Oh and to make sure Ron Zook still has a job...From @NFLTotalAccess: The #Packers are hiring #Titans OC Matt LaFleur, a bright young offensive mind to come in and challenge QB Aaron Rodgers, as their new head coach. pic.twitter.com/bvqCuk0HLD— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2019
Only Pettine is mentioned and not all the coaches don't need to be retained. I have no problem with keeping Pettine, the defense showed some early to mid-season promise. They fell off a cliff at the end of the year but they also lost their defensive MVP Kenny Clark for those last 3 games. It's not unheard of to keep the defensive coaches intact when a new offensive minded head coach is hired. But I can't believe he'll keep all the offensive coaches and different running game/passing game coordinators they had last season. Isn't Murphy expecting LaFleur to bring his own style of offense to Green Bay?Been told that #Rams coach Sean McVay and soon-to-be #Packers coach Matt LaFleur are close friends and it's likely McVay lobbied for him. Murphy was clearly looking for a guy with an offensive mind. Allows him to keep DC Mike Pettine and the entire staff .— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) January 7, 2019
After I heard the announcement, I went and watched a bunch of Titans games (with Mariota at QB, nothing with Gabbert). Including some of their bad ones against great defensive teams (Bills and Ravens). I criticized McCarthy for not running the ball enough but this is a bit ridiculous.
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) January 7, 2019That 48.4% also included a few designed runs by Mariota which maybe was the reason he didn't make it through the year and the Titans had to start Gabbert for their must win Week 17 game (they lost). It might have also been due in part to carryover a mostly run heavy offensive roster from the previous coaching regime. But the Titans weren't run heavy in every game so I'm not expecting LaFleur's bringing his 48.4% run percentage to Green Bay.
That comment above about Aaron Jones is true, the Titans loved getting touches to Dion Lewis, who's role in Green Bay would be played by Jones. McCarthy's complete avoidance of using his backs as threats in the passing game was frustrating so LaFleur should be a welcome change.
Overall it was pretty depressing to watch the 2018 Titans offense. Maybe Mariota just doesn't get it, he doesn't have a feel for what the defense is doing or where his receivers are going. And he doesn't do well with pressure. The Titans didn't have any receiving threat as dangerous as Davante Adams either. Maybe LaFleur's hands were tied.
In a lot of ways, LaFleur's offense looked like every other offense in the NFL (it's a copy cat league after all). He'd try some different motions one way to misdirect on a play going the other way, but usually early in the game and those types of plays would be rare later. Mariota threw a lot to the middle of the field, something Rodgers doesn't do much. The Titans also played a lot in a bunch formation, I guess that helps LaFleur's QBs read the coverage better or disguise the route trees from the receivers, but it didn't seem to help the Titans that much.
Maybe the most important thing is to get a young energetic coach who will probably work himself to death and hopefully earn Aaron Rodgers's respect. While Rodgers still had a statistically strong 2018 season in some ways (an amazing TD to INT ratio as an example) the offense just looked confused too often. Relying heavily on two rookie WRs was part of the problem, the early season loss of Geronimo Allison was another problem I didn't write enough about last year. And, of course, the relationship breakdown between Rodgers and McCarthy. Hopefully the plan LaFleur sold to Murphy was a good one, and he can realize it with a better QB.