Green Bay Packers reportedly making change to coaching staff

This season was disastrous for the Green Bay Packers special teams unit. According to Sports Illustrated’s Rick Gosselin, the Packers had the worst unit in the entire NFL this season. Now, according to Tom Silverstein from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers are moving on from special teams coordinator Maurice Drayton.

Drayton played college football at The Citadel before remaining on the coaching staff there from 1999-2005. He has worked in a number of different roles through his coaching career, including defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, assistant head coach, and more. Prior to joining the Packers, Drayton was the Indianapolis Colts special teams coordinator.

Drayton has been with Green Bay since the 2018 season. He served as the Packers’ assistant special teams coach from 2018-2020 before becoming the coordinator of the unit this season.

The Packers special teams issues were on display in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Green Bay lined up with just ten players on the field during 49ers kicker Robbie Gould’s game winning field goal. Despite winning 13 games this season, the Packers fell short of their ultimate goal. The issues on special teams aren’t the only reasons for the lack of postseason success, but they definitely had a role.

Now, the Packers will move forward and look towards a new direction with the special teams unit.

Matt LaFleur on the Packers special teams issues

Following the Packers loss to the 49ers, Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur voiced his frustrations with his team’s issues on special teams throughout the season.

“Critical mistakes at inopportune times,” LaFleur said of the Packers issues.

He added that Green Bay only having 10 players on the field on the final play of the season was “embarrassing.”

“I don’t think it’s ever just one thing but certainly that will be a big-time priority I think for us moving forward, is to not allow something like this to happen again,” said LaFleur.

“I’ve just got to make sure that we’re all pushing to find every advantage we can – players, coaches, everybody involved, to be at their best, to give us the best chance to win because the margin for error in this league is so miniscule. There’s not a lot that separates a lot of these teams, and that was so evident by the games (Sunday), evident in our game. You’ve got to find every advantage you can.”