Things are changing with the Green Bay Packers offense next season. For the first time since he became head coach in 2006, Mike McCarthy won't be the one calling the plays. That responsibility will fall to associate head coach Tom Clements, who had previously served as quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator for the team.
Green Bay's offense has had extraordinary success under McCarthy, posting an average offensive DVOA rating of 6.8 in his nine seasons, per Football Outsiders, which includes a No. 1 overall finish last season. Some high-profile miscues in the NFC title game against the Seattle Seahawks led to a change, though, and Clements will run the show this upcoming season.
Clements has been with McCarthy since 2006 in some capacity, so it's unlikely the structure of the offense will change much, if at all, but one thing McCarthy said you can expect to see more if is Aaron Rodgers operating out of the shotgun and pistol formation. "I like the pistol," McCarthy said back in March, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I think there's a lot of value regardless of the injury to Aaron. I know he likes it. There's a place for it year-round in your offense."
But while those things will change, one thing that won't be happening is Rodgers calling all his own plays. "Well, Peyton doesn't do that," Rodgers told ESPN.com. "Nobody does that."
The MVP will of course have the ability to check out of plays that come in from the sideline if he sees something he doesn't like in the defense, but he believes having a baseline call to work from for most of the game benefits him.
"I think everybody would want a starting point. We all have moments where we have (called the plays), whether it's a no-huddle situation or two-minute. Everybody wants a starting point. It's tough to have to call every single play, so it's always nice when you can have a good starting point and you can make a slight adjustment if you have to."
