GREEN BAY, Wis. – Last offseason, the Green Bay Packers needed a quarterbacks coach to replace Luke Getsy, who had been hired as offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears. So, Aaron Rodgers suggested coach Matt LaFleur reach out to his longtime quarterbacks coach, Tom Clements.
Clements stepped out of retirement to join Rodgers in Green Bay. This offseason, he stayed in Green Bay to work with Jordan Love.
“Well, that was the initial reason I came back, a chance to win another Super Bowl, coach Aaron,” Clements said on Thursday. “But I came back and enjoyed it, enjoyed working with Jordan and Danny Etling. And any time you can coach a guy and you think you can help him, and it looks like you’ve helped him a little bit, that’s gratifying.”
With Rodgers traded to the New York Jets and Love stepping into the starter’s role, Clements hopes he can enjoy the fruits of his labor.
As general manager Brian Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur have said repeatedly, Love made leaps-and-bounds improvement last year. That was evident during training camp and the preseason, and continued with Love’s work on the scout team and his reps in place of an injured Rodgers on the practice field and in the fourth quarter at the Philadelphia Eagles.
Clements is a stickler on fundamentals, in general, and footwork, in particular. Love soaked up Clements’ coaching like a sponge.
“That’s really a big aspect of playing quarterback,” he said. “If you can try to watch a quarterback’s feet and not watch anything else, you might have a good idea if it’s going to be a good throw. If you can have your feet in position to make a throw – assuming everyone in the NFL has a certain degree of talent – you’re going to have a chance to have a successful play. …
“He bought into it because he saw the drills we did with Aaron, saw the success Aaron had, so he worked hard at it and had some improvement.”
Clements drilled Rodgers and Love on all the nuances of footwork, from straight dropbacks and shotgun to throwing under pressure and while on the move.
“The drills we do every day, I think it translates to the drills and movements and things that you do in a game. It all ties in,” Love said recently. “I think Tom’s a great coach, he’s been doing it for a long time, and he knows what he’s talking about. Any pointers he might have for me to try and elevate myself, I think it’s all huge.”
With a quarterback, you never know until you know. The Packers felt good about Rodgers after his three seasons of work behind Brett Favre, including his 2007 relief appearance at Dallas. The Packers feel good about Love after his three seasons of work behind Rodgers, including his nine-pass relief appearance at Philadelphia.
There’s no guarantee that Love is going to be even an average starter. But Clements might have gone back into retirement had he not believed Love was ready to not just succeed Rodgers but have success.
“He can throw the ball, No. 1, which you need to do in the NFL,” Clements said. “He’s athletic, he can move around, buy time, and he’s intelligent and he generally makes good decisions. He at this point just needs to play and work on processing information, making quick decisions, then getting it to the right guy. But he has all the qualities that you’re looking for in a guy to be successful.”
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