The Green Bay Packers made a highly anticipated move on the training front. On Wednesday, coach Matt LaFleur met with his three coordinators, holding closing meetings with offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine and special team coordinator Shawn Mennenga. One of these three is evidently unemployed, and the status of a second individual is not yet clear at the moment.
Mennenga is out, according to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, who reports that the team is firing him. The Packers’ special teams have been quite ineffective this season, with Mason Crosby’s excellent season kicking field goals and PATs being the only bright spot. The Packers’ kick and punt coverage teams were bad throughout the season – the team allowed for a pair of punt return touchdowns and a blocked punt, while JK Scott ranked 20th in gross punting yards. The return teams were no better, ranking last in the NFL in 53-yard total punt return yards and finishing 31st in the 18.9 kickback average.
DVOA was just as cruel to these units, with just Crosby’s kick providing a positive return. In general, the special teams ranked 25th out of 32 teams, with the punt team and kickoff return teams, both ranked 29th in the league.
With Mennenga’s status now finalized, all attention is turned to defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. However, if the Packers decide to move to a new coordinator, they will not have to fire Pettine to do so; as ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reported, Pettine’s contract expired at the end of the 2020 season and the two sides can simply split up.
Stay tuned for more news on Pettine in the coming hours and days.