Shawn Mennenga Has Sights Set on a New Culture
By jasonperone
The Green Bay Packers were awful on special teams in 2018. They weren't that great in 2017 either. In fact, it's been a long time since that area was a strength for the Packers.
Thinking back to 2014 and that awful NFC championship game in Seattle where a fake field goal started a Seahawks run towards the improbable and then looking at the image above, the Packers have been a special teams punching bag for the rest of the NFL for too long.
Packers opponents accepted 26 penalties on special teams last season. That was the highest total in the last 10 years. Another seven were declined. Those numbers are the definition of "sloppy" when it comes to special teams play.
New head coach Matt LaFleur hired Shawn Mennenga as new special teams coach and also gave him an extra staff member, quality control coach Rayna Stewart, to help turn things around.
In a recent piece by Mike Spofford at Packers.com, Mennenga laid out his vision for the job ahead.
"We're going to beat them over the head with what the rules are".
Someone has to. It doesn't get any worse, pathetic actually, than the week 17 game at home against the Detroit Lions and placekicker Matt Prater easily lobbing a touchdown pass to a wide open receiver on a fake field goal.
Sideline reports from that game and that moment were that there was little to no interest from the coaching staff. Maybe former special teams coordinator Ron Zook knew his time in Green Bay was up. His mind certainly wasn't with the team and in the moment. That's how you become a former coach, boys and girls.
Mennenga is looking for a new standard in Green Bay.
"We're going to play fast, play physical and be relentless, but also play intelligent with good judgment. Guys learn the rules and know when to go try to make a play and will to pull off and be smart"
This is Mennenga's first NFL coordinator role (he held the same post at Vanderbilt last season) and so we can expect him to be heavily invested and dialed in to what is going on at all times.
"I've felt like I've been preparing my whole career for this opportunity. To be able to go be a coordinator, even though it was at the college level, it was the SEC and major Division I school".
Mennenga had a chance to follow his former boss with the Cleveland Browns, Chris Tabor, to Chicago but instead chose to run his own show with the Packers.
With a young punter, a veteran kicker who struggled last season and likely many new faces this season, Mennenga has a lot to wrap his head around.
The changes could be a blessing as it allows both players and coaches to establish the new culture, the new normal. Special teams accounts for so much in the course of a football game and season. Mennenga's job may not be as flashy as being a new head coach in Green Bay, but his task ahead is anything but small.
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Jason is a freelance writer on staff since 2012 and also co-hosts Cheesehead TV Live, Pulse of the Pack and Pack A Day podcasts. You can follow him on Twitter here
Comments (34)
NickPerry
February 25, 2019 at 06:35 am
I don't know much about this guy but he coached with Tabor so that's a start in the right direction. Zook should have been gone with Slocum, hell he was out of coaching for 3 years prior to coming to GB which should have been a HUGE red flag but not for McCarthy. Nope he promotes him after two of the biggest boneheaded ST errors in the SAME game.
If Shawn Mennenga can get the Packers to stop with the block in the back and holding calls on EVERY damn decent return I'll be a happy camper. I'm also excited about Mennenga working with our young punter and long snapper. To much bashing on those two this past season. They were being coached by one of the worst assistant coaches in Packers history.. Cut em some slack.
carlos
February 25, 2019 at 06:50 am
It can only do one thing, after last year, but get better. We saw the utmost worst. One of my best friends from California bought a place in northern Wisconsin and went to a Packer practice. Him and I spent many years playing football ball together so he knows what to look for. He was in shock at how unorganized Zook seemed to be. He said it was utter chaos. Now, I wasn’t there, but took him for his word. Once the season got rolling I often remembered what he said because of the results of the special teams-as we all saw who watched the games. I didn’t miss one game and endured through a season where I had such high hopes. I’m excited to see fresh faces on the coaching staff especially on special teams. I like the younger staff and can see a renewed energy.
jeremyjjbrown
February 25, 2019 at 07:09 am
McCarthy dawdled firing Slocum and all of the good ST coaches where off the market. It probably looked to him like Zook was all that was left.
Typical McCarthy, first sit on your hands, seconds massively under react if you do anything at all.
Blizzard
February 26, 2019 at 10:15 am
First off, dont assume that Zook was the only bad coach MM hired. They say the worse thing TT did was hold onto his mistakes. MM did the same thing. Hired a bunch of crap then held onto them. I dont think as everyone else has said that MM was loyal to a fault. I dont think he had a clue his guys werent any good.
Leatherhead
February 25, 2019 at 09:55 am
Nick.....you want to know how to 'stop with the block in the back and holding calls on EVERY damn decent return.'
Stop returning punts. When a team is lining up to punt against us...
1) Prevent the damn fake from succeeding. Priority 1.
2) Pressure the punter enough that he might not hit it perfectly, or if they have a bobble or glitch on their end we're in position for it.
3) Fair catch the punt.
Not only would it stop the penalties, it stops the injuries that occur on returns.
The best return guy in our division is that Cohen guy on Chicago. And do you know what his average contribution as a returner in a game is? He returns two punts for 25 yards, total.
Me? I'd trade the 25 yards for no penalties, no injuries, and no turnovers. And no successful fake punts that put our defense back on the field after we stopped them.
Our special teams are composed mostly of minimum wage guys, UDFAs, guys who started the season on the practice squad, etc. Why are we paying Rodgers and Adams and Graham all that money just so some minimum wage guys can have the opportunity to screw things up?
Fair catch. Let Rodgers go to work.
CAG123
February 25, 2019 at 10:12 am
Would you rather them pay guys 2 million plus just to run down the field and do nothing? Special teams is for depth guys, position less athletic freaks, and every now and then a starter that has speed and is dangerous in space.
Leatherhead
February 25, 2019 at 11:44 am
Your special teams, for the most part, are compiled of defensive backups, and damn few of them are making $2 million/year. So if a guy gets injured, you've lost your backup. You promote a guy from the practice squad to take his place. Next week, the starter gets hurt and the guy who was on your practice squad next week is starting against Julio Jones. It has happened to us more than once.
Do you know who took the most special teams snaps for us last year? James Crawford. Followed by Morrison, Burks, Fackrell and Gilbert. Then Tonyan, Josh Jackson, Brown and Jones. Eight of the Top 9 guys are defensive backups if you include Fackrelll, because that where he started the season. ALL of them on their rookie deals, NONE of them making $2 million year.
I would hardly say they're doing nothing. They're preventing the fake from succeeding and they're giving the ball to our offense....which is where all the money is.
NitschkeFan
February 25, 2019 at 04:05 pm
OldScool , if I could give you 10 thumbs up for this I would!
Prevent the fakes, don’t take any damn penalties, and if you can generate some pressure that is the third priority.
Blocked kicks are rare whereas penalties, fumbles and losing a change of possession due to a successful fake have been killing us.
jannesbjornson
February 25, 2019 at 04:45 pm
Also include knowing where the damn ball is on the punt return to prevent yourself from running through the returner and/or getting hit by the Live ball. Tramon, if he is brought back cannot be on that return team any longer.
jannesbjornson
February 25, 2019 at 04:35 pm
They just need to get the guy smarter players. Its part of the deal.
LambeauPlain
February 25, 2019 at 07:15 am
Three reasons why MM was fired and only made it to one SB with two HOF QBs:
1. A huge stubborn streak where he employed an Offense that was ill suited to his player’s strengths and exposed their weaknessess....and allowing coaching incompetence for years with
2. Capers and
3. ST coaching futility.
Bearmeat
February 25, 2019 at 08:15 am
If you think about it, GB should have been to the Super Bowl under MM:
1. 2007
2. 2010 (obv)
3. 2011 (Collins injury)
4. 2014 (Ugh)
Keeping Capers past 2012 was a mistake. Hiring Slocumb and Zook in the first place was a mistake. Not evolving as an offense was a mistake. Not insisting that TT be shuffled sideways in 2015 was a mistake. Letting Ball get ANY control over personnel was a mistake.
MM deserved to be fired after 2014, along with Ted.
RCPackerFan
February 25, 2019 at 08:36 am
2011 - Nick Collins injury did have a major impact. But Joe Philbin's sons death took a mental toll on the team. They came out extremely flat in the playoff game and understandably so.
2014 - Can't blame McCarthy for that. No reason why McCarthy should have been fired that year.
If anything McCarthy should have been let go last year. Everything was changing and it should have been the time to do it.
Thompson should have been shuffled sideways a while ago. Completely agree with that and agree that there is no reason Ball should have had any control over personnel.
Bearmeat
February 26, 2019 at 11:19 am
Disagree. You can blame MM, if for no other reason than that he kept Capers and Slocumb, played not to lose in the 2nd half (again) and kept playing Bostick - which directly oversaw that IMMENSE implosion.
MM should have been fired in 2015.
RCPackerFan
February 25, 2019 at 09:19 am
The whole thing is though there were about 2 dozen different things that happened in that game that could have changed the outcome.
Honestly you can blame Thompson more then McCarthy because he kept Bostick over Taylor who was a special teams player.
I guess you could blame McCarthy though for keeping Slocum. Regardless the loss isn't on McCarthy. He had a part in it but it wasn't on him.
I disagree about McCarthy being fired in 2015. They made it to the division weekend and played in OT. Oh yeah without any WR's that year. Top 3 WR's in that game ended up being James Jones (washed up version), Abbrederis and Janis. Yet still was a couple of plays away from making it to the NFC championship game.
2016 made it to the NFC championship game. They lost against the team that should have won the Super Bowl.
Yet McCarthy needed to be fired?
After 2017 I think he should have been.
Bearmeat
February 25, 2019 at 09:47 am
There are certain events that are traumatic enough in a relationshp that that relationship can never recover.
This was that for the MM Packers. The ONLY reason they had ANY success post-2014 was ARod going into God Mode in the Run the Table Nov-Jan of 2016-2017.
Leatherhead
February 25, 2019 at 10:09 am
2007. We should have won that game. Just another in a long list of choke jobs in big games.
2011 I agree about the death of Philbin's son, and the tragedy of it, and the timing. I think it was a significant factor. Rodgers had two turnovers that game. Two other guys had their only fumble of the season. We had 4 turnovers for the first time all year.
2014 This is totally a failure of special teams, especially the onside kick. I'll remember Bostick's Boner until my dying day.
I do agree with you about having to remodel after that. You've got to make major changes after that to exorcise that ghost. We didn't do enough. The fact that we made it back to the Championship game in 2016 without a defense or a RB is a 100% tribute to Thompson, McCarthy and Rodgers. I don't give all the credit to Rodgers like Bearmeat does....every player on the team was put there by Thompson and McCarthy did a helluva job of running an offense without a RB.
Coldworld
February 26, 2019 at 06:08 am
TT did pull back by all accounts, which appears to be about the time that both roster management and MM’s grasp of reality started to decline at an accelerated rate.
There were rumors about Ted’d health. One never knows if true, but it seems plausible that TT stopped being a reality check on MM. meanwhile, the Front Office lost touch. At that point, or at least by 2016, Murphy should have stepped in. The structure at Lambeau stayed broken until there was no place to hide. No one had the gumption to clear out as prior commentators state should have occurred either completely or by telling MM to make changes
TKWorldWide
February 26, 2019 at 06:14 am
One thing I hated was that TT would say in interviews: “We don’t try to pick players to fit a particular scheme. We just add good players and let the coaches sort them out.”
Ugh!
To me, those statements are indicative of a dysfunctional structure, and why Murphy changed things to be more involved.
All I want is a cohesive, focused organization working together.
Oh, and lots of W’s in both regular and post season.
Blizzard
February 26, 2019 at 10:37 am
These people ae men and paid professionals. They are paid very well to do a job most of us would love to have. You have to give Philbin a pass because his son died. Have to give MM a break because his brother died.
Please!!!! That is not how the real world works. I lost my 2 sisters that were twins, both of their husbands and a total of 4 of their children to a bus accident in mexico about 10 years ago. I took 3 days off work then went about my business as most of us would be expected to do. Just because these people endured a hardship doesnt give then an excuse to not do their job.
Ask yourself if your employer would let you get away with poor performance for that reason.
RCPackerFan
February 25, 2019 at 08:28 am
I don't really know much about Mennenga. But from what I have heard is he is a true special teams coach. Which is exactly what we need.
Honestly I just want 1 thing. If he can coach his players to not commit penalties every time they touch the ball, that will be a HUGE improvement. Thats really all I am asking for. A coach that teaches better technique that won't put us in the hole every time we have a return.
How many returns this last year were called back due to penalty? A LOT!
Coldworld
February 26, 2019 at 06:58 am
Awareness too. I am not disagreeing with the penalty issue, but equally someone should be assigned to be the on field caller taught to diagnose the signs of a fake and to make changes. That is one reason for having special teams specialists.
Coldworld
February 26, 2019 at 06:59 am
Double post deleted
Packer_Fan
February 25, 2019 at 09:08 am
Special teams can't get any worse. What were Zook and MM doing early in the year with all of the penalties. Things did not get better and missed field goals and allowing a TD pass off of a field goal try. On the TD why wasn't one of the ST coaches watching and yelling for a timeout. Zook got fired, but the assistants were part of that mess. Hope this guy can can turn ST around along with his assistants.
stockholder
February 25, 2019 at 09:56 am
Get rid of Crosby, A stronger leg works wonders.
Swisch
February 25, 2019 at 10:58 am
Crosby is not only solid, but clutch.
Maybe the general disarray in special teams was a hindrance to Crosby last season. Plus, didn't we have a new snapper and holder?
It's difficult to truly evaluate any of our players after a season of such general malaise and misery.
With a new regime of coaches, next season is an opportunity for all of our guys to get a fresh start and reach toward their full potential.
Swisch
February 25, 2019 at 10:48 am
As close as NFL games tend to be, I can't help but wonder if excellent special teams make the difference for two or more wins per season.
One thing is to teach guys that they don't always have to make contact to throw an effective block. Just getting in the way often gets the job done just as well, and without risk of penalty.
More important is for special teams to have an identity, an esprit de corps, which comes from realizing that your job, while seemingly small, is exceedingly important.
A bunch of young guys trying to make it in the NFL can form a camaraderie of exuberance in lifting each other to shared greatness on special teams.
For that to reach its full potential, the coaches have to recognize the less noticeable contributions -- such as a guy who has the discipline to refrain from an illegal block.
After each game, make a report for the other players and the fans celebrating the best of the special teamers.
Catching a punt at our own forty and returning it for 11 yards -- instead of a fair catch, or a penalty, or letting it bounce down the field 11 yards. That's just one example of giving our entire team an advantage over and over and over again.
Then start making the big plays once in a while with long returns, or popping out fumbles from the other guys. Success builds on success.
Imagine what a boost this commitment to excellence on special teams -- focusing on smarts as much as aggressiveness -- could be altogether for the Packers for the entirety of next season, and possibly into the playoffs.
Leatherhead
February 25, 2019 at 01:01 pm
Football games are not won, they are lost. And your special teams absolutely can lose you some games. This is the bottom of your roster, all minimum wage guys, rookie contracts, UDFAs, etc.
I've got Rodgers and Adams and Jones to win games; I don't need some rookie 6th rounder from Pounder U. making a mistake that negates what my big dollar guys are doing.
De-emphasize special teams. Go for it more and punt less. Go for it more and kick fewer FGs. Go for two after every TD.
For the record, I'd ask y'all to think about this: From over 40 yards, a FG attempt is worth about 2.15 points. So if you said "I'm going to go for it every time, and you only succeeded once, you've probably got a first down in the redzone with a good chance at a TD......which is worth more than three long attempts.
Green Bay converted 10 of 20 4th downs last year....and we were in 21st place. New Orleans was 13 out of 16.
And once you're IN the redzone, we have about a 2 out of 3 chance of scoring a TD.
So....go for it. Over the course of a season, you'll score more points and your opponent will have fewer possessions.
Swisch
February 25, 2019 at 03:57 pm
I agree to some extent, Old School.
Once we're past midfield, I generally hate to punt, especially if it's less than three yards to go on fourth down.
I do think you may be minimizing the role of special teams guys. I don't want guys playing dangerously as far as their health, or recklessly as far as penalties, but I do want smart and disciplined and enthusiastic players consistently giving us good field position, and occasionally causing big plays.
I think young guys in the NFL are up to the task. Excelling at special teams can be the difference between making the team or getting cut. It can extend a career, adding hundred-of-thousands of dollars of pay. It can be the training ground for a bigger role on offense and defense.
This is an opportunity for young guys to play football in the NFL.
They can be coached up.
BoCallahan
February 25, 2019 at 05:21 pm
I thought all field goals were worth 3 points.
BoCallahan
February 25, 2019 at 05:33 pm
Here’s my 2 cents on Punt Returns: CATCH THE BALL!! Why in the world do guys let it hit the ground and bounce 15-20 yards? Time after time, year after year, I find myself strongly exhorting the guys on my TV; “Catch the stupid ball! Don’t let it hit the turf!” Fair catch it and save our team a lot of yards. I wish there was a stat called, Lost Yards By Punt Return Units. Hopefully I won’t be yelling at the ST units anymore.
Leatherhead
February 25, 2019 at 05:44 pm
They are. But since not every attempt is successful, you have to factor that. FG attempts over 40 count for 2 .15 points. Whereas if you go for it and are successful, you're in the redzone.
Instead of going for those field goals, go for TDs.
jannesbjornson
February 25, 2019 at 04:52 pm
The Message has to Come from the Head Man. Tolerating mistakes breeds Failure. Football is ALL 60 minutes. Every play counts.
splitpea1
February 25, 2019 at 11:00 am
I love this article. Let's hope Mennenga is a man of his word. He's smart for taking this job. I really don't know how he can do anything but succeed because there's nowhere to go but up for this unit.