In the last quarter century the Packers have had three masterful line coaches. Jerry Wampfler might have been "a negative cat" to be around, as Greg Koch once said, but the man really could coach. Then there was Tom Lovat, the steady hand under Mike Holmgren, and Larry Beightol, who coached exceptional units under Mike Sherman.
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Sherman and his tight ends coach at the time, Joe Philbin, each was on staff at Tulane in the mid-1980s when Campen played there. Despite his limited rsum, they hired him in 2004 to work mostly in quality control. McCarthy made him the assistant line coach under Philbin in 2006 before bumping him to No. 1 in '07.
In terms of college and pro coaching experience, Wampfler had 22 years when he arrived in 1984, Lovat had 25 when he returned to Green Bay in 1992 and Beightol had 31 when Ray Rhodes hired him in 1999.
In comparison, Campen had three years of experience when promoted to run his own show. His assistant, Jerry Fontenot, played center for 16 years but had no coaching experience when hired by McCarthy in '06.
In the dog-eat-dog environment of the NFL, it makes no sense to make the offensive line an entry-level position. It's not enough (for Campen) to work hard; they all work hard.
Give me someone who has run drills and seen every blitz there is and made sideline adjustments on the fly year after year.
The Packers are high on Campen. On more than one occasion Thompson has denied permission for other teams to interview him.
Perhaps the best man was old pro Bill Muir, out in Tampa Bay and then hired by Kansas City. Beightol, 66, has tried to get back into coaching. Fired in San Diego, Jack Henry probably would have joined McCarthy. They coached together in New Orleans for five years; Beightol was with McCarthy in '99.
George Warhop and Mike Maser were available. Warhop, another former McCarthy colleague, landed in Cleveland.