LaFleur Leap? Here’s What the Data Says

With Matt LaFleur's foundation in place, the assumption is the offense is poised to take flight in 2020. But what does the data say?

Bill Huber | May 29, 2020

The Green Bay Packers’ offense was no better under Matt LaFleur in 2019 than it was under Mike McCarthy and Joe Philbin in 2018. In fact, the Packers fell from 14th to 15th in the NFL in scoring. With the foundation in place, the assumption is the offense is poised to take flight in 2020. But what does the data say?

From 2014 through 2018, there were 33 coaching changes. What did those changes mean for their offenses? Here are the league scoring rankings from the year before the coaching change and the first two seasons after the change.

2014 (six coaching changes)

JIM CALDWELL, Lions

Year before the change: 13th in points

First season: 22nd

Second season: 18th

BILL O'BRIEN, Texans

Year before the change: 31st in points

First season: 14th

Second season: 21st

MIKE PETTINE, Browns

Year before the change: 27th in points

First season: 27th

Second season: 30th

LOVIE SMITH, Buccaneers

Year before the change: 30th in points

First season: 29th

Second season: 20th

KEN WHISENHUNT, Titans

Year before the change: 19th in points

First season: 30th

Second season: 28th

MIKE ZIMMER, Vikings

Year before the change: 14th in points

First season: 20th

Second season: 16th

RELATED: A LAFLEUR LEAP IN YEAR 2?

2015 (seven coaching changes)

TODD BOWLES, Jets

Year before the change: 28th in points

First season: 11th

Second season: 30th

JACK DEL RIO, Raiders

Year before the change: 31st in points

First season: 17th

Second season: 7th

JOHN FOX, Bears

Year before the change: 23rd in points

First season: 23rd

Second season: 28th

GARY KUBIAK, Broncos

Year before the change: 2nd in points

First season: 19th

Second season: 22nd

DAN QUINN, Falcons

Year before the change: 12th in points

First season: 21st

Second season: 1st

REX RYAN, Bills

Year before the change: 18th in points

First season: 12th

Second season: 10th

JIM TOMSULA, 49ers

Year before the change: 25th in points

First season: 32nd

Second season: Fired

2016 (seven coaching changes)

ADAM GASE, Dolphins

Year before the change: 27th in points

First season: 17th

Second season: 28th

HUE JACKSON, Browns

Year before the change: 30th in points

First season: 31st

Second season: 31st

CHIP KELLY, 49ers

Year before the change: 32nd in points

First season: 27th

Second season: Fired

DIRK KOETTER, Buccaneers

Year before the change: 20th in points

First season: 18th

Second season: 18th

BEN MCADOO, Giants

Year before the change: 6th in points

First season: 26th

Second season: 31st

MIKE MULARKEY, Titans

Year before the change: 28th in points

First season: 14th

Second season: 19th

DOUG PEDERSON, Eagles

Year before the change: 13th in points

First season: 16th

Second season: 3rd

2017 (six coaching changes)

VANCE JOSEPH, Broncos

Year before the change: 22nd in points

First season: 27th

Second season: 24th

ANTHONY LYNN, Chargers

Year before the change: 9th in points

First season: 13th

Second season: 6th

DOUG MARRONE, Jaguars

Year before the change: 25th in points

First season: 5th

Second season: 31st

SEAN MCDERMOTT, Bills

Year before the change: 10th in points

First season: 22nd

Second season: 30th

SEAN MCVAY, Rams

Year before the change: 32nd in points

First season: 1st

Second season: 2nd

KYLE SHANAHAN, 49ers

Year before the change: 27th in points

First season: 20th

Second season: 21st

2018 (seven coaching changes)

JON GRUDEN, Raiders

Year before the change: 23rd in points

First season: 28th

Second season: 24th

MATT NAGY, Bears

Year before the change: 29th in points

First season: 9th

Second season: 29th

MATT PATRICIA, Lions

Year before the change: 7th in points

First season: 25th

Second season: 18th

FRANK REICH, Colts

Year before the change: 30th in points

First season: 5th

Second season: 16th

PAT SHURMUR, Giants

Year before the change: 31st in points

First season: 16th

Second season: 18th

MIKE VRABEL, Titans

Year before the change: 19th in points

First season: 27th

Second season: 10th

STEVE WILKS, Cardinals

Year before the change: 25th in points

First season: 32nd

Second season: Fired

2019 (eight coaching changes)

BRUCE ARIANS, Tampa Bay

Year before the change: 12th in points

First season: 3rd

VIC FANGIO, Denver

Year before the change: 24th in points

First season: 28th

BRIAN FLORES, Miami

Year before the change: 26th in points

First season: 25th

ADAM GASE, New York Jets

Year before the change: 23rd in points

First season: 31st

KLIFF KINGSBURY, Arizona

Year before the change: 32nd in points

First season: 16th

FREDDIE KITCHENS, Cleveland

Year before the change: 20th in points

First season: 22nd (and fired)

MATT LAFLEUR, Green Bay

Year before the change: 14th in points

First season: 15th

ZAC TAYLOR, Cincinnati

Year before the change: 17th in points

First season: 30th

Published May 29, 2020

BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.