StaTuesday: Grading Matt LaFleur’s debut season with Packers
It was quite the debut season for Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur.
Hired to replace longtime coach Mike McCarthy, who was fired last year after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, LaFleur guided Green Bay to a 13-3 record and a first-round bye in 2019.
So how does LaFleur compare to his NFL peers?
The analysts at headcoachranking.com grade out NFL head coaches on a 0-10 scale in five key categories: play calling, personnel utilization, game planning, in-game adjustments and clock management.
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All 32 head coaches are then assigned an overall score based on their performance and are ranked among their peers. The website released its final ratings after the regular season concluded.
John Harbaugh, the head coach of the 14-2 Baltimore Ravens, led the league with an 8.1 overall rating, besting second-place Sean Payton of New Orleans (8.0).
In last place was Perry Fewell, who was named Carolina’s interim head coach on Dec. 3 after Ron Rivera was fired. Fewell tallied a 5.8 rating.
The worst rating given to a coach who lasted an entire season was Cleveland’s Freddie Kitchens and Adam Gase of the New York Jets, both at 6.1. Kitchens, of course, was let go by the Browns shortly after the regular season ended.
According to these rankings, LaFleur tied for the 13th-best head coach this season.
He posted an overall score of 7.0, which ranked 11th out of the 12 coaches that made the postseason. Tampa Bay’s Bruce Arians was the only non-playoff coach to beat LaFleur’s rating. Arians tied for eighth with a 7.2 rating.
Let’s break it down further.
LaFleur cracked the top five in clock management (7.3) and tied for sixth in the league with a personnel score of 7.5. He posted a 6.8 in game planning, 6.8 in in-game adjustments and 6.7 in play calling.
MATT LAFLEUR – HEAD COACH RANKINGS
| CATEGORY | SCORE | RANK |
| Play Calling | 6.7 | t-18 |
| Personnel | 7.5 | t-6 |
| Game Plan | 6.8 | t-21 |
| In-Game Adjustments | 6.8 | t-18 |
| Clock Management | 7.3 | t-5 |
| Overall | 7.0 | t-13 |
The 13 wins go down as the most for a Packers head coach in his first season at the helm. He also is the first coach in Green Bay to win the division in his first season.
Only five coaches – LaFleur, Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi, Mike Holmgren and Mike Sherman – posted a record over .500 in their debut campaigns.
GREEN BAY PACKERS HEAD COACHES – DEBUT SEASONS
| COACH | RECORD | % |
| Matt LaFleur | 13-3 | .813 |
| Curly Lambeau | 3-2-1 | .600 |
| Vince Lombardi | 7-5 | .583 |
| Mike Holmgren | 9-7 | .563 |
| Mike Sherman | 9-7 | .563 |
| Forest Gregg | 8-8 | .500 |
| Ray Rhodes | 8-8 | .500 |
| Mike McCarthy | 8-8 | .500 |
| Phil Bengtson | 6-7-1 | .462 |
| Lisle Blackbourn | 4-8 | .333 |
| Dan Devine | 4-8-2 | .333 |
| Bart Starr | 4-10 | .286 |
| Lindy Infante | 4-12 | .250 |
| Gene Ronzani | 3-9 | .250 |
| Ray McLean | 1-10-1 | .091 |
LaFleur could add to his resume – and boost the coach rankings – with a deep run in the postseason. Green Bay will put that to the test Sunday night against Seattle.
