Packers notes: Safeties coach Darren Perry still could return

GREEN BAY - The Green Bay Packers' coaching staff might not be complete.

Darren Perry, the Packers' safeties coach, still could remain with the Packers' coaching staff. Perry interviewed for the defensive coordinator position, which ultimately was filled by Mike Pettine. He also reportedly is a candidate to be defensive coordinator under new Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel.

Coach Mike McCarthy said Perry remains involved with the Packers' staff.

“We will probably have his situation rectified by the end of the week,” McCarthy said Wednesday. “I’m speaking with Darren today. Actually, we had a big, full staff meeting with our analytics group, and Darren was in that today. So we’ll have his status hopefully cleared up by the end of the week.”

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It’s uncertain what role Perry would have if he remains with the Packers. Joe Whitt Jr., another candidate to replace Dom Capers as defensive coordinator before Pettine was hired, received a promotion and will be the defense’s pass-game coordinator. Jason Simmons, the team’s former assistant special teams coach, was repositioned as the Packers' secondary coach.

“That I can’t speak to,” Simmons said when asked how his role would work with Perry. “I just know that we’ll do a whole lot together. We’ll make sure that the communication between the corners and safeties is at a premium, and guys are always on the same page.”

Talk to me: In the two weeks since the Packers had their most extensive organizational restructure since 1991, McCarthy said he already has seen a significant change.

McCarthy no longer reports to the team’s general manager, as he did when Ted Thompson filled that role for the team. Now, he communicates directly with team president/CEO Mark Murphy.

McCarthy said he has enjoyed the change.

“I think I would echo the obvious,” he said, “any time, any head coach would feel great about the increase in communication with the president of our organization. I’ve talked to Mark Murphy more in the last three weeks than I have in my 12 years here. So it’s been great.

“Mark’s a football man. So I appreciate his understanding, not only of who we are, but the league. He’s on the competition committee, so there’s insight there, and just to have communication there. He’s pretty much checked in with me on a daily basis.”

In the offseason, it’s likely premature for McCarthy to notice the full effect of the change. Murphy said he plans to have constant communication with his coach during the regular season, including conversations about game plans.

But the process of bridging communication between the president and coach already has begun.

“He’s been very forthcoming with, ‘Hey,’ coaching, anything he could do,” McCarthy said. “I like that. We talk about the basics in any professional organization or business, and communication is at the forefront. Our communication has greatly increased, and for that we are better.”

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