The Green Bay Packers needed a change on offense, so they fired offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett. To replace Bennett, Mike McCarthy turned to a familiar face. The Green Bay Packers hired Joe Philbin. From 2007 to 2012, Joe Philbin was the Packers offensive coordinator. Those years included Brett Favre’s last season in Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers’ beginning from backup to NFL MVP, one of the greatest single-season in NFL history, a historic 19-game win streak, and Super Bowl XLV championship.
Green Bay Packers Hire Joe Philbin
Why is the Joe Philbin hire significant?
This change will bring stability to the offense, which is always a good move. Also, Philbin, McCarthy, and Rodgers have high regards and lots of respect for each other on-and-off the field.
“I would say everybody here as a ton of respect for Joe and always appreciated hearing him talk. Joe’s a guy that can really control the room,” said Rodgers to Bill Huber for scout.com prior to the Green Bay Packers and Miami Dolphins game in 2014.
The easiest way for a new coach to succeed in the NFL is when a superstar player to buys into his philosophy. It is easy to foresee the trio of Rodgers, Philbin, and McCarthy succeeds due to their mutual respect and past experience.
West Coast Offense
Joe Philbin runs a West Coast Offense, which is what the Packers have been running. Philbin also likes to use his running backs in both the running and passing game.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh popularized the West Coast offense during the 1980s and ‘90s. The basic principle of the West Coast offense is to stretch the defense horizontally through short-timed-high percentage throws to set up vertical plays.
Quick routes such as slants, outs, crossing routes, digs, drags, flats, and comeback routes tend to be the staple of the passing game. Footballoutsiders.com graded each eligible quarterback in 2016 on each route; here is where Rodgers ranked in the league on each of these routes.
| Routes | Ranking among NFL QBs | Completion Percentage |
| Slants | 4th | 78.1% |
| Outs | 6th | 72.2% |
| Digs | 2nd | 61.2% |
| Comebacks | 1st | 78.6% |
| Drags | 13th | 58.3% |
Rodgers fared very well on quick-short-timed passes in 2016.
The West Coast offense often uses five-eligible receiver sets, and the quarterback takes quick three or five-step dropbacks meaning the ball is out of the quarterback’s hands very quickly. Hence, the most important traits a quarterback needs to run the West Coast offense is accuracy and decision-making.
Aaron Rodgers has the seventh best career completion percentage of all-time (65.1%), the highest career passer rating (103.8), the fifth-best touchdown percentage (6.4%), the best interception percentage (1.6%) per profootballreference.com, and the best touchdown-to-interception ratio (4.01) of all time per footballdb.com.
Aaron Rodgers checks the accuracy and decision-making characteristics, making him an excellent candidate to excel in a Philbin created offense.
Conclusion
Joe Philbin’s return to the Frozen Tundra may have been exactly what the doctor ordered for the Packers. He is a great offensive minded coach who can help bring back some long-lost exotic play-design and play calling in Titletown.
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