Five Key Reasons for Recent Green Bay Packers Success

For the past 11 months the Green Bay Packers undeniably have been the best team in the NFL. Actually, they haven't been defeated since losing to the New England Patriots in December of 2010. As we all know, the Packers won the final two games of the regular 2010 season, and then won all of their playoff games becoming Super Bowl XLV champs. This season Green Bay has won all of its games and is off to a 9-0 start. Why have the Packers been so successful lately? This hub will suggest five key reasons.

Throughout their long history the Packers have been one of the most successful NFL teams. In my lifetime I have lived through three eras of Green Bay supremacy. The first era is chronicled in the Vince Lombardi/Bart Starr "glory years" of 1959-1967. During this period the Packers were league champs 1965-1967, and they won the first two super bowls in 1967 and 1968. The second era of excellence didn't come until about 25 years later during the Mike Holmgren/Brett Favre years of 1992-1998 when Green Bay regularly made the playoffs and went to two super bowl games, winning the super bowl in 1997. I am fortunate to be experiencing the present third era which began in 2006 and is being led by Mike McCarthy, Ted Thompson, and Aaron Rodgers. All three of these eras demonstrated and are presently displaying the same characteristics for success. I call them the five key reasons for most recent Greek Bay Packers success. They are as follow:

1. An Excellent General Manager:

Ted Thompson became the Packers general manager on January 14, 2005, when he replaced Mike Sherman who was both head coach and general manager. Prior to coming to Green Bay Thompson had been the Seattle Seahawks vice president of operations from 2000-2004. He had also been assistant director and director of pro personnel for the Packers during 1992-1999. Drawing on his previous experience and association with Mike Holmgren who had been coach of the Seahawks, Thompson helped make the Packers successful champs primarily by his evaluation, drafting, and signing of players, and by the hiring of excellent coaches. He also judiciously resolved the Brett Favre retirement dilemma before the 2008 season which played a major role in enabling Green Bay to establish itself under Aaron Rodgers.

In his first draft of 2005 Thompson selected Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers late in the first round. In following years he selected such other stars as A.J. Hawk, Greg Jennings, B.J. Raji, and Clay Matthews. During his first few years with the Packers, Thompson signed a few key free agents such as Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett. After seeing success in the development of most of his draft picks, Thompson has opted to not sign high price free agents, but rather use the money to resign his own best players such as Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, and A.J. Hawk. Besides draft choices, Ted Thompson has also signed a lot of young talented undrafted players who have contributed to the Packers, making them one of the youngest teams in the NFL.

A year after becoming general manager Thompson fired Mike Sherman as head coach and hired Mike McCarthy who had been quarterbacks coach of the Packers in 1999 and most recently offensive coordinator of both the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints. Prior to the 2009 season Thompson also hired Dom Capers as defensive coordinator and master mind for a new 3-4 defense. Capers had previously been defensive coordinator of the Pittsburg Steelers as early as 1992, and he also had experience as a head coach leading the Carolina Panthers to the playoffs in 1996.

Thompson met his most challenging test prior to the 2008 season. After leading the Packers to a defeat in the NFC championship game earlier that year, quarterback Brett Favre decided in March that he was going to retire. Thompson took Favre at his word and decided to move on with Aaron Rodgers who had backed up Favre for three years. Shortly before the season started when Favre decided not to retire, Thompson traded Favre to the New York Jets. There were many Packer fans who thought Thompson did the wrong thing in not taking Favre back; however, he decided it was in the best interests of the team to move on without Favre. In hindsight, Thompson was correct, because no one player is more important than the needs of the whole team which must come first.

2. An Excellent Coaching Staff:

Green Bay's coaching staff from the head coach and offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy down to all assistant position coaches has been excellent. McCarthy has been so successful because he knows how to work with quarterbacks, call plays, and design an offensive which can attack any kind of defense. He is also a motivator who can gain the respect of this players. A few days prior to Super Bowl XLV he had his whole team fitted for super bowl rings, because he wanted his players to believe that they were going to win the game.

On the other side of the ball, Dom Capers has been an excellent defensive coordinator. He has been a defensive genius in designing defensive schemes which can shut down any offense. Capers has been especially good at designing defenses with disguised multiple blitz packages and coverages. He is exceptionally good at making use of the talents of his best players like Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews as well as having everyone help out each other.

Both McCarthy and Capers have excellent assistant and position coaches on the team. For example, on the offensive side, James Campen has done a good job working the offensive line, and Edgar Bennett had done well coaching the receivers. On defense, outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene and inside linebackers coach Winston Moss have been outstanding in developing young players such as Clay Matthews and Desmond Bishop.

3. Player Leadership:

As well as the general manager and coaches have selected and trained players, it is ultimately the performance of the players on the gridiron which wins games. Besides talented players, every team needs leaders on both offense and defense. Aaron Rodgers and center Scott Wells are two uncontested leaders on offense. Yes, Aaron Rodgers is having an MVP year, but even more important he is by all means doing a great job as the undisputed leader of the offense. Aaron plays no favorites and is doing everything he can for the needs of the team. Rodgers has been spreading the ball around to all of his talented receivers. When his teammates mess up a play, he is not afraid to let them know as shown when he took tight end Finley to task for running bad passing routes in the Bears game earlier this year. Scott Wells plays an important position over the ball and is the leader on the offensive line. He must recognize all defensive alignments and call out blocking schemes to other line players. Wells has been playing excellently both as a leader and an all-pro this year.

Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews are both the heart and soul of Green Bay's defense. Woodson is listed as a cornerback, but he does more than that in games. Based on different defensive alignments devised by Dom Capers, Woodson will line up anywhere on the field and frequently blitz the quarterback. He is a very intelligent player and sets an example by giving more than 100 per cent every play. Woodson will never quit on a play much like outside linebacker Clay Matthews. Both players are very intense, intelligent, and they work well together and with the team in making their teammates better players.

4. Good Team Chemistry:

A team can have a bunch of good players on the team , but if they are selfish and don't play well together, a team will not be very successful. This is team chemistry. The Packers have great chemistry now thanks to the coaches and player leadership. No team member has been suspended since the season began. All players know their roles and they have only one goal which is to do anything they can for the good of the team.

5. Excellent Fans:

It has been said that fans can be the 12th man on the team. Green Bay fans do give the Packers an advantage, especially when they are playing at home. Lambeau Field has been sold out since 1960. When the fans are at home games, they cheer enthusiastically for the Packers, and at times make it hard for the opposing team to hear its quarterback calling signals. Packer fans also follow their team around the country to away games. In addition, there are Packers fans throughout the country who root for Green Bay when it is on the road. The Packers truly seem to be America's team.

Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, Aaron Rodgers, and Charles Woodson are some of the most important people responsible for Green Bay success today just like Vice Lombardi, Ron Wolf, Bart Starr, Brett Favre, Reggie White, and Mike Holmgren were in the past. All of these people have demanded excellence and made the Green Bay Packers the most successful team in NFL history.