The 2022 regular season didn’t end the way the LaFleur brothers wanted.
Matt LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers went 8-9 and missed the playoffs thanks to a home loss to the Detroit Lions in a win-and-get-in setting. Mike LaFleur, who was offensive coordinator for the New York Jets, saw his team go 7-10 and miss the playoffs. His offense was ranked in the bottom half of all NFL teams.
Matt LaFleur will most assuredly get another season — at least — to turn the Packers around. His brother, Mike, wasn’t so lucky in New York. The younger brother and his team mutually parted ways on Wednesday after only two seasons.
While that’s bad news for Mike, this could be a blessing in disguise for both the LaFleur brothers and the Packers.
Matt LaFleur is not going to give up play-calling duties in Green Bay, and he probably shouldn’t anyhow. Outside of this season, the Packers have had one of the best offensive in the league in LaFleur’s four years as head coach and signal-caller. He probably has benefited from four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers leading the show, but without a doubt, LaFleur can call a good game when things start clicking for his offense.
There’s reason to believe that LaFleur needs a solid No. 2 on offense, though. Nathaniel Hackett was a bust as head coach for the Denver Broncos, but he was a huge part of Green Bay’s offensive success — especially in the red zone — when he was offensive coordinator under LaFleur for the Pack.
Hackett, who was fired not even one season into his head-coaching tenure in Denver, could find a familiar landing spot in Green Bay, but if he doesn’t want to come back or decides to turn a new page altogether, who better for LaFleur to lock arms with than his little brother.
The two come from the same coaching tree — Kyle Shanahan’s — and one has to imagine they’d be able to quickly get on the same wavelength offensively.
It’s a thought, and one Matt LaFleur should give a long hard look at — but he needs to hurry. Per Nick Shook, several teams did inquire about LaFleur’s services while he was still with the Jets, so Matt can’t wait too long.
