When the Green Bay Packers moved on from Mike McCarthy during the 2018 season and hired Matt LaFleur in 2019, the goal was clear: maximize what remained of Aaron Rodgers’ championship window and push the franchise back to the Super Bowl.
That breakthrough still has not arrived. Green Bay has yet to advance beyond the NFC Championship Game under LaFleur, whether with Rodgers leading the offense from 2019-22 or Jordan Love taking over as the starter in 2023. The Packers have also seen their past two seasons end in the NFC wild-card round in 2024 and 2025.
LaFleur signed a new contract in January, but that has not stopped the question from surfacing: could he actually be coaching for his job this season?
Colin Cowherd floated that possibility Friday on “The Herd,” describing LaFleur as being on what might be the “coolest hot seat” in NFL coaching. Cowherd argued that two factors are tightening the pressure in Green Bay. First, the NFC North has become a coaching heavyweight division, featuring Ben Johnson in Chicago, Kevin O’Connell with the Minnesota Vikings and Dan Campbell leading the Detroit Lions. Cowherd noted that over the past two years, the NFC North has won seven more games than any other division, making it arguably the strongest coaching division in football.
Cowherd’s second point centered on Green Bay’s recent playoff failures. He said LaFleur has developed a reputation for building smart, well-designed game plans that put the Packers in position to win, only for the team to struggle to close. According to Cowherd, the Packers’ front office is well aware of that pattern after watching recent postseason defeats slip away despite promising starts.
Last season offered another painful example. The Packers opened 9-3-1 before dropping their final four regular-season games, then squandered a 21-3 halftime lead against the archrival Chicago Bears in the wild-card round. The collapse left Green Bay with five straight losses to close the year.
LaFleur’s overall résumé remains impressive. Since taking over in 2019, he has guided the Packers to a 76-40-1 regular-season record, three NFC North titles from 2019-21 and a 3-6 postseason mark. His 76 regular-season victories and .654 winning percentage both rank fourth in franchise history.
Green Bay will also enter the new season with major defensive changes. Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon has taken over as defensive coordinator, replacing Jeff Hafley after Hafley left to become head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Gannon’s unit will begin the 2026 campaign without star defensive end Micah Parsons, who tore his ACL in Week 15 last season.
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As for their competition, one could argue the Packers’ division, the NFC North, is the best in the sport. The Bears are coming off their first division title since 2018 and are entering their second season with Johnson as head coach; the Lions missed the playoffs last season, but they won 15 games in 2024 and have posted a winning record in four consecutive seasons (2022-25); the Vikings, who won 14 games in 2024, still went 9-8 last season in a campaign that saw them start three different quarterbacks (J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer).
“Smart gets you a lead in pro football. Toughness gets you the win,” Cowherd said about LaFleur’s Packers. “At the end of games, eight, 12-play drives; no passes; head down; you’re bloodied; you pick up a third-and-1 three separate times, and I think that’s the question about Matt LaFleur and Green Bay. And I don’t think it’s a cheap shot. I think we got some data that it’s probably true.”
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