Packers promote Getsy to receivers coach
The Green Bay Packers have a wide receivers coach again.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy has promoted offensive quality control coach Luke Getsy to oversee the receivers next year, the team announced Wednesday evening when it unveiled its 22-man coaching staff for the 2016 season.
Getsy’s promotion means offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett will remain in his current position and Alex Van Pelt will go back to only working with the quarterbacks after handling both duties last season. It was a novel concept, but the receivers struggled last season without a full-time coach.
Associate head coach Tom Clements returns under his same job description despite McCarthy resuming offensive play-calling duties in Week 12 against Dallas.
In other moves, former Cleveland Browns assistant coach Brian Angelichio has been hired to coach tight ends, while former St. Louis assistant Ben Sirmans takes over as running backs coach. They replace Jerry Fontenot and Sam Gash, who were fired days after the Packers’ divisional playoff loss in Arizona.
Coaching administrator David Raih has been promoted to assistant offensive line coach, filling Mike Solari’s vacancy after he accepted the New York Giants’ opening for an offensive line coach. Meanwhile, Ejiro Evero replaces John Rushing as the defensive quality control coach.
Getsy, who turned 32 on Tuesday, is held in high esteem within the organization. He has experience working with the receivers after assisting Van Pelt for most of last season. Prior to his arrival in 2014, he served as the receivers coach at Western Michigan and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks at Indiana University of Pennsylvania from 2011-12.
Like many on the coaching staff, Getsy has ties to Pennsylvania. A native of Munhall, he served as an offensive graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh in 2010. He started his college career playing quarterback for the Panthers before transferring to Akron where he set 24 individual school records.
His task will be to help turn around a receiving unit that struggled with drops and inconsistency last season. The receiver’s problems getting open underneath and the offense’s inability to develop a consistent deep threat led to Green Bay falling from eighth to 25th in passing offense in 2015.
Sirmans and Angelichio have been on the Packers' staff for the past month and even helped coach in the Pro Bowl on Jan. 31. Sirmans spent the past four years with the Rams in the same position. His top priority will be getting tailback Eddie Lacy back on track. Lacy struggled with weight and curfew issues in 2015, leading to a dismal seasons.
In 2015, Sirmans oversaw the rookie development of Todd Gurley. The Rams drafted Gurley 10th overall last year and their rushing offense soared to seventh in the league with 122.3 yards per game. Gurley finished third in the NFL with 1,106 yards and was honored as the NFL offensive rookie of the year despite missing three games.
Angelichio, who coached tight ends at the University of Pittsburgh from 2006-10, handled the Browns' tight ends the past two seasons after coaching Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight ends in 2012 and 2013. He has overseen solid production in his four NFL seasons, helping develop journeyman Gary Barnidge into a Pro Bowl tight end this past year in Cleveland.
A former fifth-round pick with the Carolina Panthers, Barnidge’s 79 catches, 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns last season were more than he had in his previous seven seasons combined. Angelichio's newest project will be tight end Richard Rodgers, who was second on the team with 58 catches and eight touchdowns but averaged only 8.8 yards per reception.
Raih, 35, joined the Packers' staff as an offensive assistant in 2014. He worked in medical sales for a few years after his football career ended at Iowa ended due to injury. He was an intern for two years at UCLA, working primarily with the quarterbacks before returning to the Hawkeyes as a graduate assistant.
Raih was working with the outside receivers at Texas Tech at the time he applied for a position with the Packers. This past summer, he helped Solari with the offensive line when offensive line coach James Campen was away from the team in training camp due to a personal matter.
Evero joins the Packers after serving as an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers for the past five seasons. After joining the 49ers in 2011 as a quality control coach, he spent 2012-13 as an offensive assistant and the past two seasons as a defensive assistant.
Rushing, who had been with the organization since 2009, wasn’t retained after his contract expired following the 2015 season.
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Packers 2016 coaching staff
Offense
Tom Clements – Associate Head Coach/Offense
Edgar Bennett – Offensive Coordinator
Brian Angelichio – Tight Ends
James Campen – Offensive Line
Luke Getsy – Wide Receivers
David Raih – Assistant Offensive Line
Ben Sirmans – Running Backs
Alex Van Pelt – Quarterbacks
Defense
Winston Moss – Associate Head Coach/Linebackers
Dom Capers – Defensive Coordinator
Ejiro Evero – Defensive Quality Control
Scott McCurley – Assistant Linebackers
Jerry Montgomery – Defensive Front Assistant
Darren Perry – Secondary – Safeties
Mike Trgovac – Defensive Line
Joe Whitt Jr. – Secondary – Cornerbacks
Special Teams
Ron Zook – Special Teams Coordinator
Jason Simmons – Assistant Special Teams
Strength and Conditioning
Mark Lovat – Strength & Conditioning Coordinator
Chris Gizzi – Strength & Conditioning Assistant
Thadeus Jackson – Strength & Conditioning Assistant
Grant Thorne – Strength & Conditioning Assistant