Appreciating Organizational Stability: Why We're Spoiled as Packers Fans

The Conference Championship games haven't even taken place yet, but eight NFL teams hired new head coaches and at least six have replaced their General Managers or head personnel officials. Black Monday was as bloody as expected after Week 17's games, and the coaching carousel spun around too quickly for most of us to keep track of the changes.

Now that the dust has settled, it makes me realize one thing: I am extremely grateful that the Green Bay Packers are a stable organization. In my lifetime, the Packers have had exactly five head coaches.

Imagine how it must feel to be a Cleveland Browns fan, for example. From the 2004 season to now, that franchise has had six head coaches (including new coach Rob Chudzinski). That is an absurd rate of turnover in any position, let alone the person who is the gameday face of a franchise. Furthermore, the Browns have gone through five people as their head of player personnel (whether officially named General Manager or some other title) in that same time span.

Certainly, the Packers have seen changeover at their offensive and defensive coordinator positions, but that rate of turnover also seems to be lower than that of other franchises. Dom Capers has been around since 2009, and before he left to take the Miami Dolphins' head coaching job Joe Philbin spent five straight seasons as the Packers offensive coordinator.

In all honesty, the most critical factor that contributes to the Packers' stability is the team's ownership. Obviously, there is no single person who is responsible for making changes to the front office staff. This contrasts against teams like the Dallas Cowboys or New York Jets - franchises whose owners like to meddle in the personnel side of their football teams and who don't show a whole lot of patience with their employees. Officials in the front office certainly seem much more likely to stick around in the Packers' organization than with other franchises, both for voluntary and involuntary reasons.

Ultimately, it breaks down like this: the Packers have had four head coaches since Mike Holmgren was hired for the 1992 season. The average NFL team has had more than 6 (not including franchises whose histories don't go back to 1992). Be glad that we're not Raiders fans, as they have gone through 11 head coaches in that time frame to lead the league. Only three teams have had fewer head coaches in that span than Green Bay: the Eagles, Steelers, and Titans.

My point is this: don't forget how good we have it. There are probably 18 to 20 NFL fanbases that would kill to have the type of stability that the Packers' front office has, and we should not take it for granted.