Shortly following a stunning playoff loss, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur and team president Mark Murphy made it clear the team wants Aaron Rodgers back in 2022.
On the Sunday of the Super Bowl, the Packers screamed from the top of the media mountain that the team is willing to go all-in on Rodgers in 2022.
We’re now starting to see the Packers turn words into action.
The first big move is coming via LaFleur’s coaching staff.
On Thursday, Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network and Rob Demovsky of ESPN reported that the Packers will hire Tom Clements as the team’s new quarterbacks coach. Clements would replace Luke Getsy, who departed to become the new offensive coordinator in Chicago.
The hiring of Clements will be significant. Not only because he’s a former quarterback, a fantastic developer of the quarterback position and one of the most experienced offensive coaches in football, but his connection and friendship with Rodgers provide a strong message from the team to the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
In bringing back Clements, the Packers are serious about keeping Rodgers in Green Bay.
Losing Getsy and Nathaniel Hackett from the coaching staff no doubt hurt the Packers’ chances of getting Rodgers back in 2022. But hiring Clements might all but erase the impact of those departures in the eyes of Rodgers, who has often credited Clements with much of his development and maturation as a quarterback.
Clements became Rodgers’ quarterbacks coach in his second NFL season and then held the title for six years, including when Rodgers took over for Brett Favre as the starter in 2008 and when he won his first MVP in 2011. Later, he was elevated to offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Overall, Clements coached 11 seasons in Green Bay before departing in 2016.
In terms of coaches that Rodgers respects the most, Clements sits at or very close to the top of the list.
The 68-year-old Clements retired from coaching following the 2020 season. This can’t just be a power play from the Packers. It’s too hard to imagine Clements coming out of retirement and returning to Green Bay without knowing Rodgers had a very good chance of being the quarterback in 2022.
Put another way: Clements, after a year away, isn’t unretiring to coach Jordan Love. Rodgers wanted him back, and the Packers obliged, either as a condition of his return or as a strong show of support for him returning.
What other obstacles lay in Rodgers’ way? He may still be considering retirement, or potentially starting over someplace else. But as long as the Packers presented Rodgers with a strong plan for keeping the roster intact, the hiring of Clements as the new quarterbacks coach should be rightfully viewed as a big step toward Rodgers returning to be the Packers quarterback in 2022.
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