By all accounts, Matt LaFleur is an awfully nice guy.
He cheers as loud as anyone at Lambeau Field when his Green Bay Packers succeed.
He’s not afraid to shed a tear — or a bucket full — when things go amiss.
There’s not a lot of Mike Ditka or Bill Cowher in the modern-day LaFleur. In many ways, the swell LaFleur seems more like a pal than he does a coach or a boss.
And that could leave LaFleur squarely on the hot seat when the 2024 campaign begins.
LaFleur made the controversial — some would say foolish — choice of bringing back his friend, Joe Barry, for a third season as Green Bay’s defensive coordinator. That move has gone as smoothly as Clark Griswold’s Christmas lights project.
The Packers have a first-year starter at quarterback and one of the youngest groups of pass catchers in NFL history. Amazingly, though, the offense hasn’t been the problem most of the season.
Instead, for the umpteenth straight season, Green Bay’s defense has flopped. In the last two weeks alone, the defense’s implosions have dropped the Packers from the seventh and final playoff spot to No. 11 in the NFC and out of the postseason.
Many were surprised Barry wasn’t sent packing after Green Bay’s 34-20 loss to Tampa Bay Sunday when the defense was as dysfunctional as the Kardashian family.
LaFleur’s greatest sin, though, isn’t keeping Barry around for the final three games of 2023. No, his biggest offense was opting to stay married to Barry for any part of the 2023 campaign.
