Cheese Curds, 2/4: Matt LaFleur will face high scrutiny over special teams coordinator hire

In 2019, the Green Bay Packers hired Shawn Mennenga instead of Darren Rizzi. Last year, they promoted from within, giving Maurice Drayton the job.

It’s clear that each of Matt LaFleur’s two special teams coordinator hires have been failures. You’ve seen the results on the field — that’s not something that needs to be relitigated. What’s done is done, and the plan moving forward is what needs to change.

The Packers have seen too many games lost because of these units to continue pinching pennies on their coaching hires at that position. It’s time to finally pony up some cash to bring a coordinator with a proven track record into the organization to lead the Packers’ special teams; at this point, even mediocre special teams would be a welcome improvement over what this team has displayed recently.

There likely needs to be an organizational shift in the way special teams are prioritized from a personnel standpoint as well, but step one is getting the right person in the door to coach the special teams. If anything, an experienced coach with success could help inform the head coach and front office about what works.

While LaFleur will make the call on who gets the job, he has been limited by financial constraints that the front office has put upon him. It’s time to lift those limits and let LaFleur bring in someone with experience and a proven track record of success.

AJ Dillon ‘more motivated’ than ever to take next step | Packers.com
Dillon's broken rib, which he suffered on special teams in the third quarter of the playoff game, robbed him of a chance to contribute in the second half, something he will carry with him through the offseason as motivation for a bigger and better 2022.

Some advice as the Packers look for another special teams coach | Packer Report
The advice basically boils down to this: don't just be satisfied promoting from within. It's hard to argue with that after last year's debacle.

Packers must make all-out run at the best special teams coordinator | Packersnews.com ($)
Tom Silverstein argues that the Packers must pay up for a quality coordinator. This writer agrees, and maybe seeing those units be directly responsible for a playoff loss (again) will be the impetus the organization needs to finally give LaFleur a blank check to hire a quality coordinator.

With Aaron Rodgers’ Uncertain Future, Sportsbooks Challenged to Set Super Bowl LVII Odds - SI.com
Vegas is no dummy, and they're threading the needle right now between Rodgers returning (and making the Packers a Super Bowl favorite again) and him leaving (thus giving the team much longer odds).

Jaguars hire Doug Pederson as their new head coach | NFL.com
Congratulations to Brett Favre's old backup on landing another head coaching job. The question now is whether he can keep it -- GM Trent Baalke has fired his team's head coach in each of his last five years as a GM, including three one-and-done coaches.

Finally, we find one of the players participating in this year’s Super Bowl capturing the fandom of animal lovers and meme lovers alike: