-
Rob Demowski
Green Bay, Wis. — The green Bay Packers Matt LaFleur is being retained as head coach, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
He has signed a multi-year contract extension, which a source said is “not a show-stopping deal but a real commitment.”
The two sides met earlier in the week to discuss the future direction of the organization. He was also joined by general manager Brian Gutekunst and vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball, and the first order of business was to make sure they had the right threesome.
Once they all agreed to proceed, LaFleur’s contract was the first order of business. It didn’t take long and the deal was agreed on Friday evening and signed on Saturday. A deal for Gutekunst and Ball is also in the works, sources said.
It was the first major decision of new team president Ed Policy, who took over from Mark Murphy in July. It was Murphy who hired LaFleur to replace Super Bowl-winning coach Mike McCarthy in 2019.
The Packers are maintaining their organizational structure even with the new expansions, sources said, as Gutekunst and LaFleur will continue to report to Policy.
The Packers lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season, but this time in devastating fashion. Not only did they blow an 18-point halftime lead and give up 25 points in the fourth quarter, but they did so against a rival Chicago Bears.
LaFleur and Policy spoke briefly on the flight home from Chicago after the loss and then discussed the coach’s future after returning to Green Bay.
LaFleur had one year remaining on his signed contract extension through 2022. He did not say whether he would be willing to coach for the 2026 season without a contract extension, but reiterated that he would prefer to remain as coach of the Packers, even though he would be a top candidate for other NFL head coaching jobs.
“It’s one-and-one,” LaFleur said when meeting with reporters Sunday, the day after the season ended. “I love this place. I love the people. … I love our players, the locker room, everybody in our organization. I mean, it’s a unique place. The community has been excellent.
“I’ve been to other places, so I think it’s a unique place, and it’s a special place. My kids love it here; my family loves it here.”
Policy said last summer that he would not want to hire a coach or general manager in the final year of his contract, but he also said at the time that he was not ready to offer any extensions.
“I am generally opposed to it – I would never say – [but] I’m generally opposed to a coach or GM going into the last year of their contract,” Policy said last June, shortly before officially becoming president. ”This creates a lot of issues. I think generally when you have two years left you have a pretty good idea of where that relationship is going – not always, but in general.
“So I think generally speaking I would avoid the lame-duck situation. It’s hard at times for everyone involved. But there are some situations that probably require it, so I would never say never.”
This added pressure to the 2025 season, which ended with five consecutive losses.
LaFleur’s regular season record as coach of the Packers is 76–40–1, the fourth-highest winning percentage (.654) among all active NFL head coaches, and his 76 wins in his first seven seasons are the second-most by any coach in NFL history.
LaFleur receives strong vote of confidence from quarterback jordan love After Saturday’s defeat.
“I definitely think Matt should be the head coach,” Love said. “I love Matt a lot, and I think he does a good job. And that’s all.”
The Packers have made the playoffs in all but one of LaFleur’s seven seasons. However, after posting three consecutive 13-win seasons and going to two NFC Championship Games, LaFleur is 37-30-1 with just one playoff win over the past four seasons – a wild-card game in the 2023 season.
LaFleur was hired in 2019 to partially achieve aaron rodgers Back to MVP level, and the same thing happened. Rodgers won the award twice (2020 and 2021) under LaFleur. He was also charged with developing Love, who appeared as Green Bay’s franchise quarterback for three seasons in his early career.
LaFleur came to the Packers after one season as a playcaller. tennessee titans. Before that, he was a part of the Kyle Shanahan-Sean McVay coaching family.
Perhaps the biggest issue during LaFleur’s tenure was his hiring of coordinators. He fired four coordinators in his first five seasons. They retained defensive coordinator Mike Pettine from previous coach Mike McCarthy’s staff but moved on after two seasons. Pettine’s replacement, Joe Barry, lasted three seasons before LaFleur hired Jeff Hafley in 2024. LaFleur also had three different special teams coordinators. Rich Bisaccia has been in that position since 2022, after LaFleur fired Shawn Menenga after two seasons and Mo Drayton after one season.
LaFleur said he expected to lose Hafley for the head coaching job, but would not say if he planned to make any other coaching changes.
