One of the great parlor games of the 2023 Green Bay Packers season was to gauge how much blame defensive coordinator Joe Barry would take each time something went wrong for the team. Generally, NFL coordinators remain in the background, but this season, Barry was the frequent target of Packers fan despair, and calls for coach Matt LaFleur to fire him were rampant. Heck, even LaFleur himself sounded openly less-than-pleased with his top defensive lieutenant from time to time.
But LaFleur is not quite ready to make a move on Barry and shake up his coaching staff. Not yet, at least. That was his message on Barry on Monday as he met with the media to wrap up the year following Green Bay’s 27-24 playoff loss to the 49ers on Saturday night.
“I haven’t even thought about that at this stage. Kind of going through everything right now. I want to sit down with every assistant before any decisions are made,” LaFleur said.
Packers Joe Barry: ‘I Hear What You Guys Say’
The defense is a major question mark heading into the offseason, which is to be expected for a team that went 9-8, beat Dallas in the first round of the playoffs, then narrowly lost to the heavily favored 49ers in San Francisco. The Packers allowed 5,696 yards of offense this season, which was 17th in the league, and struggled to stop the run—the Packers allowed 2,181 yards on the ground, 28th in the NFL.
The team also was not very opportunistic, creating only 18 turnovers, which was 23rd in the league.
Because of that, Barry was frequently skewered in the media. He acknowledged that back in December, after his defense allowed Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield to come to Lambeau Field and throw a perfect game (158.3 quarterback rating) in a 34-20 loss.
“I read what you guys write,” Barry said. “I hear what you guys say.”
So Barry must know his job security is not exactly rock-solid. But LaFleur said any decision on staff changes will have to wait.
“I know there’s going to be a lot of long-term, big-picture questions but, I’m not there yet, fellas,” LaFleur said. “We’re just starting the process. I gave everybody off yesterday. I came in and watched the tape, all three phases. But we’re just getting into the evaluation portion now. Brian and I aren’t going to have many answers for you guys. Haven’t met with any of our coaches yet. That will start this afternoon with the coordinators and go down with the position coaches. But I am proud of this group.”
Matt LaFleur Warns on Complacency
The overarching theme of LaFleur’s meeting with the media was his pride in the performance of the team, especially after it started 2-5 behind an overwhelmingly young roster led by first-year starter Jordan Love at quarterback. But LaFleur also warned of complacency—there is no guarantee that winning a playoff game in 2024 is going to pave the way to more playoff success in 2025.
“One of the things I said to our guys, the expectations going into this season are not going to be the expectations going into next season,” LaFleur said. “And they’ve earned that. But with that, you better put in the work because nothing’s guaranteed, like I’ve talked about. They’re going to have to get to work quickly. Got a couple of days to decompress, then get back on the grind.”
Nothing’s guaranteed for coaches, either, of course. And perhaps the Packers should not remain complacent on that front, too.
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Packers’ Matt LaFleur Sends Message on Firing Beleaguered Coach