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Rodgers reportedly coming back


Arthur Penske

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Going back to December 2018, as the Packers were assembling their list of targets to replace Mike McCarthy, prior to formal interviews, Matt Campbell was the one who the front office was most excited to talk to. Had he interviewed and been willing to make the jump, it felt at the time that as long as he didn't poop down his leg in the interview, he'd be the guy. The right combo of leadership qualities and football acumen. Matt LaFleur and Dan Campbell were the two other names I heard soon after McCarthy was dismissed. LaFleur was the football mind in the hot new system and Campbell was the leadership guy. From afar and on paper neither was the more complete package in their minds than Matt Campbell. In the weeks leading up to the first round of interviews the Packers reached out to Campbell to gauge his interest in jumping up to the pros. He seemed, at least to them to be leaning that way, but Iowa State put on the full court press and in the end, money and unfinished business kept him from interviewing with the Packers. And when interviews were conducted LaFleur flat out blew them away. He impressed them in the way they anticipated Matt Campbell would. He had the football mind and leadership abilities they simply had no idea were there. They looked at him as a young guy who would likely need more time going in, but walked out feeling like they had their guy.

The only mystery to me to this day, is if Matt Campbell would have been given the nod had he pursued the job and interviewed. He had such a leg up going into the start of the search. It's what prompted me to put him at the top of the list I provided here (Campbell,LaFleur, Campbell) and proclaim him as the guy who would replace McCarthy. But as many know LaFleur knocked it out of the park and prompted the team to cancel a second round of interviews. I feel like had they both interviewed LaFleur would have come away with the job anyway simply because he matched Campbell in intagibles but had the NFL experience.

Edited by Mr Anonymous
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1 minute ago, Mr Anonymous said:

Going back to December 2018, as the Packers were assembling their list of targets to replace Mike McCarthy, prior to formal interviews, Matt Campbell was the one who the front office was most excited to talk to. Had he interviewed and been willing to make the jump, it felt at the time that as long as he didn't poop down his leg in the interview, he'd be the guy. The right combo of leadership qualities and football acumen. Matt LaFleur and Dan Campbell were the two other names I heard soon after McCarthy was dismissed. LaFleur was the football mind in the hot new system and Campbell was the leadership guy. From afar and on paper neither was the more complete package in their minds than Matt Campbell. In the weeks leading up to the first round of interviews the Packers reached out to Campbell to gauge his interest in jumping up to the pros. He seemed, at least to them to be leaning that way, but Iowa State put on the full court press and in the end, money and unfinished business kept him from interviewing with the Packers. And when interviews were conducted LaFleur flat out blew them away. He impressed him in the way they anticipated Matt Campbell would. He had the football mind and leadership abilities they simply had no idea were there. They looked at him as a young guy who would likely need more time going in, but walked out feeling like they had their guy.

The only mystery to me to this day, is if Matt Campbell would have been given the nod had he pursued the job and interviewed. He had such a leg up going into the start of the search. It's what prompted me to put him at the top of the list I provided here (Campbell,LaFleur, Campbell) and proclaim him as the guy who would replace McCarthy. But as many know LaFleur knocked it out of the park and prompted the team to cancel a second round of interviews. I feel like had they both interviewed LaFleur would have come away with the job anyway simply because he matched Campbell in intagibles but had the NFL experience.

You were the Matt Campbell guy? Lol

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1 minute ago, Packer_ESP said:

Not even Rodgers knew but luckily he was able to consult this guy and decide

The Packers knew what Rodgers was up to with his leaks and were confident they'd get him to come around. They knew what he really wanted and have been giving it to him for the past 9 months. And they were right, it worked.

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4 minutes ago, squire12 said:

You forgot the only Matt Campbell guy.

Get it straight

Hardly...

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/football/2019/02/05/iowa-state-cyclones-matt-campbell-big-12-conference-nfl-new-york-jets-green-bay-packers-hirings/2776191002/

The Packers absolutely made contact and he would have been the odds on favorite going into the interview process. Every organization keeps a list and he was at the top of theirs the day McCarthy was dismissed.

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1 hour ago, Mr Anonymous said:

Well it's exactly what took place in late 2018, early 2019 so yeah. Think back and remember how many people were throwing Matt LaFleur's name out there in December right after McCarthy was fired. It wasn't many.

I think you confused Matt Campbell with Pat Fitzgerald.  I recall tons of Fitzgerald buzz, but nothing on Matt Campbell. 

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17 minutes ago, {Family Ghost} said:

I think you confused Matt Campbell with Pat Fitzgerald.  I recall tons of Fitzgerald buzz, but nothing on Matt Campbell. 

Pat Fitzgerald was a Mark Murphy favorite but they never wound up interviewing him. I recall him as the one the fans heard rumored and ran with for awhile but it didn't progress far in house. Gutekunst was tipped off to LaFleur by the Titans GM who gave a ringing endorsement. I say with 100% knowledge and certainty that Matt Campbell was the "on paper" top candidate the moment the decision to fire McCarthy was made. The top candidate going in and the top candidate when it comes time to offer the job often aren't the same person. When they actually conducted interviews, Matt Campbell had already taken himself out and LaFleur killed it. The runner-up was actually Todd Monken who was the Tampa OC. But it wasn't a close 2nd. They decided to forego the second round of interviews they originally planned because MLF was the guy in everyone's minds. No debate, no differing opinions, he was the guy.

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42 minutes ago, Mr Anonymous said:

Pat Fitzgerald was a Mark Murphy favorite but they never wound up interviewing him. I recall him as the one the fans heard rumored and ran with for awhile but it didn't progress far in house. Gutekunst was tipped off to LaFleur by the Titans GM who gave a ringing endorsement. I say with 100% knowledge and certainty that Matt Campbell was the "on paper" top candidate the moment the decision to fire McCarthy was made. The top candidate going in and the top candidate when it comes time to offer the job often aren't the same person. When they actually conducted interviews, Matt Campbell had already taken himself out and LaFleur killed it. The runner-up was actually Todd Monken who was the Tampa OC. But it wasn't a close 2nd. They decided to forego the second round of interviews they originally planned because MLF was the guy in everyone's minds. No debate, no differing opinions, he was the guy.

so at best you're a blowhard with an ego

at worst you actually have information access and a complete lack of integrity and deep insecurity to the point where you'd share it on a public message board to make yourself feel good about "knowing" something while it's happening and surely against all policies in place that grants you access to such information

😬

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26 minutes ago, Mr Anonymous said:

Pat Fitzgerald was a Mark Murphy favorite but they never wound up interviewing him. I recall him as the one the fans heard rumored and ran with for awhile but it didn't progress far in house. Gutekunst was tipped off to LaFleur by the Titans GM who gave a ringing endorsement. I say with 100% knowledge and certainty that Matt Campbell was the "on paper" top candidate the moment the decision to fire McCarthy was made. The top candidate going in and the top candidate when it comes time to offer the job often aren't the same person. When they actually conducted interviews, Matt Campbell had already taken himself out and LaFleur killed it. The runner-up was actually Todd Monken who was the Tampa OC. But it wasn't a close 2nd. They decided to forego the second round of interviews they originally planned because MLF was the guy in everyone's minds. No debate, no differing opinions, he was the guy.

Interesting stuff.  They kept it pretty quiet.  Went back just to see what the media was saying.  Nothing really about Campbell.  Dan yes but not Matt.  Couple of guys here did mention MLF but gave him a luke warm response.  Chatter at the time about how bad TN offense sucked.  No one seemed particularly excited at the time he was hired either.  

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