Packers Only Hope: Greene's Fire Catches On

Entering his first season as an NFL coach, Green Bay Packers outside-linebacker coach Kevin Greene takes on a tough task: to mold the current group of outside linebackers, who are completely unaccustomed to the 3-4, into your prototypical outside rushers, wreaking havoc for quarterbacks and running backs alike. 

It's a task that Greene takes head on, as he always has during his 15-year NFL career.

As a player for four different teams, Greene was a tough assignment for anyone to block. With 160 career sacks, he ranks third all-time in NFL history behind Bruce Smith and Packer great Reggie White.

Perhaps a more interesting statistic is that he is first all-time among linebackers, playing a part along with Lawrence Taylor in revolutionizing the position itself during the 1980's.

Clearly, Greene has the 3-4 outside linebacker position down to a science and brings a world of experience to the table. However, the experience is not the only asset of value Greene provides. One of his most outstanding qualities is his fiery attitude and his passion for the game, a quality that Packers players and coaches alike hope is extremely contagious.

A brief stint with the WCW showcased Greene's charisma, and Packers defenders joked that Greene showed them some old wrestling videos during meetings to lighten the mood and build a relationship with his new projects. When it comes to football though, Greene is strictly business.

Greene is quietly one of the more important parts of making this transition to the 3-4 a successful one. Having played under Dom Capers in Pittsburgh, he knows the system inside out, and knows what is expected out of the Packers new defensive general. More importantly than knowing the system, he knows how to succeed in it. 

His more notable project will be molding Aaron Kampman into a modern-day version of himself. Head Coach Mike McCarthy didn't fail to express his excitement about this new relationship earlier this offseason.

"I know Kevin Greene is excited about working with [Kampman] and the individual time they've spent up to this point," McCarthy said. "Personally, I think this is really going to help Aaron Kampman."

Usually a media savvy guy, Kampman has taken a more quiet approach to dealing with the media this offseason, coming off as having a "strictly business" type of attitude with unmatched focus and intensity. Perhaps this is the first step in his transformation to becoming the Packers' own version of Kevin Greene. 

If Kampman, along with the rest of the outside linebackers, could now emulate Greene on the field, then rest assured, opposing quarterbacks will have nightmares of the Green and Gold's pass rush all season long.

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