We’ve sorted through dozens of articles about the Packers’ latest news, game results, rosters, rumors and other info that’s important to the team and to you. Check it out! By CHEESEHEADTV By GilMartin Matt LaFleur faces a very different challenge this year as head coach of the Green Bay Packers. While LaFleur has already proven he can thrive in challenging situations, the 2023 season will require him to take a different approach than he has in his first four seasons with the team. When he first joined the team in 2019, LaFleur faced a unique challenge. The culture of the team had become toxic and that resulted in Mike McCarthy’s firing late in the 2018 season. Part of the problem was the relationship between McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers had gone sour. LaFleur had to change the culture in the dressing room and quickly earn the respect of his quarterback. He managed to do both things. He helped integrate four new free agents into the dressing room in Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Adrian Amos and Billy Turner and made the locker room a healthier place by establishing a leadership council of players and improving communication between himself and the team. He also worked with Rodgers to create a hybrid offense that combined the Shanahan school offense LaFleur wanted to implement and some of the best things Rodgers liked to run from McCarthy’s more traditional West Coast based system. The result was a team that surprised a lot of people by finishing 13-3 and reaching the NFC Championship Game. For the three seasons that followed, LaFleur’s job was to take a veteran team with an experienced MVP quarterback and get them to a championship. Although LaFleur’s teams reached the NFC Championship Game twice and twice held the top seed in the NFC playoffs, they were unable to reach the Super Bowl. After three straight years of 13 wins, the Packers fell to 8-9 last season. Injuries to the offensive line and to Rodgers and a disappointing season by a defense that featured seven former first-round picks were among the key causes of the regression. But in 2023, the challenge for LaFleur will be different. Rodgers is now the quarterback of the New York Jets. Taking over for him is Jordan Love, the former first-round pick who has started exactly one NFL game until now. The Packers believe Love is ready to be a starter after sitting behind Rodgers for three seasons. It is a very different challenge for a head coach who calls the plays to design an offense for Love as compared to Rodgers. While Rodgers had more than a decade of experience as a starter when LaFleur became coach, Love is relatively inexperienced. Rodgers was adept at recognizing defenses and calling audibles at the line of scrimmage. Love is still developing that skill. Many veterans are also gone from the roster. The Packers will be without Robert Tonyan, Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Marcedes Lewis, Adrian Amos and Dean Lowry, veteran players who have seen it all in this league. They will be replaced by younger and less experienced players and there will be a change in leadership in the locker room. The expectations around the Packers have changed and that will also alter the way LaFleur has to lead. You cannot coach a young team which lacks experience at the skill positions and has a new quarterback the same way you coach a veteran team with championship expectations. LaFleur will need to be more of a teacher and demonstrate more patience with his younger players while still making sure they know what is expected of them. There will be a greater emphasis on teaching and development. The 2023 team will also give LaFleur a bigger challenge. The McCarthy offense that Rodgers was used to running often relied on receivers winning one-on-one matchups with defensive players. The preferred LaFleur offense relies more on scheming receivers open by the routes being run and more on pre-snap motion. Having multiple plays that can be run from identical formations is also a feature of the offense that we can expect to see more of this season. This will be a different kind of season for LaFleur. He’s proven he can succeed with a veteran team and that he can transform the culture of the locker room. Now the culture and the construction of the roster is very different and so are the expectations. How he handles this new set of circumstances will go a long way towards determining his ultimate legacy with the Packers. If he is successful with this new, younger group, he will prove he is a winning head coach on his own merits. If the team struggles and does not return to prominence in the next two years, LaFleur may be looked at as having won early in his tenure in Green Bay because he had a Hall of Fame quarterback who made him look good. LaFleur and the Packers are at a crossroads. The next few years will tell us a lot about the direction of the coach and the team. You can follow Gil Martin on Twitter @GilPackers
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Matt LaFleur Faces a Different Kind Coaching Challenge This Year
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"Kudos to Amy for making sure that the tickets to the tailgate party were waiting for me at the reception desk! Your personal phone call and text messages went above and beyond customer satisfaction! I can't wait for the 2024 season, rest assured that my go-to Packer's game supplier will be Event USA for a long time.
-Jean-Pierre Mallette, Montréal, Canada
"Thank you so much Cathy, greatly appreciate your help.
As always, EventUSA has been awesome to deal with in booking the Lodge Kohler package for the Tampa Bay Game,
particularly for me traveling from Sydney, Australia, it takes the stress out of the booking process. "
-Kayle
"Good Morning, Nicole - Everything you did turned out great. The seats were great. Access to the air conditioned club lounge was great. Lots of Packers fans in the club lounge and overall at the stadium. The tailgate party at the fancy restaurant in the hotel was fabulous. The servers just kept on bringing out different sliders and desserts. Good thing that I got in a 30-minute run along the river in the morning. So, thank you! You may be speaking with me in November if I can work out getting up to Green Bay for a game. It's been too long since my last time.
One of the best aspects of this weekend was interacting with so many people from Wisconsin and learning their personal stories of things Packers. And we even met a couple from St. Petersburg, Florida (my home county) and were able to tell them about the Varsity Club tavern and Packers bar in Clearwater where Mark Murphy's mother is in attendance -- very nice lady whose retirement home is in Clearwater, which borders my little city of Dunedin. Pre-COVID, I always went to the Varsity when the Packers games weren't televised locally -- lots of Wisconsin natives there, too + they serve brats and sauerkraut during Packers games. I'm glad that you are working for Event USA.
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-- Martin Lawyer, Dunedin, Florida
"Dennis - I was blessed to join Amy and some of your customers at the Morton's tailgate as well as after the game. She does an amazing job for you. Every single customer I met praised Event USA for being able to arrange the hotel and tickets and fabulous tailgate party in such a quick time. Having been to some great tour tailgate parties in Jacksonville and Kansas City and old San Francisco, a lot can be said of the long-term benefit of having really great tailgate parties. Morton's was probably one of the best - amazing food, patio sitting on the riverfront, walk to stadium, open bar!!! It was first class fun!!!"
-Matt
"Hi Amy-
Just wanted to say thank you for making Jacksonville happen! We had a wonderful time and looking forward to more Packers games with Event USA in the future!
Even though the game was not what we expected- we are packers fans for life-lol!
Go pack go!!"
-Julie Mastrianni
"I want to thank Event USA and in particular Amy Flores for the Jacksonville trip. We have used you before and always were very pleased with the packages you have set up and your service.
My son who lives in Charleston, SC and myself who lives in Minnesota, decided we needed to do a guys trip and decided to go through your company to see the opener in New Orleans. I initially called and talked with Amy about some questions I had and booked our trip. After itinerary and info was emailed to us, it soon became apparent that the trip to New Orleans wouldn’t happen. In steps Amy, wondering if we would be interested in Dallas if the game was moved there and a package was set up. Then finally the move to Jacksonville and continued communication from Amy on our interest. It was getting late at that point and I was wondering if she would be able to pull off setting up a package in Jacksonville. She did it.
We went to Jacksonville and had a great time. The accommodations and the tail gate were fabulous. If only the Packer team we were hoping for had made the trip.
Thank you Event USA and in particular Amy Flores."
-Tom Sohrweide, White Bear Lake, MN
"Thank you for all your help. I had a great time at the Packer-Raider game opening day. I have already begun telling interested Packer fans in Sacramento about your service. The next time I come to Green Bay for a game, I’ll be sure to ask for your help. God bless you and God bless the Green Bay Packers."
-Frank Chavez, Sacramento
"I just wanted to say that I had such a great time. The whole weekend was so much fun. I enjoyed the Player Autograph Party and the tailgate party was just the best. After coming from a country that loves soccer, it was nice to mix with people who have the same interests as me. Thank you once again, Green Bay is one very special place."
-Beverley Moore, Lancaster
"My accommodations at the Best Western Midway were excellent. I was picked up at the airport and returned promptly. No problems at all. Your representative at the hotel on game day was very pleasant and helpful. The tailgate party was super, great food, great drinks and lots of fun. Obviously, Lambeau Field and the game itself was great. I will continue to use Event USA in the future, and I will definitely tell anyone who I come across to give you a call. One last thing, the hospitality I experienced in Green Bay was incredible. I have traveled to many places, and I don’t think there are more friendly people than the people of Green Bay. Thank you again and see you next year!"
-David Anastas, Worchester
"My wife and I booked the tour to Tampa. The trip was so well organized from start to finish. It started with the people in the office with their friendly help over the phone, to receiving the tickets in the mail, and meeting the tour guides with their upbeat personalities. Signs guided us in the airport and information was posted in our motel lobbies to keep us posted. Your people had everything in order. Talk about organization, you had it. Event USA made this a most memorable trip. Thanks for all involved."
-Dick Koerner, Neenah
"I wish to convey my sincere thanks and gratitude for providing my husband and I with, what he refers to as the greatest experience of my life, apart from my wedding day."
-Lara and Matt Appleton, Thornhill, Ontario
"Thanks for all your help, the great tickets and service, and the chance to help me make one of my son’s dreams come true, seeing the Packers playing at home in Lambeau Field."
-Sam Jones, Sedalia
"I just want to thank you for the wonderful job your staff did last weekend for the Packers vs. Lions game. This was our first time utilizing your program and we were not disappointed at all. In fact, we can’t wait to schedule and event for next season’s games. From my first experience with your staff placing my order until the very end at checkout of the hotel, everything was perfect. You truly out-do yourselves to please everyone. Thanks again for making our stay in Green Bay one of the best."
-Kim Ewing and Bruce DeMaine, Ann Arbor
"Thanks so much for the best weekend ever! You not only got us in all the Magazines, TV, WWW pages and even the big screen at Lambeau Field, but Disney World on the side? Nice job – You and your family are top notch – we were on the best tour for the Super Bowl! Seeing the Green Bay Packers win back the Lombardi Trophy was a life long dream of this Packer fan, and you all were so dedicated to the job of taking care of us that, like the Packers, we were a winning team! Keep me on your list."
-William D Lorge, Representative to the Wisconsin State Assembly