THE PACKERS HC Matt LaFleur DROPS A SHOCKING MESSAGE ON THE SOCIAL MIDIA TO TEAM/FAN.....

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Matt LaFleur bombed an interview 5 years ago to be Maryland’s WR coach. Now, he’s the Packers head coach. So how did that happen?
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Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and coach Matt LaFleur bump fists…
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In his first head coaching job at any level, Matt…
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and coach Matt LaFleur bump fists…
Can new Packers head coach Matt LaFleur install his offense…
In his first head coaching job at any level, Matt…
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Jeffrey Phelps / AP
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Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and coach Matt LaFleur bump fists during a preseason game on Aug. 8.

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By RICH CAMPBELL
PUBLISHED: September 4, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. | UPDATED: September 4, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.

Matt LaFleur knew he bombed the interview.

Someone else would be Maryland’s wide receivers coach. He was certain of that by the time he left campus that day in 2014.

LaFleur’s conversations with everyone from Terrapins coach Randy Edsall on down to the compliance officer left him with a pit in his stomach. He had that unmistakable sense of failure. Of an opportunity missed. Of embarrassment by his inadequacy.

Five years later, though, on a June evening, LaFleur finishes his dinner salad and settles into a leather couch in the head coach’s office at Lambeau Field.

His office.

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Thunderstorms are soaking the home of the Packers, but that’s meaningless to LaFleur tonight. After an unscheduled but necessary afternoon meeting with his star quarterback, he’s hunkering down to review the day’s minicamp practice. LaFleur’s renowned offensive system does a lot of good things, but it doesn’t install itself.

So how the heck did he get here? From being humbled at Maryland to the Packers’ head coaching job quicker than an Aaron Rodgers fastball? At age 39, no less?

The answer traces to that interview and why he fell flat.

LaFleur hadn’t realized it during the previous four seasons, which he spent as the Redskins quarterbacks coach. But, suddenly, as he stood there unemployed, there it was.

“It was the first time I had ever really been in that type of situation where you have to have something you truly believe in,” LaFleur explains. “You better know what you’re all about. You better know yourself.”

The Maryland coaching staff had grilled LaFleur with a line of questioning standard in the profession. What’s important to you as a person? As a coach? What are your philosophies on leadership and relationships?

LaFleur had never really thought about it. He had no answers. At least none he was prepared to articulate on the spot.

It jolted him into a period of introspection, and look where it led. From Notre Dame quarterbacks coach later in 2014 to the Falcons, Rams and Titans before this January, when he was entrusted with maxing out the years Rodgers has left in his golden right arm.

Asked to detail those pillars of his coaching philosophy, LaFleur now has them on the tip of his tongue. The former Division II quarterback discusses them with his new team all the time.

“Character,” he says. “The importance of communication. Consistency. Competition. And being true to yourself.”

His challenge is to turn those into victories for a franchise that isn’t used to changing coaches. That’s not accustomed to missing the playoffs. That begins every season with legitimate Super Bowl ambition because Rodgers is on their side.

Connecting with the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback is the key to it all, of course. As partners, they have everything to prove, beginning with Thursday night’s opener against the Bears at Soldier Field.

“It boils down to developing a relationship and communicating,” LaFleur says of that ongoing process. “It’s taking time and talking, just making an effort and making sure the communication is crystal clear. I know it’s not something that happens overnight.”

Patience, though, is not a luxury they can afford. Not with the Packers one more face-plant from missing the playoffs in three straight years for the first time since Brett Favre arrived in 1992.

At least LaFleur knows a little something about succeeding quickly