TE coach out; Getsy to be QB coach
GREEN BAY – Despite some previous connections, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and tight ends coach Brian Angelichio are not going to be working together.
The Packers appear to be cutting ties with anybody who has roots with former coach Mike McCarthy, and Angelichio is the latest to go, according to two sources. Angelichio has a year left on his contract but is likely to find a job if he wants it.
Meanwhile, former Packers wide receivers coach Luke Getsy will return to Green Bay as quarterbacks coach, PackersNews.com confirmed.
To replace Angelichio, LaFleur is taking a chance on Justin Outten, a quality control/assistant offensive line coach who was coaching in high school three years ago. LaFleur and Outten worked together in Atlanta in 2016 when LaFleur was quarterbacks coach and Outten was an offensive intern.
Outten has been an offensive assistant for the Falcons the last two seasons. With just two years of NFL experience, Outten is making a big jump to coach tight ends for the Packers. From 2008-15 he was offensive coordinator/ offensive line coach for Spring Westfield High School in Texas.
The Doylestown, Pennsylvania, native joins another young and relatively inexperienced coach upfront in offensive line coach Adam Stenavich. LaFleur finalized a deal with Stenavich, a former assistant offensive line coach with the San Francisco 49ers, late last week.
LaFleur has not hired a wide receivers coach, an assistant offensive line coach or said whether he will retain running backs coach Ben Sirmans.
So far, LaFleur’s only offensive hires besides Stenavich and Outten have been coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and
Getsy. If Sirmans returns, he would be the only position coach holdover from McCarthy’s offensive staff.
Angelichio, 46, had a difficult job the last two years because he had over-thehill tight ends whom the Packers were counting on immensely in Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis.
In 2016, he oversaw the resurgence of tight end Jared Cook, a major factor in the team’s success after recovering from a high ankle sprain suffered early in the season. Cook left in free agency and has had two outstanding years with the Oakland Raiders.
Getsy, 33, returns to the Packers after one year at Mississippi State as the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator. Getsy will serve as the Packers’ quarterbacks coach.
In March, Getsy spoke of his relationship with Aaron Rodgers to The ClarionLedger of the USA TODAY Network.
“Fortunately, I got to be there first as a quality control, and got to, what I would think, establish myself and let people believe in me,” he said. “When you have a guy like Aaron Rodgers who believes in you, I think that helps. That, for sure, was a big step to overcome when I first got there. Aaron and I are the same age, and I mean, I’m in the quarterback room every day. So that part of it was big.”
McCarthy brought Getsy in as a quality control coach in 2014 and he moved his way up to become wide receivers coach from 2016-17.
While with the Packers, Getsy helped in the development of Pro Bowl wide receiver Davante Adams. He also worked with veteran Jordy Nelson, who caught 97 passes in 2016 after missing all of the 2015 season with a knee injury.
Front-office addition
The friendship between Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and Blanchardville native Milt Hendrickson, spawned more than 20 years ago at UW – La Crosse, has led the two to the same place.
This week, Hendrickson officially became part of the Packers organization following 14 seasons as a regional and national scout with the Baltimore Ravens, an NFL source said.
The Packers haven’t announced the hiring, so it’s not known what his title will be, but he is expected to be a senior member of the personnel department. A source said Gutekunst tried to hire Hendrickson last year, but the Ravens denied the Packers permission.
Special teams interview
The Packers have interviewed Jacksonville Jaguars assistant special teams coach Mike Mallory and had discussions with at least two other candidates for their special teams positions, sources said.
Mallory was the Jaguars’ special teams coach from 2013-16, but was demoted to assistant after a terrible season on special teams in his final year.
It’s likely that Mallory was interviewing for the coordinator’s position. The other two coaches under consideration might be for assistant job