1
00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:21,600
Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.

2
00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,480
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford next to my trusted colleague West Hodkowitz.

3
00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:28,600
Speaker 1: Were coming to hear from our studios at lambeau Field.

4
00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,360
Speaker 1: And first, let me start off by apologizing to our

5
00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,120
Speaker 1: regular viewers and listeners with regards to our last show

6
00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,720
Speaker 1: because I had to be out of town on Monday,

7
00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:40,840
Speaker 1: and not just to get a new haircut, but because

8
00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:45,560
Speaker 1: of that, we pre recorded a show to air on Monday.

9
00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,240
Speaker 1: But then over the weekend all of the news about

10
00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,400
Speaker 1: the new general manager and all that broke. And so

11
00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:53,960
Speaker 1: for those of you who tuned in hoping to see

12
00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,240
Speaker 1: a show about the new GM and everything, we certainly apologize.

13
00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,360
Speaker 1: Sort of Murphy's law. No pun intended that things would

14
00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:02,720
Speaker 1: happen when you think you have a plan in place

15
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,520
Speaker 1: to deal with an absence. But that being said, West,

16
00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,200
Speaker 1: today is the day to talk about the Packers new

17
00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:12,399
Speaker 1: general manager. His name is Brian Goodkin good akinst I

18
00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:14,759
Speaker 1: have to work on the pronunciation. I think everybody does.

19
00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:16,560
Speaker 1: I'm used to spelling it, you know, right. No, I

20
00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:21,800
Speaker 1: don't have a problem, but um a tremendous football background

21
00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,040
Speaker 1: in this guy I've known him for a long time

22
00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,199
Speaker 1: within the Packers organization as he has climbed the ranks

23
00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,199
Speaker 1: obviously over the last several years. Um, just a really

24
00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,559
Speaker 1: personable guy. What in his background stands out the most

25
00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,440
Speaker 1: to you? Well, I think it's the in state connections, Uh,

26
00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,640
Speaker 1: and really the paradox between the way he was brought

27
00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:41,640
Speaker 1: up and kind of how things have played out within

28
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,720
Speaker 1: the Packers organization. Starting with the in state connections. This

29
00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,000
Speaker 1: is a guy that only forty four years old, actually

30
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,160
Speaker 1: played at u w lacrosse a few years after his

31
00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:53,240
Speaker 1: father had been the head coach at the University of

32
00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,680
Speaker 1: Minnesota with their football team, and that's where he started

33
00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,200
Speaker 1: to get his start with football and played there for

34
00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:01,840
Speaker 1: two years to stay in. The shoulder injury, which I mean,

35
00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:05,280
Speaker 1: you know, serendipity, whatever you want to call it, actually

36
00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:07,600
Speaker 1: probably put him on his course for his profession that

37
00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,160
Speaker 1: he wanted to look into coaching. Really it was the

38
00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:13,320
Speaker 1: doors that were open to him through scouting that that

39
00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,520
Speaker 1: you know, kind of sort of gave him his path

40
00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,520
Speaker 1: and received an opportunity from John Dorsey to come in

41
00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:21,200
Speaker 1: and be an intern with the Packers. Spent a year

42
00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:23,800
Speaker 1: with John Schneider in Kansas City, comes back as a

43
00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,520
Speaker 1: college scout and getting back to the original point I made,

44
00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,160
Speaker 1: you know, he traveled in his family, kind of had

45
00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,160
Speaker 1: this vagabond lifestyle a little bit, being a son of

46
00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,480
Speaker 1: a head coach or a football coach. And for him,

47
00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,040
Speaker 1: he's been able to have stability since has been with

48
00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,880
Speaker 1: the Packers organization, been in house since two thousand and

49
00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,640
Speaker 1: twelve when he became the director of college scouting, and

50
00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:46,720
Speaker 1: now here he is as the general manager, the tenth

51
00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,079
Speaker 1: designated general manager in franchise history. It's funny to look

52
00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,280
Speaker 1: back on his career when you look at that timeline up.

53
00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:54,960
Speaker 1: What would it be like to be a scouting intern

54
00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,760
Speaker 1: for a team coming off of a Super Bowl championship.

55
00:02:57,800 --> 00:02:59,520
Speaker 1: I mean that that had to be such a unique

56
00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,560
Speaker 1: and an interesting situation in terms of getting your start

57
00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,640
Speaker 1: and obviously working immediately, working under a structure and a

58
00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,399
Speaker 1: regime that was so successful, as you know, the Packers

59
00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,120
Speaker 1: really were reborn there through the mid nineties, and then

60
00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:15,760
Speaker 1: as a full time scout, really spent a lot of

61
00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,800
Speaker 1: his time in the South and particularly the Southeast, so

62
00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,800
Speaker 1: that sec that Southeastern Conference. He knows those schools, you know,

63
00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,520
Speaker 1: maybe as well as anyone on the Packers staff. And

64
00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:28,560
Speaker 1: uh that that's you know, where he cut his teeth,

65
00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,160
Speaker 1: as they say, and and uh and began to uh

66
00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:35,560
Speaker 1: to climb the ranks. Um obviously was chosen by President

67
00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,840
Speaker 1: and CEO Mark Murphy over two other internal candidates, russ

68
00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:42,119
Speaker 1: Ball and Elliott Wolf. Russ Ball getting um a new

69
00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:46,560
Speaker 1: title as far as executive director of Football Operations, did

70
00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,400
Speaker 1: I get vice president executive director of SO And we'll

71
00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:52,800
Speaker 1: have some more thoughts on on the structure of things

72
00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,600
Speaker 1: in our next segment. But um, but as far as

73
00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,640
Speaker 1: where the Packers go from here, Brian Goodakunst is the

74
00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,400
Speaker 1: new GM. He is in charge of the fifty three

75
00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,640
Speaker 1: man roster and uh um it sounds like he's very

76
00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,000
Speaker 1: excited about the partnership here coming up with head coach

77
00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,520
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy. Yeah, he is. And the thing that's interesting

78
00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:11,760
Speaker 1: about his upbringing too is that he has such a

79
00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,200
Speaker 1: deep foundation, uh in this organization. You talk about Mike

80
00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,760
Speaker 1: McCarthy when he came back as a college scout in

81
00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,200
Speaker 1: n That was in within three months of when McCarthy

82
00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,400
Speaker 1: was brought in as the quarterbacks coach at the time, Um,

83
00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:26,800
Speaker 1: you know, he he was raised and developed under Is.

84
00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:28,680
Speaker 1: He mentioned Scott McCluin, who went on to be the

85
00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,440
Speaker 1: Washington general manager. That was one of the guys he

86
00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,160
Speaker 1: kind of joked that he would always go to when

87
00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,080
Speaker 1: guys were too scared to ask a question to Ron,

88
00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,800
Speaker 1: they went to to McCluin instead. I mean, he had

89
00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,600
Speaker 1: those relationships and you know, and and Elliot Wolf has

90
00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:43,360
Speaker 1: a lot to figure out with his future right now,

91
00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,719
Speaker 1: but he looked at that partnership that they had for

92
00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:47,960
Speaker 1: a number of years, and you know, the pro and

93
00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,400
Speaker 1: college perspectives they were able to provide to Ted Thompson

94
00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,320
Speaker 1: and a guy that he really admires from that perspective.

95
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,280
Speaker 1: The big thing with this Mike was fit. And Mike

96
00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,599
Speaker 1: McCarthy made that very clear when he met with the

97
00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:01,920
Speaker 1: media in his final news conference of the two thousand

98
00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,040
Speaker 1: seventeen season. He was looking for a GM that was

99
00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:08,200
Speaker 1: going to be in that partnership with them, And Goudakun said,

100
00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:09,919
Speaker 1: I mean he you know, when it comes to making

101
00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:12,719
Speaker 1: tough calls on the roster, he's willing to go out

102
00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:15,159
Speaker 1: there and step to the podium and explain his thought process,

103
00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:17,560
Speaker 1: which is something that Mike McCarthy said he was looking

104
00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:19,880
Speaker 1: for in the next GM, he said, he's a guy

105
00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:24,200
Speaker 1: that's willing to have direct communication with different people. He's

106
00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,320
Speaker 1: a guy that really values communication and he wants to

107
00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:29,760
Speaker 1: open up those avenues. And we'll talk about this in

108
00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:31,080
Speaker 1: a minute. But when you look at some of the

109
00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:34,520
Speaker 1: breakdowns maybe they've had in recent years that Mark Mark

110
00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:37,680
Speaker 1: Murphy was addressing, that's one of the things I think

111
00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:39,839
Speaker 1: could ultimately help them, in addition to the fact that

112
00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,120
Speaker 1: he is a very talented scout with a deep foundation

113
00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:48,240
Speaker 1: in really analyzing, reviewing, and finding talent from the college level. Yeah,

114
00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,080
Speaker 1: and Mark Murphy has changed the hierarchy a little bit,

115
00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:52,840
Speaker 1: the structure of how things are gonna work. And we'll

116
00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,040
Speaker 1: get to that after the breakback with moreen Packers Unscripted.

117
00:05:56,080 --> 00:06:16,800
Speaker 1: Right after this, Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford

118
00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,039
Speaker 1: in this chair, West Hodkowitz and that one and West

119
00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:23,239
Speaker 1: talking about what really comes down to a major restructuring

120
00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,960
Speaker 1: of the Packers hierarchy. Um, you go back to the

121
00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,880
Speaker 1: early ninety nineties when Bob Harlan hired Ron Wolf. There

122
00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:34,080
Speaker 1: was one man in charge of the entire football operation

123
00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,240
Speaker 1: and everybody answered to him. That structure is no longer

124
00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:42,360
Speaker 1: in place. Brian Gudakunst rush Ball, Mike McCarthy are sort

125
00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,920
Speaker 1: of the three men who are all in charge of football.

126
00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,400
Speaker 1: They're different areas of the football operations and now all

127
00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,680
Speaker 1: three of them individually will report to Mark Murphy as

128
00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,960
Speaker 1: the president and CEO of the organization. A significant change,

129
00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,159
Speaker 1: it was, and it Mike and it was interesting Mark

130
00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,760
Speaker 1: Murphy when he originally met with the media to announce

131
00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:01,839
Speaker 1: that Had Thompson would be moving into this new role.

132
00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,440
Speaker 1: Uh he originally was planning for the GM two or

133
00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:07,440
Speaker 1: the head coach to report to the g M. But

134
00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,000
Speaker 1: as he went through the process, he said, it really

135
00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,280
Speaker 1: opened his eyes to some areas where he thought they

136
00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,160
Speaker 1: could you know, have some potential, um you know, areas

137
00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:17,240
Speaker 1: to improve in. And one of the things that he

138
00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,760
Speaker 1: came to, and it came up numerous times in both

139
00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:22,760
Speaker 1: his interview and news conference and then Ulso in a

140
00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:26,240
Speaker 1: side session with some some print reporters, is the idea

141
00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,840
Speaker 1: that they need to knock down some silos that silos

142
00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:33,120
Speaker 1: have been built up between the coaching staff, the scouts,

143
00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,160
Speaker 1: different areas and they want to improve communication under on

144
00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,320
Speaker 1: that point, that's something that Goodin said to when he

145
00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,840
Speaker 1: was addressing with reporters afterwards is very important to him.

146
00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,000
Speaker 1: He sees that he understands and he thinks there needs

147
00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,640
Speaker 1: to be greater ties between the scouting department and the

148
00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,160
Speaker 1: coaching staff. That maybe there was you don't want to

149
00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:52,720
Speaker 1: say a wall, but but definitely not enough communication from

150
00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,280
Speaker 1: that perspective. But it goes up higher than that. And

151
00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,320
Speaker 1: the thing I think that was the biggest um you know,

152
00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:01,480
Speaker 1: area that I took away from all of this is that,

153
00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,400
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways, the decisions they made here

154
00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:06,360
Speaker 1: other than the head coach you know now reporting to

155
00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:10,480
Speaker 1: Murphy was sort of putting print in pen and paper

156
00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,160
Speaker 1: to something that had really been cemented the past number

157
00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,040
Speaker 1: of years with Russ Ball's role, you know, with the

158
00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,480
Speaker 1: general manager's role. Murphy said, I mean the GM that

159
00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,040
Speaker 1: that job description they had for Ted Thompson was incredibly

160
00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:24,200
Speaker 1: broad and there was a lot of stuff that he

161
00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,040
Speaker 1: had really you know, handed over to Ball to handle

162
00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,760
Speaker 1: so he could focus more on scouting. That's something that

163
00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:31,960
Speaker 1: good at const is all four. He wants to do

164
00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,800
Speaker 1: what he's good at. That's player acquisition, that's drafting, that's

165
00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,120
Speaker 1: building a roster, and then now letting ball in addition

166
00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,600
Speaker 1: to the contract negotiations and you know, handle more the

167
00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,120
Speaker 1: administrative things. Yeah, And I found Mark Murphy's comments about

168
00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,080
Speaker 1: the silos and trying to knock down the silos. I

169
00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:50,880
Speaker 1: found that interesting because in previous shows last week we

170
00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,400
Speaker 1: talked about one of the ways that that the structure

171
00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:57,240
Speaker 1: that was in place worked for so long is because

172
00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:01,120
Speaker 1: of people having respect for boundaries or what their job was,

173
00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:05,400
Speaker 1: not intruding necessarily on other people's. But one of the

174
00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:08,840
Speaker 1: potential fallouts of something like that is boundaries can almost

175
00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:11,640
Speaker 1: get too rigid. They can they can become silos. And

176
00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:13,959
Speaker 1: I think what Mark Murphy is trying to do here,

177
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,880
Speaker 1: if I'm reading his comments correctly, is I think he's

178
00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,600
Speaker 1: trying to have a structure that that gets rid of

179
00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,560
Speaker 1: the silos that were being created, but that still respects

180
00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:26,640
Speaker 1: the boundaries that that every that everybody has their area

181
00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:31,880
Speaker 1: of expertise, they have final say on certain areas of football,

182
00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,160
Speaker 1: but they're not going to operate just completely independently of

183
00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,280
Speaker 1: one another. And as you said, it's about the communication

184
00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,440
Speaker 1: and collaboration so that everybody kind of at least knows

185
00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,000
Speaker 1: what's going on all the time and isn't wondering what

186
00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,000
Speaker 1: that guy down the hall is up to, so to speak.

187
00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,440
Speaker 1: Football organizations evolve was another theme that sort of came

188
00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,160
Speaker 1: out of this, and Murphy was really you know, preaching

189
00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:54,640
Speaker 1: in his idea was when they made this shuffle is

190
00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:58,080
Speaker 1: basically repainting the lanes a little bit. The past few years.

191
00:09:58,120 --> 00:09:59,839
Speaker 1: With the role that Thompson has sort of taken on,

192
00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,040
Speaker 1: it did require a little bit more hands on, you know,

193
00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,760
Speaker 1: stuff from different people and his his personnel department. This

194
00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:10,199
Speaker 1: really this process was meant to kind of redefine all

195
00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,440
Speaker 1: of that and to give everybody an idea of what's

196
00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,960
Speaker 1: expecting their specific position rather than when you are sort

197
00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,599
Speaker 1: of moving out of your lane and in different people's territory.

198
00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,600
Speaker 1: It basically just rewrites the job description in some ways.

199
00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:23,960
Speaker 1: And as Murphy said, I mean he plans to meet

200
00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,400
Speaker 1: weekly with Ball, McCarthy and good at cost so they

201
00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,400
Speaker 1: can have that open dialogue. He's not looking to micromanaged,

202
00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:32,400
Speaker 1: He's not looking to sit here and tell people what

203
00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:34,480
Speaker 1: to do. He just wants to be more involved in

204
00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:36,760
Speaker 1: the football process. It's something he's done over the last

205
00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,800
Speaker 1: number of years and he thinks as as they're able

206
00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:41,880
Speaker 1: to do that and open up those lines of communication

207
00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,080
Speaker 1: is something that overall will help improve the football team. Yeah,

208
00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,720
Speaker 1: and I took this. There are some alarm bells being

209
00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:52,720
Speaker 1: sounded out there about this potentially being a mistake in

210
00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,160
Speaker 1: terms of the structure, and that the Packers did this

211
00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,120
Speaker 1: back in the nineteen eighties and it didn't work and

212
00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:58,959
Speaker 1: it's what led to Ron Wolf being brought in and

213
00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,000
Speaker 1: giving total control. I for one, I'm going to wait

214
00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:05,120
Speaker 1: and see how this goes, because part of me thinks

215
00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:09,600
Speaker 1: that the reason Mark Murphy made this decision and restructured

216
00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,400
Speaker 1: it this way is because of the people he wanted

217
00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,360
Speaker 1: in place in those certain positions. Somewhere down the line,

218
00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:18,640
Speaker 1: maybe it's ten years, maybe it's fifteen or twenty years

219
00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,400
Speaker 1: down the line, the next round Wolf might come along

220
00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,040
Speaker 1: and demand the full autonomy over everything. And if you

221
00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,120
Speaker 1: really want that guy, then maybe you have to give

222
00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:30,760
Speaker 1: him the structure that he wants. So you talked about

223
00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:33,440
Speaker 1: organizations evolved, Things can change. I'm not saying that you

224
00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:35,840
Speaker 1: completely rewrite the structure every time you make a new

225
00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:40,080
Speaker 1: higher and an important position, but it's it's also about

226
00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,560
Speaker 1: fitting your structure to the people and setting them and

227
00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,280
Speaker 1: letting them do what they do best, and that's what

228
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,200
Speaker 1: I think Mark Murphy's trying to do here, and he

229
00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,560
Speaker 1: kept the door open to that. Just because they're doing

230
00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,280
Speaker 1: something right now doesn't set a precedent forever. Packers could

231
00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,240
Speaker 1: win three four more Super Bowls, Mike McCarthy could go

232
00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:59,760
Speaker 1: right off into the sunset, they could have another coaching

233
00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,679
Speaker 1: and underneath that coaching search, that position could go right

234
00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,959
Speaker 1: back under Brian Goodkin's There's all those type of options.

235
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:11,080
Speaker 1: He's not really eliminating any process. He said from day

236
00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,280
Speaker 1: one when he stepped up there announcing that Ted Thompson

237
00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:14,959
Speaker 1: was no longer going to be the GM, that he

238
00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:16,640
Speaker 1: was going to keep an open mind to this. He

239
00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:18,120
Speaker 1: was going to look at scouts, he was going to

240
00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:20,520
Speaker 1: look at finance, he was gonna look at all these

241
00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:24,240
Speaker 1: different avenues of how you can run an organization. This

242
00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,360
Speaker 1: is in a way, I think, in a lot of

243
00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:29,360
Speaker 1: in a lot of different areas to try to make

244
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,800
Speaker 1: all these pieces fit and try to find something that

245
00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,120
Speaker 1: can work for everybody. I know there's sometimes can be

246
00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:37,640
Speaker 1: a negative connotation to that, but as he said, when

247
00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:39,959
Speaker 1: you look at the amount of organizations that have kind

248
00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,680
Speaker 1: of been creative with their structure, there's sometimes something to

249
00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:45,480
Speaker 1: be said for that. And if you aren't staying with

250
00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,400
Speaker 1: that pace, if you're not trying to find the new

251
00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,760
Speaker 1: way to do things, you are falling back. And I

252
00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,480
Speaker 1: think ultimately it comes down to try and to find

253
00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:55,959
Speaker 1: a scenario, a fit, whatever you want to call it,

254
00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,480
Speaker 1: to make the Packers organization take that next step and

255
00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:02,000
Speaker 1: make sure that that two thousand seventeen season was nothing

256
00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:04,040
Speaker 1: more than an anomaly. Yeah, and well, the new GM

257
00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,240
Speaker 1: certainly wants to take the next step with this roster.

258
00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:08,600
Speaker 1: And we're talking about some of his philosophies after the

259
00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:29,120
Speaker 1: breakback with more on Packers Unscripted. Right after this Welcome

260
00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,319
Speaker 1: back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford here, Wes hodkohit's over

261
00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,480
Speaker 1: there and West. Getting back to the Packers new GM.

262
00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:39,840
Speaker 1: Goodikins talked about his philosophies a little bit. Particularly was

263
00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:44,640
Speaker 1: asked about free agency because of um sometimes the Packers

264
00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,000
Speaker 1: lack of involvement in free agency under Ted Thompson, and

265
00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,480
Speaker 1: some of the phrases he used were interesting. One of

266
00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:54,920
Speaker 1: the things he called it is a necessary accessory. And

267
00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,040
Speaker 1: I think maybe what we've heard more over the past

268
00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,360
Speaker 1: decade is more of like it's a potential abode. He

269
00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,040
Speaker 1: sees it as more of something that that needs to

270
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,800
Speaker 1: be explored at all times. Um. Now, not just saying

271
00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:10,240
Speaker 1: always about the top guys, million dollars signings or whatever.

272
00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:12,840
Speaker 1: That's not what this is about. But but it's about

273
00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,160
Speaker 1: how he looks at the entire picture of free agency

274
00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:17,400
Speaker 1: as it relates to the fifty three man roster. Yea.

275
00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:19,440
Speaker 1: And I'm actually gonna pull the quote right now from

276
00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:21,640
Speaker 1: the story I wrote on Monday, just to I don't

277
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:23,160
Speaker 1: usually do these type of things, but I just think

278
00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,240
Speaker 1: it's such a It was the quote of the entire day.

279
00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:27,440
Speaker 1: Him and Murphy talked for over an hour if you

280
00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:29,720
Speaker 1: count the two sessions, but I thought this was the

281
00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,400
Speaker 1: biggest quote. The thing I've already told our guys is

282
00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:34,720
Speaker 1: that we're not going to be signing every player, which

283
00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:38,240
Speaker 1: you can't. But we're gonna be involved. But it's not

284
00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,280
Speaker 1: gonna be the foundation. But we're going to want to

285
00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,200
Speaker 1: be in every conversation. We want to be in the

286
00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,520
Speaker 1: know and not be afraid. And when the moment comes, um,

287
00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:48,680
Speaker 1: you have to be prepared to pull the trigger. Paraphrasing

288
00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,280
Speaker 1: a bit of that, but the basic thought process behind

289
00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,760
Speaker 1: it is the packers want to be involved in these conversations.

290
00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,600
Speaker 1: If there's a free agent, regardless of it's a high, mid,

291
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,040
Speaker 1: low tier, whatever it might be. If there's somebody they

292
00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,600
Speaker 1: think could be a potential fit, they want to explore

293
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:06,080
Speaker 1: that avenue. They want to leave no stone unturned during

294
00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,760
Speaker 1: this process. That's not to say that isn't what Ted

295
00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,280
Speaker 1: Thompson did. I don't want people drawing that analogy. But

296
00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:14,480
Speaker 1: I think the big thing is that Good wants is

297
00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,360
Speaker 1: he wants his scouts, he wants his personnel people with

298
00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,240
Speaker 1: the communication they have within the building, if there's a

299
00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,120
Speaker 1: guy they think could work in Green Bay, to pick

300
00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,760
Speaker 1: up the phone, see what the prices, see what kind

301
00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:27,960
Speaker 1: of bidding war they're gonna be in, and make sure

302
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,000
Speaker 1: that they are up on all those conversations. Because sometimes

303
00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:32,280
Speaker 1: I'm not saying this is just Green Bay, but I

304
00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:34,120
Speaker 1: think sometimes some of these guys can fly under the

305
00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,760
Speaker 1: radar and you potentially miss out on a guy that

306
00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,080
Speaker 1: could be a good value. And I think sometimes you know,

307
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:40,800
Speaker 1: it isn't just always about who's getting the five year,

308
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:43,480
Speaker 1: sixty seven million dollar contract. Sometimes it's the one year,

309
00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,600
Speaker 1: five million dollar deal that makes all the difference. Yeah,

310
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:47,960
Speaker 1: And I think what I took in some ways from

311
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,280
Speaker 1: his comments was maybe there were times in the past

312
00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,760
Speaker 1: where the packers made assumptions about the market the price

313
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,080
Speaker 1: tag on a certain guy, and they just stayed out

314
00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:57,720
Speaker 1: of it because they're like, Oh, that's not really gonna

315
00:15:57,760 --> 00:15:59,800
Speaker 1: fit where we are with the salary cap and what

316
00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:03,000
Speaker 1: And then maybe the guy signs with somebody is like, oh,

317
00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:05,160
Speaker 1: maybe we should have been involved in that conversation. The

318
00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,480
Speaker 1: price tag wasn't as high as we thought. So I

319
00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,240
Speaker 1: think it's maybe, you know, as you said, always being

320
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,760
Speaker 1: involved in the conversations and and being prepared to pull

321
00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:17,160
Speaker 1: the trigger if the opportunity is there. I also look

322
00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:19,800
Speaker 1: at it as what I'm going to be interested in

323
00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:22,600
Speaker 1: in terms of the differences in the roster building, is

324
00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,440
Speaker 1: what's going to happen when the injuries strike, because they're

325
00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:28,560
Speaker 1: going to inevitably strike. And I wrote this in our

326
00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,960
Speaker 1: Insider Inbox column. Is the guy who's filling in the

327
00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:33,600
Speaker 1: next man up, so to speak? Is it going to

328
00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,440
Speaker 1: be some young, totally unproven guy or is there going

329
00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:39,080
Speaker 1: to be more depth of veteran players and and those

330
00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,720
Speaker 1: can be veteran players you bring in from other places

331
00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,760
Speaker 1: two thousand and ten, guys like Eric Walden and Howard

332
00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:48,240
Speaker 1: Green experienced guys that were brought in when injuries hit,

333
00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:50,200
Speaker 1: when that roster dealt with a lot of injuries, and

334
00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,160
Speaker 1: those guys helped the Packers win a Super Bowl. Since then,

335
00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:55,920
Speaker 1: we haven't seen as many of those type of acquisitions,

336
00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,200
Speaker 1: and maybe the new GM gets back to that a

337
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,240
Speaker 1: little bit. And think even like Charlie Peppert, who I

338
00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,000
Speaker 1: think they claimed him off waivers before that season, brought

339
00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:05,359
Speaker 1: him back after he had left, and he ends up

340
00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,399
Speaker 1: playing a key role after Morgan Burnett tears his a

341
00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:09,560
Speaker 1: c L. That's a big part of the equation here

342
00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,679
Speaker 1: and is is Goodkin said, It's about creating competition from

343
00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:14,520
Speaker 1: the first day of training camp to the last day

344
00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:16,600
Speaker 1: of the regular season or the or your playoff run.

345
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,399
Speaker 1: You have to be able to push. It can't just

346
00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,280
Speaker 1: be Okay, well, this guy is just the last guy up,

347
00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:24,360
Speaker 1: so he's the one in there. You have to make

348
00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,560
Speaker 1: sure that everybody understands that if you don't perform, there's

349
00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:30,280
Speaker 1: somebody else that could potentially do it. Um And to

350
00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:32,600
Speaker 1: touch on one other thing, Mike, because a big question

351
00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:34,439
Speaker 1: he was asked is about the state of the roster

352
00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,560
Speaker 1: where things are right now, He doesn't see the Packers

353
00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,240
Speaker 1: as being that far away from contending for another Super Bowl.

354
00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,159
Speaker 1: People talk about the defense. Things didn't go well for

355
00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:45,159
Speaker 1: the Packers in two thousand seventeen. I'm not going to

356
00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,600
Speaker 1: sit here and debate that, but Kenny Clark, Mike Daniels,

357
00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:52,280
Speaker 1: there is a foundation, Blake Martinez, Haha, Clinton dis Packers

358
00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,080
Speaker 1: have talent on defense. That's one thing good Coin said.

359
00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,000
Speaker 1: He likes the talent that they have there. They have

360
00:17:58,080 --> 00:17:59,760
Speaker 1: to make the pieces fit. They have to find a

361
00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:01,879
Speaker 1: D fensive coordinator that's gonna be able to utilize it,

362
00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:04,399
Speaker 1: and they need to find players through the draft. They

363
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,800
Speaker 1: could have eleven or twelve picks this year or through

364
00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:08,800
Speaker 1: free agency that are gonna be able to fill in

365
00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:11,800
Speaker 1: those holes when someone goes down. The cupboard isn't bare.

366
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,480
Speaker 1: That was the big takeaway. He was basically asked that question,

367
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,280
Speaker 1: and he said, the cupboard isn't bare. We still have

368
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:19,200
Speaker 1: what it takes with the best player in football and

369
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,119
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers to get to where we want to go

370
00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,560
Speaker 1: sooner rather than later. And I think it's also about

371
00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,560
Speaker 1: stocking that cupboard with more like pieces. I guess I

372
00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:29,200
Speaker 1: would say, And what I mean by that is going

373
00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,359
Speaker 1: back to the comment about the competition. Hey, these players

374
00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:34,239
Speaker 1: are at practice every day. They know who can do

375
00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:36,359
Speaker 1: the job and who can't. If you're on the field

376
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:38,199
Speaker 1: and you know the guy right behind you on the

377
00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,840
Speaker 1: depth chart is, for example, an undrafted rookie who's hardly played,

378
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,160
Speaker 1: maybe he's only played on special teams and hasn't even

379
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,720
Speaker 1: played on offense or defense. Yet you're not necessarily fearing

380
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,160
Speaker 1: for your job. You're not you. You don't necessarily feel

381
00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,919
Speaker 1: like you're on notice. Brian Goodacun's yesterday on Monday, I

382
00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:56,160
Speaker 1: thought he made it very clear that he wants every

383
00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,960
Speaker 1: player to feel like he's on notice with everything he's

384
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,560
Speaker 1: putting on film and every game. And that's maybe a

385
00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,320
Speaker 1: bit of an exaggeration because we're all human, But at

386
00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,080
Speaker 1: the same time, that's the type of competitiveness he wants

387
00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,720
Speaker 1: within the roster. Comfort creates complacency in every walk all life.

388
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,000
Speaker 1: He wants to make sure that people are being pushed. Yeah,

389
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,199
Speaker 1: all right, with that, we'll go to break back with

390
00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:35,359
Speaker 1: more on Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to

391
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,640
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford alongside West Hog Kuits and West

392
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:40,640
Speaker 1: before we Go. Since I was gone Monday, we haven't

393
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,360
Speaker 1: had a chance to talk about NFL Wild Card weekend.

394
00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,119
Speaker 1: We only have a couple of minutes here. But the

395
00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:50,840
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs boy another crushing home playoff loss, blowing

396
00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,240
Speaker 1: an eighteen point lead to the Tennessee Titans. You have

397
00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:58,520
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons um maybe showing that their defense is

398
00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:00,159
Speaker 1: even better than it was when they went to the

399
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,359
Speaker 1: Super Bowl a year ago. They completely clamped down on

400
00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,520
Speaker 1: that Los Angeles Rams explosive offense rather lackluster. I guess

401
00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,719
Speaker 1: I would say Jacksonville Jaguars playoff victory, but a playoff

402
00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:11,520
Speaker 1: victory for a team that had not had one in

403
00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,320
Speaker 1: a very long time. And then the New Orleans Saints.

404
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,560
Speaker 1: I think they said here we are, here we come. Yeah.

405
00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:19,520
Speaker 1: The thing that was really interesting about this, and I

406
00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,040
Speaker 1: watched all four of these games, it was seeing the

407
00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,360
Speaker 1: difference between teams that have been there in teams who

408
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,639
Speaker 1: haven't been to the playoffs. That the Rams look like

409
00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:29,440
Speaker 1: a team that had like two players on their team

410
00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,240
Speaker 1: or whatever it was. Three players who had actually played

411
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,919
Speaker 1: in a playoff game look completely shell shock they'll be

412
00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:35,280
Speaker 1: better for that in the long run. It's a young

413
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:39,040
Speaker 1: football team. Atlanta, I think is showing that old adage

414
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,000
Speaker 1: that sometimes if you're the number five or six seed

415
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:43,720
Speaker 1: in the NFC is in specific you could potentially get

416
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:45,520
Speaker 1: on a run if the pieces fall into place. I

417
00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:49,239
Speaker 1: agree with Their defense is faster, it is athletic, and

418
00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:52,320
Speaker 1: having true font back makes a big difference on the boundary.

419
00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:55,280
Speaker 1: He is a legitimate shutdown cornerback and a good fit

420
00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:58,400
Speaker 1: for them. Tennessee Titans, on the other hand, another team

421
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:00,560
Speaker 1: that in some ways is veteran, in some ways is

422
00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,000
Speaker 1: very young. They find a way to crawl back in

423
00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,120
Speaker 1: that game against the Chiefs and pick up a big,

424
00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:08,040
Speaker 1: big victory, and then the New Orleans Saints obviously shutting

425
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:10,119
Speaker 1: the door on Julius Pepper's hopes for another for a

426
00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,320
Speaker 1: Super Bowl ring with their performance across the board, some

427
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:15,520
Speaker 1: entertaining football, a lot of teams winning in a variety

428
00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:17,560
Speaker 1: of different ways, and we'll see where they take it

429
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,280
Speaker 1: from here. Yeah, a lot of uh, a lot of

430
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,960
Speaker 1: excitement at the end of that Saints Panthers game. I

431
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,280
Speaker 1: want to throw the set you right away. Intentional grounding

432
00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:27,320
Speaker 1: on Newton or not what do you think of that call? Yeah,

433
00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:29,000
Speaker 1: I thought so. I thought so too, because they were

434
00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,120
Speaker 1: lined up on the right hash. Yeah, I thought so too.

435
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,120
Speaker 1: And I say that because we've I think we've seen

436
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:35,200
Speaker 1: in the past where that call of is the guy

437
00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,760
Speaker 1: outside the pocket, they're almost too lenient in the sense

438
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,399
Speaker 1: of letting the quarterback throw it away. In this instance,

439
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:41,760
Speaker 1: they didn't let him throw it away, and it was

440
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:43,840
Speaker 1: a call that change change the end of the game. Yes,

441
00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:46,000
Speaker 1: but I mean they've lined that the play was at

442
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:47,960
Speaker 1: the right hash you have the two linemen over there.

443
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:49,720
Speaker 1: I thought it was the right call in my opinion.

444
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:51,320
Speaker 1: A lot of things we could debate though about that

445
00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:53,280
Speaker 1: weekend of games. All right, Well, with that, we've got

446
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,080
Speaker 1: to call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.

447
00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:57,760
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the

448
00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,640
Speaker 1: team on Packers dot Com on Twitter. He's at west

449
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,720
Speaker 1: Hot I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account.

450
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:05,960
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.

451
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:08,159
Speaker 1: H