Looking At The Changes To The Packers Coaching Staff

While Mike McCarthy has lost a couple of assistant coaches to other teams in recent years, it's amazing that the recent firing of Shawn Slocum was only the second time he's fired a coordinator during his nine seasons as head coach (DC Bob Sanders after the 2008 season). He's very loyal to his assistants. A couple of other special teams assistants, notably Ron Zook, remain on the staff, but there's no current rumors of who might replace Slocum.

#Packers in @RickGosselinDMN's rankings under Slocum: 31st in 2009 29th in 2010 T-13th in 2011 12th in 2012 20th in 2013 32nd in 2014
— Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) January 30, 2015

I don't wish unemployment on anyone, but that is a very bad track record. As far back as February 2010, I wrote an article wondering how Slocum had held onto his job. While that was only after his first season as the coordinator, he'd been an assistant special teams coach before his promotion, and the special teams had never excelled with him as their coach.

It is a little shocking how bad a unit has to fall apart before McCarthy will make a move. The special teams were awful in 2014, but I bet Slocum keeps his job if it weren't for all the mistakes during the NFC Championship game. DC Bob Sanders was fired after the 2008 season only after the front seven was so bad down the stretch that they couldn't stop any offense from running against them. If Sanders had run his vanilla defensive scheme with the 2014 Seahawks, he probably would have gotten a head coaching offer instead of a pink slip. Coaches are important but they aren't the ones on the field making the plays. I wouldn't be writing any of this had TE Brandon Bostick just blocked on the onside kick instead of trying to catch the ball. But that terrible special teams track record over the past several years with Slocum is just too much to ignore.

An annual event over the past few seasons occurs when the Packers will lose an assistant offensive coach to another team. For 2015, it will be assistant OL coach Steve Marshall who's expected to become the offensive line coach for the New York Jets. If he's not under contract than McCarthy has little way of stopping him from moving on. The improvement by David Bakhtiari and the out of nowhere development of Corey Linsley I'm sure has helped Marshall's resume. I have no idea how much credit he deserves for Linsley, but finding him in the 5th round is one of the best value picks of the 2014 draft.

While the time to move on from Slocum has finally arrived, neither departure should have a big impact on the 2014 Packers. Special teams are important, but they aren't usually so important as they turned out to be in the NFC Championship game. It's a hidden part of football. Even if they become an average unit in 2015, we might not see a difference in any particular game next season.

Packers fire ST Coordinator Shawn Slocum

In a move you can't call surprising, the Packers have fired ST Coordinator Shawn Slocum, reports Pro Football Talk. 

Slocum, who has worked with the team since 2006, struggled mightily when coaching his guys during the recent conference championship game, letting the Seahawks turn a fake field goal into a touchdown while failing to recover a late onside kick that would've ended it.

Slocum was wished well by Mike McCarthy when the announcement was made Friday, but again, it wasn't at all strange to hear he had been let go. Speculation of Slocum's termination began the moment the Packers lost to Seattle, the reason they obviously aren't playing in the Super Bowl this weekend. 

Packers ST Coordinator Slocum: Boykin's "Forced Fumble" A Blocked Punt in My Opinion

Packers Special Teams Coordinator Shawn Slocum thinks Jarret Boykin's forced fumble from yesterday should've been considered a blocked punt.

The unusual play featured Boykin somehow kicking the ball before Bears' Punter Pat O'Donnell did, resulting in a turnover. Boykin never touched it with his hands, technically taking the block factor out of his effort.

Nonetheless, Slocum isn't having it. Here's his full quote, courtesy of ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky:

"In my opinion, it's a blocked punt. We're moving forward. Whatever they want to do statistically, they can do. We'll go in the room Wednesday and say, 'Great job on the blocked punt, now let's get ready for the Eagles.'"