saw it and pulled our hair out watching it happen. I think this was one of the main reasons Dom and TT got the boot. Can't wait for the draft and training camp with all this new blood.

Our DC situation is one of the cases where I think one can legitimately say that a fresh start alone is a big step forward. Pettine’s record is impressive. I don’t see an obvious difference in its strength versus those if Fangio or Bradley. Good hire on paper. Let’s hope he can duplicate his prior success for us.

A key part of that will be his ability to rapidly and accurately assess our D roster and sort the wheat from the chaff. It will be interesting to see what he does with the coaching set up and personnel too

All in all I think this is a solid hire. Pettine is a good coach, a good teacher who I think will make a difference. The biggest difference though will be he'll actually play to his players strengths, not putting more on them than their capable of handling.

I'll be very curious to see who Pettine wants as his assistants. Are Perry and Whitt coming back under him? Could we perhaps see the end of Moss who I'm still not 100% clear on exactly what he did.

Pettine likes big corners, press man coverage and to employ 3-4 and 4-3 looks. The players will have to also learn 4-3 concepts, so I hope that is not too complex for them.

Pettine also likes to confuse opponents week-to-week with different looks. If we could do that weekly, I'm all for it.

I bet Winston Moss leaves for Detroit since Teryl Austin left for Cincy.

Draft the big CB from Iowa Josh Jackson, draft a pass rusher also, add a couple of pieces in free agency and the Packers may just field a respectable Defense next season and in the years to come. As Rodgers gets a bit older the Packers are going to need a great Defense so they don't have to win shootouts every week, that and a solid running game will help to prolong Rodgers career and get the Packers to several more Super Bowls.
This is a solid start. Kudos!

Good article, Ross, thanks.

I'm excited. Pettine talks about teaching guys in a way that works for them, using the smarter players to do the mental work so the other guys can just go fly.

Time will tell if he can make his scheme work with this roster, but I'm hopeful it's not such a departure (in terms of personnel required) that he needs two years to make major progress.

We just have to keep in mind that finishing 2018 something like 20th in DVOA would not be failure. This roster isn't talented enough(I think) to do much better than that. 2019? Sky's the limit!

I like the Pettine hiring. I am curious though, if his hiring was based on Fangio. Around the same time the news broke about Pettine, Fangio was reportedly close to resigning with the Bears.

But I think Pettine will be a good choice for the Packers defense. I am curious if they will be doing more 4-3 looks, and if so how much our personnel will change. To run the 4-3 we will need more DL and actual DE's.

The last year Pettine spent time with Seattle learning their system. He already has Rex Ryan's system and if he adds some of Seattle's schemes to his, look out. This could be a the making of a hell of a good defense. One of my favorite terms I saw being used when talking about Pettine's defenses is they are organized chaos. They are mostly simply schemes but are made to make things tough on the QB's because who is doing what is hard to read.

I read a great article on SI about how he teaches his scheme and how he wants smart players to run it. I do wonder if he will go out and look for some of his former players to help teach the everyone his system.

I like the hire. I am looking forward to seeing how Pettine fits his schemes with the current roster and players that will be added.

I believe this will turn out to be a good hire. sounds like he will bring some structure and leadership to guys like Martinez and HHCD. they need someone to step up and hold everyone accountable for their job, and they need to address the flaws in the pass defense, both the pass rush and the secondary. Maybe Pettine Is that guy.

it may be a little unfair, but if Packer fans and the organization were to be honest with themselves the whole philosophy and culture of whatever unit that's been out since the late 90s has been no better than subpar. the year 2010 and that postseason was special but arguuably fluke-ish. This is long overdue.

Pettine had Leonard & Reed as single high safety over his tenure (Nick Collins type). Wonder what Pettine thinks of Burnett?? If Burnett is not resigned, HA HA & Brice could be coached up? Tre Boston Car, TJ Ward Den Tavon Wilson Det Glover Quinn DET Bradley McDougald, SEA & Maurice Alexande RAMS are Free Agents

Since Storage Wars wasn't renewed, I'm glad this guy landed another job.

I think I love this hire. I also think MM is going to regret firing capers 2 years too late by sept 1.

I heard on local Sportstalk show this morning, his nickname was "blunt force trauma" in one of his previous positions, so he takes no "guff" from people.
If the player doesn't get it, they will be on the short leash for playing time. Need some discipline on this team. He has Pittsburgh ties going back with McCarthy so it makes sense.

Hopefully he can resurrect some of his past success with the Jets. I generally like the hire, and it's a plus it isn't one of our internal candidates. One thing they were saying is, his system is quite complex, so let's see how this all plays out. It didn't work too well in the past, so hopefully he's a better teacher, and can relate to players better than old Capers could.

I’m glad they didn’t go inside for this hire. Hopefully it will work out. I wish they would have gone outside for the GM hire. In fact, I wish they would have fired Murphy and MM and started over.

A lot of great points in the article. The last paragraph is very close to what I've been telling everyone. I realize we have needs on defense, especially pass rush, but I don't think they are as bad as most think. Truthfully, we have no idea what we have on d. We certainly didn't think we had a top 5 corner and safety when we let them go. A new coordinator is going to be like adding an entire draft class with existing players. The sum of this d was definitely less than the individual parts, the exact opposite of what good coaching is supposed to do.

I think it's time to go the free agent route for a corner/secondary . 5 number 1 and 2 picks in 4 years is to much. And unless there is a true pass rusher available, one that actually played the position in college and not a 3 year project, I'd love to see some much needed speed added on offense with our high picks finally.

Pettine: You worked two times with Leonhard as a defensive back. Now, convince Gute to hire him!! Also, try to bring back Green from jets. I'm good then!!

"The former Browns head coach's specialty is definitely pass defense."
Bingo!

Go Pettine Go! Thanks, Since '61

Excited to see the leash removed from Clark and Daniels. Let them get home from the middle!! I think that will add to some pass rush and in turn help out the CBs. Still need lots more out of our OLB and pass rush! Go get Kevin Greene back in here to coach up the OLB!!

Pettine, frankly like Fangio, Bradley and Capers will play single high safety as much as he can. Gotta have the corners and FS to do it. Can HaHa, King, Randall be those guys?

If Pettine watches HaHa's efforts late in the season, he might want to draft another Safety.

Currently i'm listening to Jim Leonard talking about Pettine on Wilde and Tausch.

Listening to Leonard I am even more excited about Pettine. Leonard played under Pettine for 6 years so he knows him well.

Leonard said Pettine will be flexible and creative. It won't be a 3-4 or 4-3. It will be both. He is great with match ups. Knows how to adjust the defense to fit its personnel and how to change it around his players strengths/weaknesses.

I really like what Leonard is saying about Pettine.

Well, there is no way we start the season without upgrading our D so that's a positive. I like that he comes from Ryan's tree not Capers'. Another positive. I also like that he had success in places without much of it and his passing D's are pretty good. Tells me he knows who to draft to make it all run.

Time will tell but I think we are already a better team across the board and am excited to see what kind of talent they add this off season. I think if he will be able to get more out of our current guys too. It will be interesting to see who he adds to his staff.

I watched the entire Murphy/Gute presser. The things I came away with were it's not going to be the same ol same ol. Murphy says the GM will have total control of FA, draft, and signings. Murphy is taking a more hands on approach also. Sounds like they really want to get things right. They didn't throw anyone under the bus, but agreed things had to change and everyone will be held accountable. Nobody's job is safe they say, from players down to coaches. After this year, everyone's been put on notice. Bout time! GOPACKGO

I think we will have the largest influx of impact players this off season we've seen in a very long time. Shoot, if we sign even just one top tier guy in FA it would be a giant leap forward.

Got to say, it's already a more exciting off season than I can remember.

Sounds very promising. Excited for the draft and FA. One thing is for certain, we will start a season with realistic expectations for growth over the course of the season. Far cry from, adding a rookie, and a new "package" and hoping for the best. Will not miss the days of the D playing well for a game or two, and then being left to wonder if it was just dam luck, a very bad opponent, or that we still suck, and being tortured the rest of the year into the playoffs. All the while knowing down inside that it's the same old D, same old approach, leading to a disaster at the worst possible moments. No more relying on or hoping for a miracle.

Wolf accepted assistent GM position with Browns.

Wish him a lot of luck!

I like the hire quite a bit actually. With today's schemes and sub becoming the primary defense, there is not that much difference from 34 to 43. Not like 5-10 years ago. We actually played lot of 43 Under on first down this year against the cowboys and saints in particular if you watch the film. Pettine loves the 43 under alignmnet because it gives versatility in defending a teams 11 personnel. You have enough beef to stop he run and you can easily add speed at he Will or Mike LB spot to deal with a TE.
Perry is better suited to play a wing 9 tech off anyway, He can be the under and rush from here too. Never saw him as a strait 3-4 player. He can still bend. I also see a guy like Josh Jones being utilized here to blitz out of the Will LB spot, just send him like a torpedo up the A gap. I am Not quite sure where Clay fits in here. I guess he could be $15 mil backside rush defender??? Haha. He's not a Sam LB, he would get tossed around like a rag doll there. Would this make Lowry a true 5 tech?? His alignment would be on the guards outside shoulder I think. Daniels can play a 3 or a 1, always liked him as a 1 anyway, hes shorter and can usually get underneath a guard just blowing up the Guards inside forcing a center double team. Clark is a tough matchup here too with a little rush to him on a single team. I will be interested to see what body type BG targets for "EDGE" players. Some one Cliff Avril-ish?? Arden Key?

So, Pettine likes smart players. Wonderlic doesn’t measure “football IQ” but the high to above average scorers on D include Lowry, Fackrell, Perry, Daniels, Martinez, Biegel, and M . Adams.

Below average are every key player in the secondary. T

There are plenty of good or great players with low wonderlic scores, but as a group the Packers secondary isn’t great.

Good signing, and insightful article, was hoping they would hire him. Remember his days with the Jets, when they won it was always because the defense kept it close, they had no offense. In fact, I saw a game at the Meadowlands in NY where we played the Jets and Pettine was DC. Rodgers had a rough day of it that day, we won though in a boring 6-3 match. As an aside, I noticed Richardson, the DL from Seattle may be a FA. He used to play with Pettine during those Jet years and was a force. Maybe we go get him and he could help groom others to Pettine's defense.
Pettine, his name means comb in Italian, maybe they got the right guy, this defense could use a good grooming.

I like that MM picked a completely different coaching tree for the defense, especially like going to the Ryan one. I also like that his D features 11 guys attacking/aggressive instead 2-3 guys trying to occupy OL while less talented LBs try to make a play.

I think King and Randall are looking like solid CBs. Then need to find one CB more plus backups. I don't know what is going on at Safety position. DL is looking pretty good. LBs are a continual weakness, and that needs to be fixed. Maybe under the new scheme Daniels and Clark will get to apply more pressure.

Put on the sunglasses because the future looks bright. Another key is to get very good OL backups to keep Rodgers upright. Keep Rodgers clean like Sherman did for Favre.

I like this hire. I also believe the D will be markedly improved this first year under Pettine. Book it.

Color me cautiously optimistic about the defense for next year.

Loved what I read about how Pettine has each INDIVIDUAL player know exactly what their assignment is for each game. Doesn't matter how "complex" his scheme is, he breaks it down for each player to know EXACTLY what they are accountable for. I look forward to NOT seeing the defensive people looking at each other with the "I thought you had that assignment?" look on their faces. Should make for a faster defense and let the players just PLAY and not have to stop and think about stuff. Let the players react to their own assignment. I LOVE this!!!

I hope he brings Seattle's tackling drills with him. I remember seeing tape of those drills and that's definitely not what the Packers were doing.

There's some legit complaints on boards about Murphy changing the organizational structure. While I don't like the change, I am excited about the new GM, new DC, and Philbin returning to help McCarthy with the offense.

Remember, it's not like we need the '96 defense to win games, either. We just need the defense to stop making every opposing QB look like an all-pro. I feel confident that Pettine can get our defense to the "not suck" level.

It's very possible to improve the defense in one off season , Rodgers and the offense don't need the number 1 defense to go all the way but being in the top 12 in rankings should do it . Improve on getting off the field on 3 rd down and the rest will fall into place we may have had the right players but were not being used correctly. This is a better defense with Clay on the field don't write him off yet besides who would Aaron make commercials with?

The Packers are reportedly hiring Jim O'Neil to be their LB coach. He was DC in SF in 2016. Prior to that, he was on staff with Pettine during his time in NY, Buffalo and Cleveland.

Of course that would seem to indicate that Winston Moss' time in GB is up, as well. I won't be shedding any tears about that.

With Joe Whitt set to return, the defensive staff is beginning to take shape. We'll see about Darren Perry's possible return. And they need a DL coach.