(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
The Green Bay Packers’ defensive coaching staff will see a lot of new faces this season with the overhaul Head Coach Mike McCarthy oversaw, highlighted by his hiring of Dom Capers as defensive coordinator. In contrast, the offensive coaching staff remains intact from last season as the Packers enjoyed a productive year on offense in 2008.
McCarthy’s football background started at Baker University where he played tight end, was captain of his team as a senior, and was named all-conference at his position in 1986.
He went on to become a graduate assistant and position coach (quarterbacks) at Fort Hays State University and University of Pittsburgh, respectively, before arriving in the NFL on Kansas City’s coaching staff.
There, McCarthy began to make a name for himself as a quarterbacks coach. He went on to Green Bay for his first stint with the club before moving on to New Orleans, earning an offensive coordinator job.
After New Orleans, McCarthy went to San Francisco for a year before landing in Green Bay for his second stint with the Packers, this time, as head coach.
Through his journey from graduate assistant to head coach, McCarthy worked with and tutored the likes of Joe Montana, Steve Bono, Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac, Brett Favre, Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Brooks, Jake Delhomme, and Aaron Rodgers.
His “quarterbacks school,” in session every March, is well renowned for helping young signal-callers and veterans alike to develop into exceptional quarterbacks.
Along with his head coaching duties for the Green Bay Packers, McCarthy also calls in the plays on offense during games. It’s a role he has become very familiar with when he was hired by defensive-minded head coaches in the past to coordinate their offenses.
Joe Philbin is Green Bay’s offensive coordinator of the last two years. He assumed that role after Jeff Jagodzinski left to be the head coach at Boston College following the 2006 season.
Philbin has orchestrated a very productive offense in 2007 and 2008, producing the fifth most points in the league both years even with a change at the quarterback position in-between those seasons.
Before coming to the Packers in 2003, Philbin built a strong reputation for himself as an offensive line coach at Iowa. Under his tutelage, players like Robert Gallery, Eric Steinbach, and Bruce Nelson enjoyed all-conference honors in the Big Ten before becoming Day One draft picks, with Gallery going No. 2 overall in 2004.
Philbin also did well to coach an offensive line for the Packers in 2006 that consisted of Daryn Colledge, Jason Spitz, and Tony Moll, all of whom were rookies that season and logged 38 combined starts. All three remain on the team, with Colledge and Spitz figuring to start at left guard and center, respectively.
Edgar Bennett, the team’s running backs coach, arrived in Green Bay originally as a fourth-round draft choice out of Florida State. Playing the running back spot for the Packers, he set a team-record for receptions in 1994 with 78 and eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing in 1995.
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