May 13, 2025 • 23 mins
Mike and Wes review the coordinators’ media sessions, discussing their takeaways from the comments made by defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley (3:13), offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich (10:11) and special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia (19:06).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
by my partner in crime, Wes Hodkoitz. We're coming to
you here from our studios at lambeau Field and Wes.
I know the big news this week in the NFL
will be the schedule release on Wednesday, so our second
show of this week will focus on that. But for
(00:33):
this show on Monday, here at Packers headquarters, we in
the media got to hear from the Packers three coordinators,
Rich Pasacia, Jeff Hafley Adam Stenovich, the only time that
those coordinators will meet with the media until training camp
rolls around. So I'm just gonna throw out an open
(00:53):
ended question. We will discuss all three in some way,
shape or form and what we heard, but what was
your most interesting takeaway from hearing from the coordinators.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I think it's going to be your most interesting takeaway
as well, Mike, and that is the fact that Edrin
Cooper is turning eyes around the Lambeufield facility. We have
not seen him yet. You and I as the writers,
we are not down in the football area. But Jeff Affley,
the first thing he asked the reporters is have you
seen him yet? And he said he's bigger, And it
was in his estimation that Cooper is probably hovering closer
(01:23):
to twoint forty now after being listed last year at
two twenty nine, which is the natural progression. I think
it's where everyone saw this young man going in year two.
Not only does that help in terms of the game
of football itself, but also his durability, which was something
the Packers were looking for after he battled a couple
of little nagging injuries here and there during his rookie season.
But Michael, that was really the only blemish on this thing.
(01:44):
This dude, you know, getting some vote votes for Defensive
Rookie of the Year obviously an All PFWA rookie member.
This is a very very talented young man. And where
last year it was a real big question, Okay, where
do the Packers fit him in? How do you get
him on the field, I think that side of it
has gone now. The question is where is he going
to play, how often is he going to play there?
(02:06):
And how can he affect the overall defense?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
And I think hearing from Halfley, how he seems to
have remade, reshaped his body a little bit, and taken
the off season strength and conditioning. That seriously just speaks
to how dedicated he is to being available for this
team on a weekly basis and how disappointed he was
(02:29):
as a rookie that he had to deal with those injuries. Now,
there are no guarantees. I mean, anything can happen at
any point in a given football game. It's a collision sport,
and bad things happen all the time. So this doesn't
guarantee that Edrin Cooper is going to play every single
game for the Packers in twenty twenty five, but he
is working to put himself in the best possible shape,
(02:51):
in the best possible condition to not have to replay
his rookie season where he was in and out of
the lineup and also in and out of practice and
training camp for that matter. I mean, he wants to
be available and ready to go start to finish, and
and when you think about that with the possibilities with
this defense, you know, it starts to open your eyes
(03:12):
a little bit. Sticking on the topic of Jeff Hafley,
the thing that really stood out to me a line
of his that that really spoke to me and just
all these years that I've been doing this, and and
you know, we try to communicate with fans and and
everything else to hear to hear, to hear Jeff Halfley
(03:34):
say that he was very proud of the defense and
how hard they were playing and how well the unit
was playing at the end of the year. Obviously it
was a solid performance against Philadelphia in the wild card game.
But then he said the biggest question for him in
year two is how fast can the Packers get back
to that level? And I thought the way he phrased
(03:54):
that was very, very crucial because first he says how
fast can the pack get back to that which is
an acknowledgment that in this league you can't just pick
up where you left off. It doesn't work that way.
As much as the fans would like to say, well,
the Packers are playing great defense at the end of
twenty twenty four, they ought to be able to start
twenty twenty five play in just like that, No, it doesn't.
(04:17):
It doesn't work that way. So the mindset of the
defensive coordinator is just this, this is the reality. He's
happy with how they finished the season, but now the
goal is to get back to that as quickly as possible,
and then also along those lines, knowing as the leader
of the defense and as the coordinator, the faster he
can get that unit back to that level, then the
(04:39):
greater opportunity there is for growth and progress to get
hopefully to another level for another stretch run for the Packers.
In twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I was playing a game with my son on Sunday.
It's like Minions, something from Despicable Mean. Okay, so the
little minions run around and you got to like jump
over fire hydrants and get on and get on rocket
ships and all that Killian's much better at the game
than I am.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Okay, So I imagine that I go figure.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I play it the first time around and I end
up bumping into something electrical cord or something, So then
I restart. So the second time around, I'm like, I'm ready,
now I'm set, And you know what happens. The whole
course changed. It's not the same thing over over again.
When I was a kid, Mario didn't change. It was
the same thing, the same level. You just mastered it
(05:29):
and you moved on. No that these kids are doing
it differently these days. Defensively That's what it's like in
the National Football League offensively too. Just because the Packers
had success with some of the exotic looks they had
in twenty twenty four, just because in some ways they
didn't have the success they won it with the four
man rush last season, it isn't a precursor for what's
going to happen in twenty twenty five. Jeff Halfley recognizes that.
(05:52):
So when he was asked the question by match Nightman,
which was a great question about basically what kind of
defense do you want to be? The question is, yeah,
you have a you have a construct a concept of
a plan that you're going to go into the season with,
but can you actually facilitate it the way you think?
And if not, is evolution involved in regardless, there is
adaptation that is going to be required throughout the course
(06:14):
of the season. Look at the twenty fourteen Packers when
Clay Matthews moved inside linebacker. But all that being said,
what excites me about this, Mike is last season Halfley
was in his first year with this defense. He's trying
to figure out which pieces he's going to plug in,
which pieces are going to take out of it, and
by the end of the year, it was a top
five unit because of how they constantly adapted to what
their situation was. I think that's what gives me the
(06:37):
most really excitement about this scheme. Halfley's a sharp dude
with a good scheme, and he proved that whether it's
in the middle of a game or week by week,
he can make those adjustments. And you have guys like Cooper.
Now that Mike, let's be honest, man, you've been around
here a long time. I'd put Cooper at least in
my fourteen years covering this team right in the top
(06:57):
five for the most impressive rookies that we've seen.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I would yeah, I would agree. And that's the thing
that really intrigues me about Jeff Halfley with this defense
in year two, as you said, he acknowledged at the podium. Okay,
so the Packers went from trying to get a lot
done with a standard fore man rush. You want to
rush for and cover seven, that's what's going to give
(07:21):
you the best opportunity for turnovers in the back end.
It didn't really work out that way. He had to
get a little bit more exotic about how exactly he
was going to rush for and cover seven, but that's
what he wanted to stay in most of the time.
So you try these different fire zone looks and all this,
and guys coming from different angles and other guys dropping
off the defensive line. Okay, Now, every single opponent on
(07:43):
the Packers' schedule for twenty twenty five has all of
that game film to digest of. Okay, this is how
This is what Jeff Haffley likes to do in Green Bay,
and Halfley knows that, Halflely knows that all the opponents
have been studying that. So the really intriguing question, which
of course is the one he's not going to answer
at the podium, is hey, man, what else you got
up your sleeve?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
You know?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
You know what I mean. It's like it's because, hey,
there are a gazillion different ways to play defense in
this game, and there are all kinds of different things
you can try, and if you feel like you have
the personnel to try some different things, see if you
can get them to master certain concepts. You know, who
knows where this Packers defense is going to be at
(08:26):
the end of twenty twenty five compared to the end
of twenty four or the beginning of twenty five. It's
the biggest point from Halfley is that it is a
constant evolution in this game, and if you are not
evolving on either side of the ball, you are falling
behind because the league is just too competitive and everybody
(08:46):
has every square inch of film to watch on you
of everything that you've ever done.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
It's the old Billy Bean adage man adapt or die, Yeah,
and that's what you have to do in this position
and this job. I feel like he's been really good
at it. Michael, You and I said it so often
last year, but my goodness, I just want to give
a quick shout out to this guy because, in addition
to how thorough and in depth and conversational Halfway is
at the podium, you know, there was a you know,
this is the only time, as you said, we're getting
(09:12):
these guys during the off season program. He has like
a fifteen minute window to do interviews and time was up,
but yet he still was asking if there's anybody else
that needs questions asked, and they weren't all just you know,
softball is either there's some tough stuff that he's being
asked right now about the construct of this football team.
Halfley took the time he did that, and again, this
is this is the type of dude I want to
play for. You're talking about head coaches and press conferences
(09:35):
and all that. I've said it time and time again.
It's like listening to a college an engaging college professor.
When he's up there explaining this thing, you can feel
his passionate for it.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Yeah, I would agree. We'll get to the other coordinators
we heard from in just a minute, but I will
take care of our sponsor business. Serious XMNFL Radio delivers
hard hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news
that true football fanatics need twenty four to seven, three
sixty five and at Cousin Subbs, we have something forever
one like Carl Wisconsin Cheese, Kurds, mac and Cheese, golden fries,
(10:03):
and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or
submona bowl Cousin Subs fifty plus years of better. All right,
I saw that you did. All right. So we've touched
on Jeff Hafley defensive coordinator, Adam Stenovich offensive coordinator. What
was your primary takeaway from hearing him address the media
(10:25):
for the first time in the offseason.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
So many interesting things to go over with him. I
think the biggest aspect of it is the current situation
that Green Bay faces with these receivers and the multitude
that they have available to them despite Christian Watson's injury
right now, and Jason Willie had asked the question, which
I thought was a great question about, Hey, you look
at what happened with Jaden Reid at the end of
last season. He got kind of banged up, obviously a
(10:49):
pretty significant shoulder injury that they're expecting him to be
healed from going into the season. But that happened in Philly.
He was with the slang when we're in the locker room.
Jayden Reid went through a lot last year, been the
most productive receiver Green Bays had in terms of just
his pure statistics the past two seasons. Is there things
green Bay can do to take the load off of them?
Can savey On Williams help in that capacity, And as
(11:11):
Stenovich said, he thinks Williams and Matthew Golden, the first
round pick, both can do things that help him out.
From Golden's perspective, this is a guy that runs a
four to two nine. You can place him anywhere, and
they've he's already, even though they are not catching passes
and doing routes and all that type of stuff. In
terms of the in game eleven and eleven seven on
seven stuff, he's shown a lot, whether it was the
(11:32):
rookie minichamp or just some of the things that they're
seeing behind the scenes right now with him a very
exciting young player that definitely is mature beyond his years.
Saveon Williams, man, I'll tell you what somebody had asked
this question an insider inbox that I'm answering for what
will be Tuesday's column. You know, do you think the
Packers and Brian Goodkins they were excited they thought they
see a you know, a Taysom Hill type player in Williams.
(11:55):
While I don't think that's the natural comparable. I think
it is really exciting when you see a guy with
all this college film and now you get to pick
what you want to use him, how you want to
use it. What tools does he present that you think
can benefit your offense right off the bat. In that way,
I think this is one of the more exciting offenses
I think I'm going to cover with the Green Bay
Packers because again, as much as you and I talked
(12:16):
last year about all these receivers that can do different things.
Now you have a guy like Williams that has that
many carries under his belt, has thrown a pass at
the college level and seems to have a pretty good
arm too. That was interesting and you can just kind
of see the enthusiasm, the excitement with Stenovich too, kind
of talking about what the potential build of this offense
can be with these two rookies coming in.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, and I think to connect it even a little
bit to last year on the defensive side, whether you're
talking about Edgrian Cooper or Evan Williams playing in the
back end as a rookie with Xavier McKinney. The progress
that these rookies hopefully are going to show throughout the
course of their first seasons in the NFL. Where the
Packers offense is down the stretch in twenty twenty five
(12:57):
could be very different, very different where it is at
the beginning. If these young guys are going to be
up to contributing and answering the call and and the
coaches are going to push them, They're going to test them.
How much can they handle schematically? You know, how much
can you feed them that they will understand the responsibilities
the different roles, and then getting getting those worked into
(13:18):
worked into game plans. The other thing that I kind
of got a kick out of listening to Steno at
the podium is the the old offensive lineman was showing
through there a bit, because, for those who don't know,
Adam Stenovich, Wisconsin native Marshfield, Wisconsin in the center of State,
went and played left tackle at the University of Michigan
(13:38):
in ann Arbor, spent some time during his pro career
in Green Bay, but when he got to the NFL,
he was one of those left tackles who has moved
inside to guard and then sort of had to become
the jack of all trades backup. He had to be
ready to ready to step in as a reserve offensive
alignment at any position where he might be needed. He
(14:00):
really really likes this group that the Packers have continued
to put together on the offensive line in terms of
versatile players, guys that are that are challenged and expected
to learn and understand multiple positions. And he's really fired
up about the competitions that are going to be developing here,
(14:20):
whether you're talking about Jordan Morgan and Rashid Walker at
left tackle, and if Anthony Belton, the second round draft pick,
gets into that mix, or if it's Morgan and Sean
Ryan at at right guard. He's he's really really excited
to see just where these different versatile pieces, how they
(14:41):
compete for certain spots, and and then how it all
comes together, not just the starting five, but then okay,
who's number six, seven, and eight, and how many different
spots can they rely on six, seven and eight to
fill in for when they need them.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
People always, and I'm not criticizing one for this, but
fans always, you know, really perseverate on what the start
five is and what is the secondary going to look
like in all this and so often what we envision
even during training camp, even the end of training camp,
differs greatly from what we see at the end of
the season. Seventy five percent of the time it's due
to injuries. I mean, how many people last year Mike
had Keishawn Nixon earmarked for a perimeter cornerback for most
(15:18):
of the season, right, But that's the way the cookie
crumbled when you when you look at the offensive line.
The Packers were remarkably healthy throughout the course of the season,
but then Elton Jenkins insers his shoulder in Philadelphia, and
now they're playing multiple guys in those spots. How you
build out the line for six, seven, eight is almost
as important as building the starting five itself. And what
(15:40):
intrigues me and I talked about this on our show
last week, is there are so many different variations and
variables in manifest you know, manifest you know, how would
I say it?
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Manifestation and atestations?
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Thank you? I ran. I was doing so well and
then I ran into a roadblock.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
That's okay, process, it happens, but the show truly is unscrewed.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I should have only gone with two things. I try
to turn it into the trilogy of their network. My
point being is that if you have a Jordan Morgan
who can play multiple positions, if you have an Anthony
Belton who could potentially contribute at multiple spots, that makes
your offensive line stronger down the run. Not only does
it push a Rasheet Walker for the left tackle job,
but it gives you an option there depending on if
Walker wins that and still has an injury or something
(16:20):
like that. You have to be able to go there.
And when you look at the Packers offensive lines over
the last fifteen years. That's where they've been really strong.
Everybody was looking at Jordan Morgan a year ago at
this time, not a lot of people were talking about
Sean Ryan. Sean Ryan ends up starting seventeen games right
guard last season. Yep, you have to be able to
have plan B, C, D and so on and so forth.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah. Rich Basacia an assistant head coach, special teams coordinator.
He's actually the first one we heard from at the podium.
We'll talk about him as our third one here. If
there's one thing I took away from that more than
anything else, it's the reminder, the reminder of how coaches
in this league absolutely perseverate on failures, on things that
(17:06):
go wrong. Rich Bisacci was talking about basically was pointing
out the biggest moments over his three years with Matt
Lafleur where he feels the Packers' special teams have let
down the squad in terms of their performance. And you know,
he articulated the different moments, and everybody knows the major
ones and what they are. I felt like after hearing
(17:30):
coach Bisaccia talk like that that I could look at
his you know, his coaching resume and go, Okay, he
was he was coaching special teams with the Cowboys in
twenty fourteen. Okay, Rich, name me a play in twenty fourteen.
Where your special teams?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I mean?
Speaker 1 (17:46):
And he would know, like he would know, because that's
that's how these coaches are. They are they are always
focused on trying to fix what goes wrong. And it
was also interesting to hear just in the way that
he talks about things, you know, whether whether he's talking
about Andres Carlson missing a field goal in the playoff
game in San Francisco two years ago or Keishawn Nixon
(18:07):
fumbling the opening kickoff in the playoff game. Rich Pasaccia
talks about that and he calls it we fence for
a reason. He talks about we let the team down.
He doesn't put it just on the players that there
was a failure and that there was a mistake. He
feels it. He takes the responsibility for it as the
coach that his unit needs to perform better, and that's
(18:30):
on him. And I think it's just it speaks to
the culture of accountability that we've seen across the board
with this team. And it's why even though you know, yes,
twenty twenty four didn't finish the way the packers wanted
it to. They didn't get as far as they did
in twenty twenty three and all that kind of stuff.
(18:50):
But man, there is a culture of accountability around here
that they know what went wrong, they know why it
went wrong, and they're going to try their darnness to
learn from and move forward from it. And that's what
has you excited about twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
It's an excellent point. And to me, I was sitting
there thinking about this, it almost reminds you the old
poker player adage, you know, where it's like you always
remember your your bad beats and right you do the
pots that you've won, and that that's kind of what
it's been for Bisaci because there's been a lot of
positives mixed in there too, but certainly it's the moments
where you feel like your team adversely affected the whole squad. Yeah,
(19:24):
and that was one thing that he was sort of
talking about. The other thing too, I thought was very
important that he mentioned was the topic of Kishawn Nixon
came up again, and we don't know what's going to
happen as far as this return situation. The Packers drafted
a couple guys that have return experience, including Golden. They
signed Mkole Hardman. He's involved in this thing now. But
it did sound in some ways like without talking to Kishaw,
(19:44):
and it did sound like cooler heads have kind of prevailed.
As Bisachia said after the Philadelphia game, he wasn't in
a great mood either. Nobody was with how that game went,
with how that fumble on that kickoff return, everything that
came out of that. But Nixon is He always look
at Nixon as being the mix with kickoff returns, and
he's a two time All Pro. It's something he's done
(20:04):
very well at this level. Again, we have to see
what the construct of the fifty three looks like, which
your game day roster looks like. But the fact of
the matter is Nixon goes back a long, long way
with Bisaccia. Yep, those aren't two guys that just got
paired together in Green Bay. They're going back to the
rookie season for Keishaw now six years ago. There is
a bond that has been forged there and we'll see
(20:25):
exactly how it all shuffles out. It was also interesting
too hearing him talk a little bit about Nate Hobbs,
and Hobbs was effusive in his praise of Bisacia when
we first met him back in March, and just how
much of an impact he had on him, not only
as a player, but as a person. Now he comes
into the fold here into Green Bay. In addition to
you look at Pisachi being extremely excited about him being here. Also,
(20:45):
Jeff Hafley talked about it. He's seen him play inside,
he's seen him play outside. The Packers are going to
play him at both. They feel like this guy's entire
repertoire is open to them and they want to take
advantage of it. So football is so much about connections
as it is as much as about the playbook. Like
in that type of with those two guys, both Nixon
and Hobbs, two former Raiders, you're kind of feeling that
so far.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, at the end of the day, as much as
there everything's about x's and o's and forty times and
all this other kind of stuff. It's as with any business,
it's a people business. And and the more we get
to hear from coaches and they talk about their relationships
with players and whatnot, you get a little bit better
sense behind the scenes as to how these guys connect
and how coaches and players and all these guys in
(21:28):
the locker room, you know, become a team. And you know,
even though it's the pros and everybody's collecting their paychecks,
there's a lot to be said for relationships and the
way people relate to one another.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Leadership is leadership, man, it doesn't matter. I mean, I've
I've been around long enough now to feel this and
work for enough different companies to know this. I mean, whether, yes,
the spotlight is very bright and it's very hot on
NFL coaches and players alike, but at the end of
the day, it comes down to can you get guys
rally to play for you, to work for you, to
want to succeed for you? I think Beside does that.
(22:00):
And listening to Jeff Hafley and the rest of this
coaching staff, I mean, it was funny. Another thing that
came up in insider inboxes I'm putting this together is
it's not easy to put together a successful foundation in
the National Football League. The Packers have done that. This
was the eighth draft of Brian Gudekunst as general manager.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Now this is this, there's where has the time gone before?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
We're going out to season seven now, right with Matt
Lafleur as a coach, Like this thing moves quick. But
when you do build that success in that culture and
you have a foundation that you can bring guys into
and warm them into, that's one of the big benefits
that Green Bay has had for three decades now, and
certainly trying to change that and not change that, but
translate that into another championship in twenty twenty five. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Well, as I said at the top of the show,
the big news this week in the NFL will be
the schedule release on Wednesday night. Are you ready for this?
Speaker 2 (22:52):
I'm so ready for it because there's a Mumford and
Sun's concert at the Feisser Forum, I believe, in October nineteenth,
and I need to know whether or not I can
go to that.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
You traveling, Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
If we're home though, my goodness, I will be. I
will be. I might conclude that as one of my
ten things to know about the schedule release, the packers
are home and I can go to the mumperd and
Sun's concert.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
All right, Well, that's so yes.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
The answer is I'm very exciting.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, you're very you're very ready for this. And on
our next show, we will talk about anything and everything
with regards to the Packers' schedule and uh and maybe
even for another show after that, depending on what it
looks like. Who knows, but for now we're gonna call
it a rap on this edition of Packers unscript. It'd
be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
(23:35):
team on packers dot com for wes. I am Mike.
Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will see you
next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
by my partner in crime, Wes Hodkoitz. We're coming to
you here from our studios at lambeau Field and Wes.
I know the big news this week in the NFL
will be the schedule release on Wednesday, so our second
show of this week will focus on that. But for
(00:33):
this show on Monday, here at Packers headquarters, we in
the media got to hear from the Packers three coordinators,
Rich Pasacia, Jeff Hafley Adam Stenovich, the only time that
those coordinators will meet with the media until training camp
rolls around. So I'm just gonna throw out an open
(00:53):
ended question. We will discuss all three in some way,
shape or form and what we heard, but what was
your most interesting takeaway from hearing from the coordinators.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I think it's going to be your most interesting takeaway
as well, Mike, and that is the fact that Edrin
Cooper is turning eyes around the Lambeufield facility. We have
not seen him yet. You and I as the writers,
we are not down in the football area. But Jeff Affley,
the first thing he asked the reporters is have you
seen him yet? And he said he's bigger, And it
was in his estimation that Cooper is probably hovering closer
(01:23):
to twoint forty now after being listed last year at
two twenty nine, which is the natural progression. I think
it's where everyone saw this young man going in year two.
Not only does that help in terms of the game
of football itself, but also his durability, which was something
the Packers were looking for after he battled a couple
of little nagging injuries here and there during his rookie season.
But Michael, that was really the only blemish on this thing.
(01:44):
This dude, you know, getting some vote votes for Defensive
Rookie of the Year obviously an All PFWA rookie member.
This is a very very talented young man. And where
last year it was a real big question, Okay, where
do the Packers fit him in? How do you get
him on the field, I think that side of it
has gone now. The question is where is he going
to play, how often is he going to play there?
(02:06):
And how can he affect the overall defense?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
And I think hearing from Halfley, how he seems to
have remade, reshaped his body a little bit, and taken
the off season strength and conditioning. That seriously just speaks
to how dedicated he is to being available for this
team on a weekly basis and how disappointed he was
(02:29):
as a rookie that he had to deal with those injuries. Now,
there are no guarantees. I mean, anything can happen at
any point in a given football game. It's a collision sport,
and bad things happen all the time. So this doesn't
guarantee that Edrin Cooper is going to play every single
game for the Packers in twenty twenty five, but he
is working to put himself in the best possible shape,
(02:51):
in the best possible condition to not have to replay
his rookie season where he was in and out of
the lineup and also in and out of practice and
training camp for that matter. I mean, he wants to
be available and ready to go start to finish, and
and when you think about that with the possibilities with
this defense, you know, it starts to open your eyes
(03:12):
a little bit. Sticking on the topic of Jeff Hafley,
the thing that really stood out to me a line
of his that that really spoke to me and just
all these years that I've been doing this, and and
you know, we try to communicate with fans and and
everything else to hear to hear, to hear Jeff Halfley
(03:34):
say that he was very proud of the defense and
how hard they were playing and how well the unit
was playing at the end of the year. Obviously it
was a solid performance against Philadelphia in the wild card game.
But then he said the biggest question for him in
year two is how fast can the Packers get back
to that level? And I thought the way he phrased
(03:54):
that was very, very crucial because first he says how
fast can the pack get back to that which is
an acknowledgment that in this league you can't just pick
up where you left off. It doesn't work that way.
As much as the fans would like to say, well,
the Packers are playing great defense at the end of
twenty twenty four, they ought to be able to start
twenty twenty five play in just like that, No, it doesn't.
(04:17):
It doesn't work that way. So the mindset of the
defensive coordinator is just this, this is the reality. He's
happy with how they finished the season, but now the
goal is to get back to that as quickly as possible,
and then also along those lines, knowing as the leader
of the defense and as the coordinator, the faster he
can get that unit back to that level, then the
(04:39):
greater opportunity there is for growth and progress to get
hopefully to another level for another stretch run for the Packers.
In twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I was playing a game with my son on Sunday.
It's like Minions, something from Despicable Mean. Okay, so the
little minions run around and you got to like jump
over fire hydrants and get on and get on rocket
ships and all that Killian's much better at the game
than I am.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Okay, So I imagine that I go figure.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I play it the first time around and I end
up bumping into something electrical cord or something, So then
I restart. So the second time around, I'm like, I'm ready,
now I'm set, And you know what happens. The whole
course changed. It's not the same thing over over again.
When I was a kid, Mario didn't change. It was
the same thing, the same level. You just mastered it
(05:29):
and you moved on. No that these kids are doing
it differently these days. Defensively That's what it's like in
the National Football League offensively too. Just because the Packers
had success with some of the exotic looks they had
in twenty twenty four, just because in some ways they
didn't have the success they won it with the four
man rush last season, it isn't a precursor for what's
going to happen in twenty twenty five. Jeff Halfley recognizes that.
(05:52):
So when he was asked the question by match Nightman,
which was a great question about basically what kind of
defense do you want to be? The question is, yeah,
you have a you have a construct a concept of
a plan that you're going to go into the season with,
but can you actually facilitate it the way you think?
And if not, is evolution involved in regardless, there is
adaptation that is going to be required throughout the course
(06:14):
of the season. Look at the twenty fourteen Packers when
Clay Matthews moved inside linebacker. But all that being said,
what excites me about this, Mike is last season Halfley
was in his first year with this defense. He's trying
to figure out which pieces he's going to plug in,
which pieces are going to take out of it, and
by the end of the year, it was a top
five unit because of how they constantly adapted to what
their situation was. I think that's what gives me the
(06:37):
most really excitement about this scheme. Halfley's a sharp dude
with a good scheme, and he proved that whether it's
in the middle of a game or week by week,
he can make those adjustments. And you have guys like Cooper.
Now that Mike, let's be honest, man, you've been around
here a long time. I'd put Cooper at least in
my fourteen years covering this team right in the top
(06:57):
five for the most impressive rookies that we've seen.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I would yeah, I would agree. And that's the thing
that really intrigues me about Jeff Halfley with this defense
in year two, as you said, he acknowledged at the podium. Okay,
so the Packers went from trying to get a lot
done with a standard fore man rush. You want to
rush for and cover seven, that's what's going to give
(07:21):
you the best opportunity for turnovers in the back end.
It didn't really work out that way. He had to
get a little bit more exotic about how exactly he
was going to rush for and cover seven, but that's
what he wanted to stay in most of the time.
So you try these different fire zone looks and all this,
and guys coming from different angles and other guys dropping
off the defensive line. Okay, Now, every single opponent on
(07:43):
the Packers' schedule for twenty twenty five has all of
that game film to digest of. Okay, this is how
This is what Jeff Haffley likes to do in Green Bay,
and Halfley knows that, Halflely knows that all the opponents
have been studying that. So the really intriguing question, which
of course is the one he's not going to answer
at the podium, is hey, man, what else you got
up your sleeve?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
You know?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
You know what I mean. It's like it's because, hey,
there are a gazillion different ways to play defense in
this game, and there are all kinds of different things
you can try, and if you feel like you have
the personnel to try some different things, see if you
can get them to master certain concepts. You know, who
knows where this Packers defense is going to be at
(08:26):
the end of twenty twenty five compared to the end
of twenty four or the beginning of twenty five. It's
the biggest point from Halfley is that it is a
constant evolution in this game, and if you are not
evolving on either side of the ball, you are falling
behind because the league is just too competitive and everybody
(08:46):
has every square inch of film to watch on you
of everything that you've ever done.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
It's the old Billy Bean adage man adapt or die, Yeah,
and that's what you have to do in this position
and this job. I feel like he's been really good
at it. Michael, You and I said it so often
last year, but my goodness, I just want to give
a quick shout out to this guy because, in addition
to how thorough and in depth and conversational Halfway is
at the podium, you know, there was a you know,
this is the only time, as you said, we're getting
(09:12):
these guys during the off season program. He has like
a fifteen minute window to do interviews and time was up,
but yet he still was asking if there's anybody else
that needs questions asked, and they weren't all just you know,
softball is either there's some tough stuff that he's being
asked right now about the construct of this football team.
Halfley took the time he did that, and again, this
is this is the type of dude I want to
play for. You're talking about head coaches and press conferences
(09:35):
and all that. I've said it time and time again.
It's like listening to a college an engaging college professor.
When he's up there explaining this thing, you can feel
his passionate for it.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Yeah, I would agree. We'll get to the other coordinators
we heard from in just a minute, but I will
take care of our sponsor business. Serious XMNFL Radio delivers
hard hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news
that true football fanatics need twenty four to seven, three
sixty five and at Cousin Subbs, we have something forever
one like Carl Wisconsin Cheese, Kurds, mac and Cheese, golden fries,
(10:03):
and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or
submona bowl Cousin Subs fifty plus years of better. All right,
I saw that you did. All right. So we've touched
on Jeff Hafley defensive coordinator, Adam Stenovich offensive coordinator. What
was your primary takeaway from hearing him address the media
(10:25):
for the first time in the offseason.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
So many interesting things to go over with him. I
think the biggest aspect of it is the current situation
that Green Bay faces with these receivers and the multitude
that they have available to them despite Christian Watson's injury
right now, and Jason Willie had asked the question, which
I thought was a great question about, Hey, you look
at what happened with Jaden Reid at the end of
last season. He got kind of banged up, obviously a
(10:49):
pretty significant shoulder injury that they're expecting him to be
healed from going into the season. But that happened in Philly.
He was with the slang when we're in the locker room.
Jayden Reid went through a lot last year, been the
most productive receiver Green Bays had in terms of just
his pure statistics the past two seasons. Is there things
green Bay can do to take the load off of them?
Can savey On Williams help in that capacity, And as
(11:11):
Stenovich said, he thinks Williams and Matthew Golden, the first
round pick, both can do things that help him out.
From Golden's perspective, this is a guy that runs a
four to two nine. You can place him anywhere, and
they've he's already, even though they are not catching passes
and doing routes and all that type of stuff. In
terms of the in game eleven and eleven seven on
seven stuff, he's shown a lot, whether it was the
(11:32):
rookie minichamp or just some of the things that they're
seeing behind the scenes right now with him a very
exciting young player that definitely is mature beyond his years.
Saveon Williams, man, I'll tell you what somebody had asked
this question an insider inbox that I'm answering for what
will be Tuesday's column. You know, do you think the
Packers and Brian Goodkins they were excited they thought they
see a you know, a Taysom Hill type player in Williams.
(11:55):
While I don't think that's the natural comparable. I think
it is really exciting when you see a guy with
all this college film and now you get to pick
what you want to use him, how you want to
use it. What tools does he present that you think
can benefit your offense right off the bat. In that way,
I think this is one of the more exciting offenses
I think I'm going to cover with the Green Bay
Packers because again, as much as you and I talked
(12:16):
last year about all these receivers that can do different things.
Now you have a guy like Williams that has that
many carries under his belt, has thrown a pass at
the college level and seems to have a pretty good
arm too. That was interesting and you can just kind
of see the enthusiasm, the excitement with Stenovich too, kind
of talking about what the potential build of this offense
can be with these two rookies coming in.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, and I think to connect it even a little
bit to last year on the defensive side, whether you're
talking about Edgrian Cooper or Evan Williams playing in the
back end as a rookie with Xavier McKinney. The progress
that these rookies hopefully are going to show throughout the
course of their first seasons in the NFL. Where the
Packers offense is down the stretch in twenty twenty five
(12:57):
could be very different, very different where it is at
the beginning. If these young guys are going to be
up to contributing and answering the call and and the
coaches are going to push them, They're going to test them.
How much can they handle schematically? You know, how much
can you feed them that they will understand the responsibilities
the different roles, and then getting getting those worked into
(13:18):
worked into game plans. The other thing that I kind
of got a kick out of listening to Steno at
the podium is the the old offensive lineman was showing
through there a bit, because, for those who don't know,
Adam Stenovich, Wisconsin native Marshfield, Wisconsin in the center of State,
went and played left tackle at the University of Michigan
(13:38):
in ann Arbor, spent some time during his pro career
in Green Bay, but when he got to the NFL,
he was one of those left tackles who has moved
inside to guard and then sort of had to become
the jack of all trades backup. He had to be
ready to ready to step in as a reserve offensive
alignment at any position where he might be needed. He
(14:00):
really really likes this group that the Packers have continued
to put together on the offensive line in terms of
versatile players, guys that are that are challenged and expected
to learn and understand multiple positions. And he's really fired
up about the competitions that are going to be developing here,
(14:20):
whether you're talking about Jordan Morgan and Rashid Walker at
left tackle, and if Anthony Belton, the second round draft pick,
gets into that mix, or if it's Morgan and Sean
Ryan at at right guard. He's he's really really excited
to see just where these different versatile pieces, how they
(14:41):
compete for certain spots, and and then how it all
comes together, not just the starting five, but then okay,
who's number six, seven, and eight, and how many different
spots can they rely on six, seven and eight to
fill in for when they need them.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
People always, and I'm not criticizing one for this, but
fans always, you know, really perseverate on what the start
five is and what is the secondary going to look
like in all this and so often what we envision
even during training camp, even the end of training camp,
differs greatly from what we see at the end of
the season. Seventy five percent of the time it's due
to injuries. I mean, how many people last year Mike
had Keishawn Nixon earmarked for a perimeter cornerback for most
(15:18):
of the season, right, But that's the way the cookie
crumbled when you when you look at the offensive line.
The Packers were remarkably healthy throughout the course of the season,
but then Elton Jenkins insers his shoulder in Philadelphia, and
now they're playing multiple guys in those spots. How you
build out the line for six, seven, eight is almost
as important as building the starting five itself. And what
(15:40):
intrigues me and I talked about this on our show
last week, is there are so many different variations and
variables in manifest you know, manifest you know, how would
I say it?
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Manifestation and atestations?
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Thank you? I ran. I was doing so well and
then I ran into a roadblock.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
That's okay, process, it happens, but the show truly is unscrewed.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I should have only gone with two things. I try
to turn it into the trilogy of their network. My
point being is that if you have a Jordan Morgan
who can play multiple positions, if you have an Anthony
Belton who could potentially contribute at multiple spots, that makes
your offensive line stronger down the run. Not only does
it push a Rasheet Walker for the left tackle job,
but it gives you an option there depending on if
Walker wins that and still has an injury or something
(16:20):
like that. You have to be able to go there.
And when you look at the Packers offensive lines over
the last fifteen years. That's where they've been really strong.
Everybody was looking at Jordan Morgan a year ago at
this time, not a lot of people were talking about
Sean Ryan. Sean Ryan ends up starting seventeen games right
guard last season. Yep, you have to be able to
have plan B, C, D and so on and so forth.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah. Rich Basacia an assistant head coach, special teams coordinator.
He's actually the first one we heard from at the podium.
We'll talk about him as our third one here. If
there's one thing I took away from that more than
anything else, it's the reminder, the reminder of how coaches
in this league absolutely perseverate on failures, on things that
(17:06):
go wrong. Rich Bisacci was talking about basically was pointing
out the biggest moments over his three years with Matt
Lafleur where he feels the Packers' special teams have let
down the squad in terms of their performance. And you know,
he articulated the different moments, and everybody knows the major
ones and what they are. I felt like after hearing
(17:30):
coach Bisaccia talk like that that I could look at
his you know, his coaching resume and go, Okay, he
was he was coaching special teams with the Cowboys in
twenty fourteen. Okay, Rich, name me a play in twenty fourteen.
Where your special teams?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I mean?
Speaker 1 (17:46):
And he would know, like he would know, because that's
that's how these coaches are. They are they are always
focused on trying to fix what goes wrong. And it
was also interesting to hear just in the way that
he talks about things, you know, whether whether he's talking
about Andres Carlson missing a field goal in the playoff
game in San Francisco two years ago or Keishawn Nixon
(18:07):
fumbling the opening kickoff in the playoff game. Rich Pasaccia
talks about that and he calls it we fence for
a reason. He talks about we let the team down.
He doesn't put it just on the players that there
was a failure and that there was a mistake. He
feels it. He takes the responsibility for it as the
coach that his unit needs to perform better, and that's
(18:30):
on him. And I think it's just it speaks to
the culture of accountability that we've seen across the board
with this team. And it's why even though you know, yes,
twenty twenty four didn't finish the way the packers wanted
it to. They didn't get as far as they did
in twenty twenty three and all that kind of stuff.
(18:50):
But man, there is a culture of accountability around here
that they know what went wrong, they know why it
went wrong, and they're going to try their darnness to
learn from and move forward from it. And that's what
has you excited about twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
It's an excellent point. And to me, I was sitting
there thinking about this, it almost reminds you the old
poker player adage, you know, where it's like you always
remember your your bad beats and right you do the
pots that you've won, and that that's kind of what
it's been for Bisaci because there's been a lot of
positives mixed in there too, but certainly it's the moments
where you feel like your team adversely affected the whole squad. Yeah,
(19:24):
and that was one thing that he was sort of
talking about. The other thing too, I thought was very
important that he mentioned was the topic of Kishawn Nixon
came up again, and we don't know what's going to
happen as far as this return situation. The Packers drafted
a couple guys that have return experience, including Golden. They
signed Mkole Hardman. He's involved in this thing now. But
it did sound in some ways like without talking to Kishaw,
(19:44):
and it did sound like cooler heads have kind of prevailed.
As Bisachia said after the Philadelphia game, he wasn't in
a great mood either. Nobody was with how that game went,
with how that fumble on that kickoff return, everything that
came out of that. But Nixon is He always look
at Nixon as being the mix with kickoff returns, and
he's a two time All Pro. It's something he's done
(20:04):
very well at this level. Again, we have to see
what the construct of the fifty three looks like, which
your game day roster looks like. But the fact of
the matter is Nixon goes back a long, long way
with Bisaccia. Yep, those aren't two guys that just got
paired together in Green Bay. They're going back to the
rookie season for Keishaw now six years ago. There is
a bond that has been forged there and we'll see
(20:25):
exactly how it all shuffles out. It was also interesting
too hearing him talk a little bit about Nate Hobbs,
and Hobbs was effusive in his praise of Bisacia when
we first met him back in March, and just how
much of an impact he had on him, not only
as a player, but as a person. Now he comes
into the fold here into Green Bay. In addition to
you look at Pisachi being extremely excited about him being here. Also,
(20:45):
Jeff Hafley talked about it. He's seen him play inside,
he's seen him play outside. The Packers are going to
play him at both. They feel like this guy's entire
repertoire is open to them and they want to take
advantage of it. So football is so much about connections
as it is as much as about the playbook. Like
in that type of with those two guys, both Nixon
and Hobbs, two former Raiders, you're kind of feeling that
so far.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, at the end of the day, as much as
there everything's about x's and o's and forty times and
all this other kind of stuff. It's as with any business,
it's a people business. And and the more we get
to hear from coaches and they talk about their relationships
with players and whatnot, you get a little bit better
sense behind the scenes as to how these guys connect
and how coaches and players and all these guys in
(21:28):
the locker room, you know, become a team. And you know,
even though it's the pros and everybody's collecting their paychecks,
there's a lot to be said for relationships and the
way people relate to one another.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Leadership is leadership, man, it doesn't matter. I mean, I've
I've been around long enough now to feel this and
work for enough different companies to know this. I mean, whether, yes,
the spotlight is very bright and it's very hot on
NFL coaches and players alike, but at the end of
the day, it comes down to can you get guys
rally to play for you, to work for you, to
want to succeed for you? I think Beside does that.
(22:00):
And listening to Jeff Hafley and the rest of this
coaching staff, I mean, it was funny. Another thing that
came up in insider inboxes I'm putting this together is
it's not easy to put together a successful foundation in
the National Football League. The Packers have done that. This
was the eighth draft of Brian Gudekunst as general manager.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Now this is this, there's where has the time gone before?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
We're going out to season seven now, right with Matt
Lafleur as a coach, Like this thing moves quick. But
when you do build that success in that culture and
you have a foundation that you can bring guys into
and warm them into, that's one of the big benefits
that Green Bay has had for three decades now, and
certainly trying to change that and not change that, but
translate that into another championship in twenty twenty five. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
Well, as I said at the top of the show,
the big news this week in the NFL will be
the schedule release on Wednesday night. Are you ready for this?
Speaker 2 (22:52):
I'm so ready for it because there's a Mumford and
Sun's concert at the Feisser Forum, I believe, in October nineteenth,
and I need to know whether or not I can
go to that.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
You traveling, Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
If we're home though, my goodness, I will be. I
will be. I might conclude that as one of my
ten things to know about the schedule release, the packers
are home and I can go to the mumperd and
Sun's concert.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
All right, Well, that's so yes.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
The answer is I'm very exciting.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, you're very you're very ready for this. And on
our next show, we will talk about anything and everything
with regards to the Packers' schedule and uh and maybe
even for another show after that, depending on what it
looks like. Who knows, but for now we're gonna call
it a rap on this edition of Packers unscript. It'd
be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
(23:35):
team on packers dot com for wes. I am Mike.
Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will see you
next time.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.