GREEN BAY, Wis. — Jordan Love should take the following step in his profession because the Green Bay Packers‘ quarterback with out his revered place coach, Tom Clements.
On the day when the Packers introduced that Clements, 71, is retiring, head coach Matt LaFleur stated the following half in Love’s evolution as a quarterback is to imagine a extra vocal management function inside the staff.
“I feel the following step is simply to proceed to evolve as a vocal chief,” LaFleur stated of Love throughout Tuesday’s season wrap-up information convention.
Clements will go down as the one particular person to teach Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Love.
This is definitely Clements’ second or third retirement, relying on how he views it. He initially got here to Green Bay as Mike McCarthy’s quarterbacks coach in 2006 and left after the 2016 season. Clements was out of teaching for 2 years till the Arizona Cardinals employed him to work with Kyler Murray, who grew to become Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019.
Clements additionally coached for the Saints, Chiefs, Steelers and Bills.
Clements advised ESPN in 2023 that if he was retired after his first stint in Green Bay, then he was “retired, retired” after the 2020 season in Arizona. That was till Rodgers persuaded him to return again to Green Bay in 2022 after Luke Getsy left to turn into the Chicago Bears‘ offensive coordinator.
“Man, it has been a cool experience with him for the final three years,” LaFleur stated of Clements, a longtime star quarterback within the Canadian Football League following his school profession at Notre Dame.
“Talk about Favre, Rodgers after which the event of Jordan Love. I imply, that is fairly cool. I do know he is meant loads to this group — his contributions — and he will certainly be missed. I am unable to say sufficient nice issues about him. I actually respect him.”
The Packers have a number of in-house candidates to exchange Clements, together with assistant quarterbacks coach Connor Lewis and former NFL quarterback Sean Mannion, who joined the Packers’ employees this previous season as an offensive assistant. Getsy additionally spent the final portion of this season with the Packers as a guide after he was fired because the Raiders‘ offensive coordinator.
Whoever coaches Love subsequent season will likely be tasked, partly, with serving to him take the following step in his profession as a starter. LaFleur known as Love “an ascending participant that’s going to get higher and higher and higher” and stated he believes Love’s management function will proceed to develop.
“I feel that simply form of comes with the place naturally,” LaFleur stated. “I feel he is taken steps to get there, however I feel he can actually demand loads as a result of the locker room respects him. And they respect him not solely as an individual however by the work he places in. He’s a grinder. He’s one of many guys; I feel that is certainly one of his greatest qualities is he is likely one of the guys.
“They all respect him, however I feel, when issues aren’t fairly proper, I feel he can voice that as effectively. When guys aren’t fairly doing what they’re speculated to be doing, and he is one of many guys to speak to [them] about that. I simply suppose it means extra when it comes out of your quarterback than it does from me or certainly one of our different coaches.”
After a robust end to his first season as a starter in 2023 that resulted in a four-year, $220 million contract extension, Love missed two video games due to a knee damage early within the season and handled a groin damage at midseason. He threw 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions within the common season, however he went the final seven regular-season video games with out an interception till he had three of them within the playoff loss to the Eagles on Sunday.
The Packers completed an 11-win season on a three-game dropping streak, together with the playoffs, throughout which the offense sputtered.
“Do I feel he can play higher? Absolutely,” LaFleur stated. “Do I feel I may also help him out and be higher? Absolutely. Do I feel we will play higher round him? Absolutely.
“I simply suppose it is an excessive amount of to place it on one particular person. I actually do. I feel collectively, we have now to be higher, and I count on higher. We carried out at a fairly excessive degree a majority of the season after which took a dive. That’s why it feels, I’d say, completely different than a yr in the past.”
