The Lass Word: He is the Class of the Class of 2019

When the 2018 NFL season ended, it signaled the beginning of an offseason of change around the league.  No fewer than eight teams hired new head coaches.  Among them was the Green Bay Packers.  They had fired Mike McCarthy in the middle of a frustrating 6-9-1 campaign, and had chosen not to stick with interim coach Joe Philbin, as they looked toward the future.  

The trend for all the teams filling their vacancies was to find a young, dynamic leader in the mold of the Rams’ Sean McVay, who had just led his team to the Super Bowl.  In fact, anyone who had ever had so much as a cup of coffee with McVay seemed to be in demand.  The Packers were no exception. 

After a whirlwind of interviews, Green Bay hired one of McVay’s former assistants, Matt LaFleur.  The decision was not met with universal enthusiasm.  LaFleur had never been a head coach at any level, and he was coming from his position as offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, whose offense had not exactly set the world on fire the previous season.  He was the last person to be interviewed for the Green Bay job, and apparently had hit a home run.  Team president Mark Murphy was so struck by LaFleur’s plan and presentation, that he was ready to offer him the job almost instantly.  He chose to sleep on it and consult with his small band of fellow search members the next day, just to make sure they all felt LaFleur was the best candidate, not just the best interview.  

The 39 year old Michigan native was hired, as were seven other head coaches by other teams.  Now, roughly two and a half years later, all of those head coaching decisions can be compared.  And the results are revealing. 

If you judge by regular season wins, LaFleur has been the most successful of all the hires, and it’s not even close.  Under his leadership, the Packers currently stand at 35-9.  The closest coach to that mark would be Tampa Bay’s Bruce Arians at 26-17.  LaFleur is the only one of the eight new coaches to immediately turn his team around and make the playoffs in the first year.  He is the only one to take his team to the post season in both of his first two years.  His teams have been one game short of the Super Bowl both times, and Green Bay is considered again to be one of the league’s top contenders this season. 

Here’s how the other seven head coaching hires have panned out thus far: 

Arizona 

The Cardinals made the unexpected hire of Cliff Kingsbury, a college coach who wasn’t even employed at the time.  Kingsbury had just been fired after going 35-40 in six years at Texas Tech.  But he was considered a quarterback whisperer, and the Cardinals were about to draft Kyler Murray.  The results were disappointing.  Arizona went 5-10-1 and 8-8 in the first two seasons.  But team management took an all-in approach, adding several high visibility players, such as Deandre Hopkins and JJ Watt.  So far it is paying off as the Cardinals have the best record in the NFC at 9-2, but Kingsbury’s overall record to date is just 22-20-1. 

Cincinnati 

The Bengals chose another former Rams assistant, Zac Taylor.  His record to date is an abysmal 13-29-1, but the additions of quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase have helped Cincy improve to 7-4 this season.  They are in the running in the highly competitive AFC North. 

Cleveland 

The Browns decided to promote offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens to the top job.  It was a disaster.  In over his head, Kitchens stumbled to a 6-10 mark and was replaced by Kevin Stefanski after one season. 

Denver 

The Broncos bucked the trend toward the young, offensive-minded coaches, and went with veteran Vic Fangio, a defensive guru.  Fangio is 18-25 as his team struggles to find the answer at quarterback. 

Miami 

The Dolphins selected Patriots assistant Brian Flores.  He is 20-24 overall, with a trip to the playoffs after the 2020 season.  The Dolphins got off to a terrible start this year, but have suddenly warmed, winning four in a row. 

New York Jets 

The Jets hired Adam Gase after Miami had fired him.  Gase was actually interviewed by the Packers for their opening, but thank goodness that didn’t work out, because Gase went 9-23 in two years with the talent-poor Jets, and was replaced by Robert Saleh. 

Tampa Bay 

The Bucs chose veteran coach Bruce Arians, who promptly went 7-9 in the first year.  In 2020, Tampa management assembled what amounted to an all-star team which included Tom Brady.  Even so, the team went just 11-5 and finished second in its division.  The Bucs did get hot in the playoffs, winning three straight on the road including a victory over the Packers in the NFC title game.  They went on to beat Kansas City in the Super Bowl. 

So, looking at these profiles, who has done the best job?  Trying my best not to be biased, I would pick LaFleur.  One could argue LaFleur had an advantage because none of the other coaches had Aaron Rodgers to work with.  But remember, Rodgers fully appeared to be in decline at the time LaFleur was hired.  The Packers were losing with him.  MLF and his staff re-energized the future Hall of Fame quarterback and deserve some credit for his MVP performance in 2020. 

A skeptic could also argue that LaFleur benefited from his team enjoying uncanny good health in those first two years.  But what about this season?  The Packers are 9-3 despite a run of injuries to virtually every key player on the team.  MLF and his staff have had to coach up several low draft picks and undrafted free agents.  All teams have injuries, but LaFleur has managed to keep winning through them.  That’s something other teams, such as the Cowboys, Niners, Saints and Browns have not been able to do.

Yes, Bruce Arians has won a Super Bowl.  But answer me this:  If Green Bay and Tampa Bay were to switch head coaches, who would fare better?  No doubt in my mind the Bucs would get even better while the Pack would decline. 

The verdict is in, at least in my courtroom.  Matt LaFleur is the class of the Class of 2019.  When the season is over, he just may become the first in the class to be named Coach of the Year.