MuFF Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) While much of the scrutiny has been placed on Pettine (and rightly so), LaFleur's special teams coordinator hire has been a complete flop in his 1.5+ year tenure. Packers nation was hoping the era of awful special teams was over after Slocum/Zook, but unfortunately these duds have reincarnated themselves in the form of the current coordinator. It is a huge indictment on the Packers brass that they're too cheap to bring in an accomplished ST coach like Rizzi. I'm not sure whether it's on Gute, the offensive, or the ST coaches for keeping Shepherd aboard after they rightfully gave up on him after nearly singlehandedly costing us the Detroit game, but it shouldn't take an Ervin injury to remind them that he isn't an NFL caliber player. Mennenga's struggles go far beyond the performance in Indianapolis today. They came into the game 26th in FO DVOA for Special Teams and will no doubt drop after today's no-show. Here is an abridged list of the lowlights of his tenure: It took us ~10 weeks to get out of NEGATIVE punt return yardage last year. That includes at least two returners in Davis and Shepherd. An onside kick recovery against Houston as one of the only recoveries since the rule change. We've seen JK Scott be successful as an NFL punter, it's clear Mennenga isn't up to the task to coach him to be consistent. Gave up A punt return touchdown against Jacksonville At least one blocked punt against this year A fumble on Special teams today A kickoff bouncing on the one yard line today No return touchdowns in his tenure Let's just hope it doesn't take a fake FG and an onside kick recovery in the NFCCG for the Packers to recognize their special teams isn't good enough. Edited November 23, 2020 by MuFF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Penske Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Sheppard sucks. Send the NDSU trash packing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasquatch Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) Yes, give Mennemga the boot, poste haste please. Edited November 23, 2020 by Sasquatch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Refugee Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) I can get behind this one. In general he hasn’t had any positive to talk about. As stated, we got fired up when we got out of the red last year. FG unit has been solid but that’s a vet kicker making that happen. I don’t see the value in doing it mid season but ST coaches and players make the easiest of lambs to sacrifice if you want to send a message. Next week vs. Chi we might be playing a 3rd string QB. They know D and ST is their shot at kicking us down a peg and they’ll have 2 weeks to work on it. Edited November 23, 2020 by Refugee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incognito_man Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 I'm fine with this. Our STs are bad overall which is odd when we have two quite good kickers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodjahs12 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Trotting Shepherd out there to begin with was bad enough but allowing him to return kicks after his fumble is criminal. That should have been the last snap he ever took with the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaire_Island Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 I dont think I will ever see a shutdown D or good ST’s from GB ever... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Refugee Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) Seth Roberts returned 2 kickoffs for 47 yards in 2015 and none since. That’s good enough for me. Bring him on up! Edited November 23, 2020 by Refugee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smidgeon Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 I don't disagree, yet he is miles better than the previous ST coaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodjahs12 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 I just want someone to explain to me how any ST coach is going to have a high ranking unit when both his punter and return man aren’t good at their jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartacus Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 3 hours ago, Rodjahs12 said: I just want someone to explain to me how any ST coach is going to have a high ranking unit when both his punter and return man aren’t good at their jobs. Pretty much this unless he is in charge of who is returning punts and punting then its on him. I don't know if special teams coordinators get that much say in their personnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodjahs12 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, Spartacus said: Pretty much this unless he is in charge of who is returning punts and punting then its on him. I don't know if special teams coordinators get that much say in their personnel. Yeah it’s hard to gauge how much responsibility actually falls on him but it’s safe to say Mennenga isn’t telling Scott to go out there and shank every other punt of his or telling Shepherd to get blown up inside the 15 and then follow it up by coughing up the ball on the next return. Edited November 23, 2020 by Rodjahs12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexGreen#20 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) Scott is clearly not right. He looks like, and is punting like, he's hurt. With the IR rules the way they are this year, sitting Scott for 3 games and bringing in a street free agent make sense. Pending his injury. Shepherd is bad. Like really really bad. The game looks too fast for him. I get that Ervin is supposed to be the returner, but not having a second capable guy on the roster is both bad coaching (Failure to develop a player and failure to convince your GM/HC that what you have currently is deeply problematic) and bad GMing (I get that COVID means you can't sign a returner on Thursday to play Sunday, but you need to know your roster). The far more troubling aspect of the special teams units recently hasn't been any of the big name guys. It's been the other 10 guys on the field not doing their job. Yes, Scott kicked that Jaguars TD flat as hell, but the coverage was DREADFUL. Yes Shepherd was a disaster returning kicks, but: 1. Credit to the Colts kicker for an incredible performance. A good returner would have been screwed on a bunch of those kickoffs. 2. Our blocking is dreadful. Guys are in Shepherd's face before he's caught the ball. Those issues are on the coaching. It's bad. Edited November 23, 2020 by AlexGreen#20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kepler Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 LeFleur needs to hire his own coaches now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtsportsfan1 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 Honestly I think it has to do more with the lack of talent on the back end of the roster . Not sure what's up with Scott, but he has forgotten how to punt , when was the last time we had a consistent punter ( hentrich) . Speed and physicality is another thing this team has lacked for years. Our current and last gm are to blame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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