The Green Bay Packers have lost several players, including franchise icons, to their NFC North rivals over the years. As head coach Matt LaFleur now reworks the Packers coaching staff in 2024, he is now poaching talent from a divisional foe.
After firing defensive coordinator Joe Barry, Green Bay hired Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley to take over as their defensive play-caller next season. It’s one of many changes to the Packers coaching staff, including the dismissal of long-time defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery.
While there is still plenty of uncertainty regarding how the defensive coaching staff will look under Hafley, with the defensive-minded coach offering ties to both the NFL and college football, there is more clarity on the offensive coaching staff for the 2024 season.
- Sean Mannion career stats: 573 passing yards, 1-3 TD-INT, 60.9 percent completion rate, 66.2 QB rating, 5.2 yards per attempt in 14 games over six NFL seasons
ESPN’s Brady Henderson reports that Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sean Mannion is retiring and he will immediately join the Packers coaching staff in 2024 as an assistant. While his specific title hasn’t been announced, the 31-year-old is expected to work closely with Green Bay’s quarterbacks.
Everything you need to know about new Green Bay Packers assistant Sean Mannion
Sean Mannion, the 9th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, rarely saw the field during his NFL career. From 2015-’23, the 6-foot-6 quarterback appeared in just 14 regular-season games and spent the last few seasons on practice squads with the Vikings and Seattle Seahawks.
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While Mannion didn’t become a starting quarterback at the highest level, teams kept signing him every offseason for his film study, football intellect and rare understanding of the complexities of the position. Furthermore, the California native has also learned from some of the best coaches in the NFL.
Mannion spent two seasons studying film and further strengthening his football knowledge from Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay from 2017-’18. After his time in Los Angeles, he was in Minnesota (2019-’20), where he was mentored by offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski, Gary Kubiak, Klint Kubiak and Drew Petzig.
Stefanski is now the Cleveland Browns head coach and could join a rare list of coaches to win NFL Coach of the Year twice. Klint Kubiak is on the verge of becoming the New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator, while Petzig is a future NFL head coach who spent the last year as the Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator.
In 2022, Mannion joined the Seahawks’ practice squad as a mentor for the quarterback room and an understudy of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and future Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dave Canales. This past season, he spent time with the Seahawks and Vikings where he was coached up by Kevin O’Connell and offensive coordinator Wes Phillips.
As Brady Henderson noted, Mannion was highly regarded around the NFL with many confident he would become a coach thanks to his outstanding intelligence and understanding of the game. As Luke Braun of Locked on Vikings also pointed out, one of the big reasons Minnesota added him to the practice squad for the 2023 season was with the hope of aiding his transition into eventually becoming an assistant coach.
While the Packers seemingly want quarterbacks coach Tom Clements to return in 2024, he turns 71 in June and previously retired in 2021. It’s possible Mannion could be an assistant under Clements, eventually succeeding him as the Packers’ quarterbacks coach in 2025.